Lifeboat Foundation

Ready for the strange? Here you go.

If you aren’t already purchasing organic or GMO-free rice, you should be. Rice that has been engineered with actual human genes is on its way to a supermarket near you. In Junction City, Kansas, this human gene-tainted rice is being grown on 3,200 acres by the biotechnology company Ventria Bioscience.

Ventria began cultivating this rather horrifying product in 2006 with human liver genes. What exactly was the purpose of this, you ask? Their intention was to harvest the artificial enzymes produced by the rice and use them in pharmaceuticals. Ventria has taken one of the most widely grown and consumed crops and turned it into the base for new prescription drugs — all with USDA approval, of course.

Continue reading “Human genes engineered into GMO rice have being grown in Kansas” »

The constant battle between pathogens and their hosts has long been recognized as a key driver of evolution, but until now scientists have not had the tools to look at these patterns globally across species and genomes. In a new study, researchers apply big-data analysis to reveal the full extent of viruses’ impact on the evolution of humans and other mammals.

Their findings suggest an astonishing 30 percent of all protein adaptations since humans’ divergence with chimpanzees have been driven by viruses.

“When you have a pandemic or an epidemic at some point in evolution, the population that is targeted by the virus either adapts, or goes extinct. We knew that, but what really surprised us is the strength and clarity of the pattern we found,” said David Enard, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and the study’s first author. “This is the first time that viruses have been shown to have such a strong impact on adaptation.”

Continue reading “Viruses revealed to be a major driver of human evolution” »

The researchers say that the monochrome painting — a dime’s width across — is a proof-of-concept that the extremely precise technique can be used to build nanoscale chip-based devices like computer circuits, conductive carbon nanotubes, and for extremely efficient targeted drug delivery.

In order to reproduce the painting, the researchers used a technique first described by Rothemund and colleagues at IBM in 2009. The first step of the process involves folding DNA strands to create the desired shape, with short “staple strands” being used to literally staple the molecules. Then this pattern, which, at this stage, is floating in a saline solution, is poured into patches on a chip whose shapes match the DNA origami’s.

The folded DNA now acts as scaffolding onto which researchers then install fluorescent molecules inside microscopic light sources called photonic crystal cavities (PCC) — much like putting light bulbs into lamps.

Continue reading “DNA Origami Used To Create A Miniaturized Version Of Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’” »

Bio-engineered blood vessels.

These new technologies will be released in the market by the next 5 years.

Continue reading “5 New Technologies That Will Revolutionize Medicine” »

Experts at Adelaide’s Flinders University have made an Alzheimer’s breakthrough that may result in world’s first dementia vaccine. Developed by Australian and US scientists, this vaccine may not only prevent but also reverse early stages of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia.

The Alzheimer’s vaccine may be tested on humans within the next two to three years after being bankrolled by the US Government. Scientists from Flinders University and America’s Institute of Molecular Medicine and University of California developed the vaccine by targeting proteins in the brain that block neurons.

The formula targets tau proteins and abnormal beta-amyloid that cause Alzheimer’s. The scientists are confident that the vaccine would eventually be used as preventative vaccine. According to Flinders University medicine professor Nikolai Petrovsky, the proteins must be removed from the brain as Alzheimer’s, and dementia sufferers have lots of these broken down proteins inside.

Continue reading “Alzheimer’s breakthrough: Vaccine developed” »

The SV trend.

Employees at San Francisco startup Nootrobox don’t eat on Tuesdays.

The weekly fast isn’t an extreme money-saving move by a scrappy, bootstrapping company. Instead, Nootrobox team members swear withholding food for 36 hours — they stop eating Monday night — improves their workplace focus and concentration.

Continue reading “Brain ‘hacking’: Entrepreneurs turn to fasting and ‘smart drugs’” »

Is it time for rehab for junk food junkies?

Apparently, all the burgers and smoothies you’re consuming cause your brain to forget to stop eating even when you’re full.

Can you relate to midnight cravings and the feeling of perpetual hunger? Do you resort to grabbing fast food on the fly or eating out of a tub of ice cream while you’re bored around the house?

Continue reading “Eating Sugar And Fatty Foods Is As Bad As Doing Drugs” »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QjJ_GffiNEE

Pillo is a smart pill dispenser that stores an entire family’s medication while automatically reordering when supplies run low.

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ON Semiconductor’s new 8 megapixel (MP) KAI-08052 image sensor enhances imaging performance in demanding industrial applications with technology that improves the near-infrared sensitivity of CCD image sensors.

The image sensor provides up to twice the sensitivity in near-infrared wavelengths as the company’s standard Interline Transfer CCD pixel design. This enhanced sensitivity can be critical in applications such as scientific and medical imaging, where samples emit or fluoresce in NIR wavelengths; or in machine vision and intelligent transportation systems (ITS), where NIR illumination is often used to better examine an object or to isolate a vehicle’s license plate.

The new CCD pixel design used extends the electron capture region deeper in the silicon to better capture electrons generated by long wavelength photons. This deeper pixel well improves detection of NIR wavelengths by up to a factor of two depending on the specific wavelength studied.

Continue reading “ON Semiconductor – New 8MP device has improved near-infrared sensitivity for imaging and intelligent transportation systems” »