Researchers at the University of California San Diego have discovered an easy and efficient way to coax human pluripotent stem cells to regenerate bone tissue—by feeding them adenosine, a naturally occurring molecule in the body. The stem-cell-derived bone tissue helped repair cranial bone defects in mice without developing tumors or causing infection. This is a…
Month: August 2016
Using light to control genome editing
The genome-editing system known as CRISPR allows scientists to delete or replace any target gene in a living cell. MIT researchers have now added an extra layer of control over when and where this gene editing occurs, by making the system responsive to light. With the new system, gene editing takes place only when researchers…
The Unintended Consequence of Congress’s Ban on Designer Babies
Congress is the opposite of Progress. With the approval rating of just 11%, the US Congress once again proves that it is the definitive engine of slowing down progress, perhaps second only to the FDA. While certain amount of caution when it comes to new medication and gene therapy is warranted, stifling medical progress on…
Mushrooms as Medicine: from Helping Treat Cancer to Bees & BioSecurity
People are a part of Earth’s biodiversity. Our species evolved in forests. As part of the ecosystem, we learned to use the planet’s bio dome to our benefit. Now, biodiversity is declining as we use up our natural resources. Singularity University hosted Paul Stamets, a mycologist who researches benefits of mushrooms as they relate to human…
TED: What will be the next big scientific breakthrough?
In our busy lives, with work, home, families, we sometimes forget to pause and reflect on the age we are living in. This blog gives but a glimpse of the revolutionary science happening all around us and its implications for our future. Eric Haseltine, futurist, author, innovator, gave a brief but meaningful TED Talk focusing…
Fish oil prevents changes induced by a high-fat diet
Scientists have found that fish oil supplements can reverse the effects of a high fat diet according to a study published in the Journal of Physiology. The research from the University of São Paulo shows that giving mice supplement of fish oil prevents or reverses the harmful effects of a high fat diet. This further…
Scientists get closer to building a transplantable kidney
New method creates endless supply of kidney precursor cells Salk Institute scientists have discovered the holy grail of endless youthfulness—at least when it comes to one type of human kidney precursor cell. Previous attempts to maintain cultures of the so-called nephron progenitor cells often failed, as the cells died or gradually lost their developmental potential…
Brief rapamycin therapy in middle-aged mice extends lives
Geroscience researchers studying the biology of aging briefly treated middle-aged mice with the drug rapamycin to gauge the long-term effects of short-term therapy on health and longevity. Rapamycin, approved by the Food & Drug Administration for certain organ transplant recipients, is already known to extend life in mice and delay some age-related problems in rodents…
An MIT Scientist Claims That This Pill Is the Fountain of Youth
New York Magazine website profiles Elysium’s Basis pill and Dr. Leonard Guarente. Basis and the other pills that will likely follow it in the next five to ten years are the fruits of a scientific backwater that has been working toward this moment for a quarter-century. These drugs and supplements are aimed to be a…
A Revolution in Science: The Quest to Stop Aging is Underway
Futurism.com rounds up the developments in longevity research. Recently, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration approved clinical trials aimed at combating aging and age related diseases. A drug called “metformin,” and our increasing understanding of genetics, is leading us into a new battleground – one where we may have the upper-hand. So when will these much-heralded…
Google’s Calico Appoints Daphne Koller as Chief Computing Officer
Google’s billion dollar life extension division, Calico, today announced Daphne Koller will be building a Computational Biology and Machine Learning Team in her role as Chief Computing Officer. She will build a team focused on developing powerful computational and machine learning tools for analyzing biological and medical data sets. She and her team will work…
Hospitals start using Watson supercomputer to diagnose cancer
A recent article from Stat reports on the use of the IBM Watson supercomputer in assisting in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. From the article: The goal is to use Watson’s natural language processing to mine the medical literature and a patient’s records to provide treatment advice. And this month the Watson computer system is…