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I was thinking about this the other day. How far off is using CRISPR for cosmetic changes? permanently changing of eye color, hair color, skin (although that one is gonna be a lightning rod), etc…

In a world-first, Japanese scientists have used the revolutionary CRISPR, or CRISPR/Cas9, genome- editing tool to change flower colour in an ornamental plant. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba, the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) and Yokohama City University, Japan, altered the flower colour of the traditional Japanese garden plant, Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil or Pharbitis nil), from violet to white, by disrupting a single gene. This research highlights the huge potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to the study and manipulation of genes in horticultural plants.

Japanese morning glory, or Asagao, was chosen for this study as it is one of two traditional horticultural model plants in the National BioResource Project in Japan (NBRP). Extensive genetic studies of this plant have already been performed, its genome sequenced and DNA transfer methods established. In addition, as public concern with genetic technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 is currently a social issue in Japan, studies using this popular and widely-grown plant may help to educate the public on this topic.

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While physicists have managed to wrap their minds around chaos theory in the macroscopic world, chaos also has its way at the quantum scale. And in many ways quantum chaos is even more perplexing than its large-scale counterpart.

Which is why it’s such a big deal that researchers have now presented a single equation that can predict how quantum chaos behaves.

This equation effectively explains the patterns within quantum chaos at the atomic level, and it could contribute to our understanding of everything from brain surgery to string theory.

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Of the 56.4 million deaths worldwide in 2015, more than half (54%) were due to the top 10 causes. Ischaemic heart disease and stroke are the world’s biggest killers, accounting for a combined 15 million deaths in 2015. These diseases have remained the leading causes of death globally in the last 15 years.

In 2012, an estimated 56 million people died worldwide. Discover what have remained the top major killers during the past decade.

We are delighted to hear that the SENS Research Foundation and the Forever Healthy Foundation have joined forces to host an exciting conference about rejuvenation biotechnology on March 15–17, 2018 at the Umspannwerk Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany.

The particularly good news is that this conference will be open to the wider community interested in this field and not just academia. We believe this is a fantastic move, as it allows more people to engage with the science and to learn firsthand from the researchers working on the front line. We very much support the idea that we are all in this together and thus are very pleased to see that the event is open to the entire community.

The event will be a fantastic opportunity to network as well as learn about the latest exciting innovations and progress in the field. The strength of our community relies on our ability to network effectively and engage with the wider public audience as well as attract the support of investors and philanthropists.

Today we have another video update from the Mouseage team who are working to create the first artificial intelligence-based photographic biomarker of aging in mice. The project aims to provide researchers with a cheap and effective biomarker system that can be used to quickly determine if interventions against the age-related diseases are effective as well as helping to save the lives of lab animals worldwide.

In this episode, Poly Mamoshina is at Oxford University is talking about aging biomarkers and why they are so important for research. Poly is a research scientist at Insilico Medicine in the Pharma AI division which specializes in artificial intelligence-based drug discovery. She is also a part of Computational biology team in Computer Science Department at the University of Oxford, you can learn more about her work here.

What are biomarkers and why are they so important in aging research? Poly explains in this informative video.

The way we traditionally bury the dead is horrible for the environment.

Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what’s really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com to get up to speed on everything from Kurdistan to the Kim Kardashian app.

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Is this a new frontier in personal privacy or is it just a handy tool for criminals? (via Freethink)