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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2634

Nov 26, 2015

Russian 3D-bioprinted thyroid gland implant proves functional in mice

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

A Moscow laboratory has conducted the first successful organ translation using a unique Russian 3D-printing technology. The breakthrough could potentially help millions suffering from thyroid disorders – and paves the way for printing other human organs.

The thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck, can have a dramatic impact on a huge variety of human bodily functions. The groundbreaking operation, thus far only in rodents, was performed by a team from the 3D Bioprinting Solutions Laboratory in the Russian capital some three months ago.

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Nov 25, 2015

The tardigrade genome has been sequenced, and it has the most foreign DNA of any animal

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, life extension, space

Scientists have sequenced the entire genome of the tardigrade, AKA the water bear, for the first time. And it turns out that this weird little creature has the most foreign genes of any animal studied so far – or to put it another way, roughly one-sixth of the tardigrade’s genome was stolen from other species. We have to admit, we’re kinda not surprised.

A little background here for those who aren’t familiar with the strangeness that is the tardigrade – the microscopic water creature grows to just over 1 mm on average, and is the only animal that can survive in the harsh environment of space. It can also withstand temperatures from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water, can cope with ridiculous amounts of pressure and radiation, and can live for more than 10 years without food or water. Basically, it’s nearly impossible to kill, and now scientists have shown that its DNA is just as bizarre as it is.

So what’s foreign DNA and why does it matter that tardigrades have so much of it? The term refers to genes that have come from another organism via a process known as horizontal gene transfer, as opposed to being passed down through traditional reproduction.

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Nov 25, 2015

Ray Kurzweil — The Future of Medicine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, computing, health, life extension, nanotechnology, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI, singularity, transhumanism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Ec7AvnufQ

Ray Kurzweil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil#Health_and_aging

Raymond “Ray” Kurzweil is an American author, computer scientist, inventor and futurist. Aside from futurology, he is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He has written books on health, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism. Kurzweil is a public advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements, and gives public talks to share his optimistic outlook on life extension technologies and the future of nanotechnology, robotics, and biotechnology.

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Nov 24, 2015

This device enables doctors to reanimate the hearts of the dead

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Yeah that’s right, this is indeed a beating human heart in a box. It just seems to look a lot like Frankenstein, but this is probably one of the big revolutions that can definitely increase the amount of heart donors.

The system consists of a sterile chamber in which the heart is kept safe, oxygen supply and a couple of tubes that can be used to deliver blood and nutrients. This device is giving doctors the ability to use hearts that first couldn’t be used.

At first only heart beating donors could donate their hearts, so this boils down to the fact that only brain-dead donors we’re able to donate theirs. This is due to the fact that after your death the condition of your organs begins to decrease. Therefore it can be pretty dangerous to ‘install’ a new heart in a living patient.

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Nov 24, 2015

The Drug Lords of Tomorrow Will Be Biohackers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

New article for Vice Motherboard on the future of drugs and implants:


Brain stimulation is the future of drugs.

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Nov 24, 2015

Circuit Board Tattoos That Actually Work Will Bring Your Cyborg Fantasies To Life

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs

There’s a common misconception that tattoos are only a way to express your individuality (just like everyone else does), or only serve as loving tributes to moms. But they have practical medical applications too, especially now that circuit board temporary tattoos exist.

Developed by Chaotic Moon Studios, which describes itself as a “creative technology studio,” these Tech Tats use conductive inks (in lieu of actual tattoo inks) that only sit on the surface of the skin so they’re not permanent. After all, given the speed at which technology evolves, the last thing you want is a permanent circuit board tattoo on your arm that’s outdated within a year.

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Nov 24, 2015

China to build world’s biggest animal cloning factory in Tianjin

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business

Tianjin is building the world’s largest animal cloning factory, aiming to produce one million cattle embryos annually, state media reported yesterday.

According to a Xinhua, mainland scientists have signed a deal to establish a 200 million yuan (HK$242 million) commercial animal cloning centre in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, a government-sponsored business development park.

Its main building was already under construction and due to be completed by June next year, the report said. Among the animals it will clone are sniffer and pet dogs, high-grade beef cattle, racehorses and “non-human primates”. These animals will be used for commercial services and improving breeds.

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Nov 24, 2015

Hacking the Brain — Restoring Lost Abilities With the Latest Neurotechnologies

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, cyborgs, genetics, nanotechnology, neuroscience, Ray Kurzweil

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Ray Kurzweil’s wild prediction that in the 2030s, nanobots will connect our brains to the cloud, merging biology with the digital world.

Let’s talk about what’s happening today.

Over the past few decades, billions of dollars have been poured into three areas of research: neuroprosthetics, brain-computer interfaces and optogenetics.

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Nov 23, 2015

Aubrey de Grey: Can We and Should We Give Ourselves Indefinite Youth? Oh Yes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

The marginalization of anti-aging research is our most shameful humanitarian failure.

Aging is a hot topic among the chattering classes these days. What with biotech companies like Calico and Human Longevity Inc. being founded with the mission to defeat aging, and venerable institutions such as Prudential proclaiming the imminence of superlongevity on billboards, there’s no denying that this is a time of great interest in our oldest and deepest-held dream — to escape from the tyranny of inexorable and ultimately fatal physiological decline.

But hang on — is the buzz around aging really reflective of what’s being done to realize this goal? The briefest dispassionate analysis reveals a different story altogether. The proportion of government spending allocated in the industrialized world to diseases and disabilities of old age is appropriately high, but it is overwhelmingly dedicated to the transparently quixotic approach of attacking those ailments directly — as if they were infections — rather than attacking their lifelong accumulating causes.

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Nov 23, 2015

Why South Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Seoul, South Korea, is the global plastic surgery capital.

The high-status neighborhood of Gangnam reportedly has 500 aesthetic centers alone.

Why the concentration? Because South Korea has the most plastic surgeries per capita on earth, with over 980,000 recorded operations in 2014. That’s 20 procedures per 1,000 people, putting it ahead of the US’s 13 procedures per 1,000. And Korea has had the most operations per capita since 2009.

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