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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2367

Oct 21, 2017

World’s First Human Head Transplant Will Take Place in December

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Last year, Dr. Sergio Canavero created quite the ruckus (to put it mildly) when he vowed to be the first person to transplant a human head onto a deceased donor’s body. Yes, he is planning on attempting the world’s first human head transplant (or body transplant, depending on how you look at it).

In fact, it has been about a year since his initial proclamation, and the Italian neurosurgeon still stands firm on his declaration, despite claims from other experts that it is nothing but a PR Stunt (at best) or a hoax. Some have even hypothesized it’s all just a plot meant to promote Metal Gear Solid.

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Oct 21, 2017

Trust My Science

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, science

Transmedics, une machine qui permet de « réanimer » un coeur ayant cessé de battre. Une belle avancée pour augmenter considérablement le nombre de greffons disponibles pour les transplantations!

Via Explore Science

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Oct 21, 2017

Here’s How Pharma Is Using AI Deep Learning To Cure Aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, robotics/AI

LEF has access to blood tests from its customers who take the product. That means data should be available in less than a year. If it works, we can expect other DNN-developed geroprotectors.


In 2011, scientists made one of the most important discoveries in the history of AI development. They found that graphics processing units (GPUs) are far better at simulating biological learning than central processing units (CPUs).

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Oct 21, 2017

Researchers Discover Why Our Metabolism Slows Down As We Age

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Why our metabolism slows down as we age and the diseases it contributes to.


Researchers discover reasons for our age-related metabolic slowdown and show that metabolic changes lead to disease and aging.

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Oct 20, 2017

Newly developed switch activates genes thousands of times better than nature

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

If scientists could precisely regulate gene expression, they could turn off the genes responsible for illness and disease and turn on those that enhance health and the immune system.

“This is why controlling gene expression is so fundamental,” said Northwestern University’s Julius Lucks. “Once you get a good handle on it, you can do anything.”

For Lucks, having a “good” handle on might be an understatement. He and his team have developed a powerful and versatile tool that achieves gene activation thousands of times better than nature.

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Oct 20, 2017

PBS’s Documentary ‘The Gene Doctors’ Arrives Amid A Gene Therapy Boom

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education

A new PBS film educates viewers about gene therapy at a time when the once controversial field of research is starting to bear fruit.

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Oct 20, 2017

Why Eradicating Age-related Disease Could Benefit You and Your Family

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

The benefits of rejuvenation biotechnology to end age-related diseases could go beyond just the individual.


As I wrote in a different article, rejuvenation biotechnology promises a range of benefits for individuals. Lest anyone thinks that’s all rejuvenation has to offer, I reckon it’s worth discussing other ways that this technology would benefit larger groups of people—namely, your friends and family. If you are rejuvenated, that’s all good for you, but is there anything good coming out of it for your dear ones? Oh, yes.

Two burdens relieved with a single shot

Continue reading “Why Eradicating Age-related Disease Could Benefit You and Your Family” »

Oct 20, 2017

The scientists trying to find the “cure” for old age

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cryonics, life extension

Izpisúa, Blasco, De Grey, and Magalhães meet in Madrid at the end of summer at the first “International Longevity and Cryopreservation Summit.” The conference lasts two days and is held in the CSIC, attracting prominent scientists, futurists and freaks, as conference organizer and Vidaplus President Txetxu Mazuelas, refers to them. The scientific world and the futuristic world inevitably clash. One of the most heated debates is on the cryopreservation of human beings – a kind of plan B that puts humans on ice while they work out the secret to eternal life.


Could we live to 140? 1,000? Is there a limit? Scientific research into extending the human lifespan is being backed by Silicon Valley giants such as Google and Facebook.

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Oct 20, 2017

Stevia Kills Lyme Disease Pathogen Better Than Antibiotics (Preclinical Study)

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Lyme disease is exceedingly difficult to treat, due to its well-known shape-shifting (pleomorphic) abilities, with conventional antibiotics often failing to produce a long-term cure. Could the commonly used natural plant Stevia provide a safer, and more effective means to combat this increasingly prevalent infection?

A promising new preclinical study has revealed that whole stevia leaf extract possesses exceptional antibiotic activity against the exceedingly difficult to treat pathogen Borrelia Burgdorferi known to cause Lyme disease. The study found.

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Oct 19, 2017

Gene editing in the brain gets a major upgrade

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, neuroscience

Genome editing technologies have revolutionized biomedical science, providing a fast and easy way to modify genes. However, the technique allowing scientists to carryout the most precise edits, doesn’t work in cells that are no longer dividing — which includes most neurons in the brain. This technology had limited use in brain research, until now. Research Fellow Jun Nishiyama, M.D., Ph.D., Research Scientist, Takayasu Mikuni, M.D., Ph.D., and Scientific Director, Ryohei Yasuda, Ph.D. at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) have developed a new tool that, for the first time, allows precise genome editing in mature neurons, opening up vast new possibilities in neuroscience research.

This novel and powerful tool utilizes the newly discovered gene editing technology of CRISPR-Cas9, a viral defense mechanism originally found in bacteria. When placed inside a cell such as a neuron, the CRISPR-Cas9 system acts to damage DNA in a specifically targeted place. The cell then subsequently repairs this damage using predominantly two opposing methods; one being non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), which tends to be error prone, and homology directed repair (HDR), which is very precise and capable of undergoing specified gene insertions. HDR is the more desired method, allowing researchers flexibility to add, modify, or delete genes depending on the intended purpose.

Coaxing in the to preferentially make use of the HDR DNA repair mechanism has been rather challenging. HDR was originally thought to only be available as a repair route for actively proliferating cells in the body. When precursor brain cells mature into neurons, they are referred to as post-mitotic or nondividing cells, making the mature brain largely inaccessible to HDR — or so researchers previously thought. The team has now shown that it is possible for post-mitotic neurons of the brain to actively undergo HDR, terming the strategy “vSLENDR (viral mediated single-cell labeling of endogenous proteins by CRISPR-Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair).” The critical key to the success of this process is the combined use of CRISPR-Cas9 and a virus.

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