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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2653

Feb 9, 2016

NYC Startup Aims to 3D Print Bones with Patients‘ Own Stem Cells

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, materials

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NKeeHahhNL4

When the idea of a medical transplant is brought up, most people’s thoughts are usually drawn to procedures such as blood transfusions or organ replacements. But, oftentimes, we forget the importance of our bone structure, as well as the 2 million painful bone transplants that take place every year around world. Previously stuck in a Medieval-like operation method, surgeons had little option but to replace their patients’ bones with the bones of animals or human cadavers, and even this procedure can oftentimes led to complications due to the body’s rejection of the foreign replacement. But 3D bioprinting has been a major influence in changing the entire nature of this traditional surgical procedure, new methods of creating bone grafts have been developed by researchers around the world from Montana State University to Tokyo. 3D printing has become a recent revelation in skeletal reconstruction surgery, with 3D printed synthetic implants and even harvested stem cell materials proving to be a much safer and efficient surgical alternative.

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Feb 9, 2016

Robots in health care could lead to a doctorless hospital

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, robotics/AI

As long as there is no level of “personable experience/ empathy” AI will not eliminate the need for doctors or other medical staff members. For example, a female of 30 yrs of age newly married talking to a stone face robot that she has stage 3 breast cancer for first time. Yep; I see that one going well.

Plus, can you imagine how children in hospital wards for several months at a time will come out with only robots w/ no “EMPATHY.” I believe there are plenty of pyshcological case studies on this. If you ever want to advance AI; you must have women heavily embedded in its development as well as leading the work around it; or you will never get there.

Here’s another thought — can you imaging the potential lawsuits in the making because a child was proven to be impacted by only having interactions with robots in the children’s ward for months a time. Especially, when the robots that cannot connect due to the lack of design of “empathy”. Who gets sued? Hospitals, tech companies, etc.? This list could go on and on. So, again you must have various perspectives in the AI design in place or you could really be in trouble on a large scale.

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Feb 9, 2016

First case of Zika Virus reported in East Tennessee

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

First confirmed case of Zika Virus hits Tennessee (US)


The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed Tuesday afternoon the first case of Zika virus in the state.

TDH, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported one person in the state tested positive for the Zika virus.

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Feb 9, 2016

Brain Preservation Breakthrough Could Usher in a New Era in Cryonics

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

Researchers from 21st Century Medicine have developed a new technique to allow long term storage of a near-perfect mammalian brain. It’s a breakthrough that could have serious implications for cryonics, and the futuristic prospect of bringing the frozen dead back to life.

By using a chemical compound to turn a rabbit’s brain into a near glass-like state, and then cooling it to −211 degrees Fahrenheit (−135 degrees Celsius), a research team from California-based 21st Century Medicine (21CM) showed that it’s possible to enable near-perfect, long-term structural preservation of an intact mammalian brain. The achievement has earned not just accolades from the scientific community, but a prestigious award as well; the 21CM researchers are today being awarded the $26,735 Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize, which is run by the Brain Preservation Foundation (BPF).

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Feb 9, 2016

The Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize Has Been Won

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

The Brain Preservation Foundation (BPF) announced that the Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize has officially been won. The spectacular result achieved by 21st Century Medicine researchers provides the first demonstration that near-perfect, long-term structural preservation of an intact mammalian brain is achievable.

A team from 21st Century Medicine, spearheaded by recent MIT graduate Robert McIntyre, has discovered a way to preserve the delicate neural circuits of an intact rabbit brain for very long-term storage using a combination of chemical fixation and cryogenic cooling. Proof of this accomplishment, and the full “Aldehyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation” (ASC) protocol, was recently published in the journal Cryobiology and has been independently verified by the BPF through extensive electron microscopic examination conducted by the two official judges of the prize: BPF President Ken Hayworth and Princeton neuroscience professor Sebastian Seung, author of “Connectome: How the Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are.”

“Every neuron and synapse looks beautifully preserved across the entire brain,” said Hayworth. “Simply amazing given that I held in my hand this very same brain when it was frozen solid… This is not your father’s cryonics.”

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Feb 9, 2016

NASA engineers to build first integrated-photonics modem

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, space

NASA laser expert Mike Krainak and his team plan to replace portions of this fiber-optic receiver with an integrated-photonic circuit (its size will be similar to the chip he is holding) and will test the advanced modem on the International Space Station. (credit: W. Hrybyk/NASA)

A NASA team plans to build the first integrated-photonics modem, using an emerging, potentially revolutionary technology that could transform everything from telecommunications, medical imaging, advanced manufacturing to national defense.

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Feb 9, 2016

Researchers resolve longstanding issue of components needed to regenerate muscle

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Research Institute (SBP) have conclusively identified the protein complex that controls the genes needed to repair skeletal muscle. The discovery clears up deep-rooted conflicting data and will now help streamline efforts towards boosting stem cell-mediated muscle regeneration. Such strategies could treat muscle degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophies, and those associated with aging and cancer.

The research, published today in eLife, describes the essential role of a TBP-containing TFIID-protein complex in activating genes that regenerate muscle tissue, and shows that an alternative protein called TBP2 is not involved in this task in adult muscles.

“Our discovery clarifies the identity of the ‘molecular switches’ that control the activation of muscle genes in (MuSCs),” said Barbora Malecova, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Pier Lorenzo Puri, M.D., professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at SBP, and first author of the article. “Understanding what drives muscle gene expression gives us insights into molecular targets for regenerative medicine-based interventions (drugs) to treat muscle degenerative disorders.”

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Feb 9, 2016

Bionic Spine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, transhumanism

This bionic spine could help paralyzed patients walk again.

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Feb 9, 2016

Why don’t we have a vaccine for Zika?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Interesting. Hope they cure this!


Suresh Mahalingam and Michael Rolph discuss how the development of a Zika vaccine compares with the other mosquito-borne viruses.

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Feb 9, 2016

Scientists Found a Way to Control Machines With Your Mind, No Brain Surgery Required

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, military, neuroscience

The US military is looking for ways to insert microscopic devices into human brains to help folks communicate with machines, like prosthetic limbs, with their minds. And now, DARPA’s saying scientists have found a way to do just that—without ripping open patients’ skulls.

In the DARPA-funded study, researchers at the University of Melbourne have developed a device that could help people use their brains to control machines. These machines might include technology that helps patients control physical disabilities or neurological disorders. The results were published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

In the study, the team inserted a paperclip-sized object into the motor cortexes of sheep. (That’s the part of the brain that oversees voluntary movement.) The device is a twist on traditional stents, those teeny tiny tubes that surgeons stick in vessels to improve blood flow.

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