Archive for the ‘bioengineering’ category: Page 174
Aug 24, 2017
Will Gene Editing Allow Us to Rid the World of Diseases?
Posted by John Gallagher in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
Scientists recently used a gene-editing tool to fix a mutation in a human embryo. Around the world, researchers are chasing cures for other genetic diseases.
Now that the gene-editing genie is out of the bottle, what would you wish for first?
Babies with “perfect” eyes, over-the-top intelligence, and a touch of movie star charisma?
Continue reading “Will Gene Editing Allow Us to Rid the World of Diseases?” »
Aug 22, 2017
Astronauts may depend upon recycled urine filament for 3D printing in space
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: 3D printing, bioengineering, genetics, space
“If astronauts are going to make journeys that span several years, we’ll need to find a way to reuse and recycle everything they bring with them,” says Mark A. Blenner, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Clemson University, South Carolina.
To this end, the Blenner Research Group is looking into the potential uses of a type of yeast called Yarrowia lipolytica, that feeds on the urea content of urine.
With a little genetic engineering the group has proven that the yeast can be used to produce hydrogen and carbon – the atomic ingredients of nutrients like Omega 3, and polyester-based 3D printer filament.
Continue reading “Astronauts may depend upon recycled urine filament for 3D printing in space” »
Aug 8, 2017
LEAF President Keith Comito asks whether the CRISPR gene editing system will help cure aging in the near term
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, life extension
Aug 5, 2017
The Age of Cyborgs Has Arrived
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, cyborgs, transhumanism
Aug 1, 2017
If you enjoyed our exclusive interview with Professor George Church earlier today, you might be interested to know that you could have dinner with him!
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics
https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/agemeter-biomarker-scan/#reward_13
This is one of the great rewards on offer for supporting AgeMeter, a functional age biomarker system, a project endorsed by Professor Church.
Read more
Aug 1, 2017
The Era of Human Gene Editing Is Here—What Happens Next Is Critical
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, health
Scientists in Portland, Ore., just succeeded in creating the first genetically modified human embryo in the United States, according to Technology Review. A team led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University is reported to “have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating that it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases.”
The U.S. team’s results follow two trials—one last year and one in April—by researchers in China who injected genetically modified cells into cancer patients. The research teams used CRISPR, a new gene-editing system derived from bacteria that enables scientists to edit the DNA of living organisms.
The era of human gene editing has begun.
Continue reading “The Era of Human Gene Editing Is Here—What Happens Next Is Critical” »
Aug 1, 2017
Professor George Church – Turning Back Time to End Age-related Diseases
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, computing, genetics, life extension, neuroscience
Many of you will likely already know who Professor George Church is and that he is an important and senior member of the research community engaged in treating the aging processes to prevent or reverse age-related diseases, not to mention all kinds of other applications for genetic engineering. For those who are not familiar with him a short bio follows.
George Church is a professor at Harvard & MIT, the co-author of over 425 papers, 95 patent publications and the book Regenesis. He developed the methods used for the first genome sequence back in 1994 and he was instrumental in reducing the costs since then using next generation sequencing and nanopores plus barcoding, DNA assembly from chips, genome editing, writing and re-coding.
He co-initiated the Genome projects in 1984 and 2005 to create and interpret the world’s only open-access personal precision medicine datasets. He was also involved in launching the BRAIN Initiative in 2011.
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Jul 31, 2017
Opinion: Super-intelligence and eternal life—transhumanism’s faithful follow it blindly into a future for the elite
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, cyborgs, genetics, life extension, nanotechnology, robotics/AI, transhumanism
The rapid development of so-called NBIC technologies – nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science – are giving rise to possibilities that have long been the domain of science fiction. Disease, ageing and even death are all human realities that these technologies seek to end.
They may enable us to enjoy greater “morphological freedom” – we could take on new forms through prosthetics or genetic engineering. Or advance our cognitive capacities. We could use brain-computer interfaces to link us to advanced artificial intelligence (AI).
Nanobots could roam our bloodstream to monitor our health and enhance our emotional propensities for joy, love or other emotions. Advances in one area often raise new possibilities in others, and this “convergence” may bring about radical changes to our world in the near-future.
Jul 30, 2017
Hacked E. Coli Shows the Promise of Programmable Biology
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, computing
Researchers turn living cells into biological sensing and computing platforms.
The preferred term is “ribocomputing.” Take a molecule of RNA, the “messenger” chemical that carries instructions from a cell’s DNA to the rest of the cell, and basically rewire it. By hacking the RNA, it’s thus possible to take command of the processes of the cell, particularly that of protein synthesis. It’s also possible to rewire the RNA to respond to specific stimuli, offering an engineered microbiological system that reacts to inputs in the same way that an embedded computer might respond to a temperature sensor of accelerometer.
Synthetic biology or “hacked” biology is a quickly growing field, but the term ribocomputing is scarce, mostly limited to a single 2016 study. That was the case at least until this week and the publication of a paper in Nature describing RNA-based synthetic biological circuits that are capable of implementing just what I described above: sensing external signals and directing cellular machinery to respond to those signals in programmed ways. It’s fascinating but also a bit spooky.
Continue reading “Hacked E. Coli Shows the Promise of Programmable Biology” »
