bioengineering – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Tue, 04 Mar 2025 23:11:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 Woolly mouse could have Colossal impact on human longevity https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/woolly-mouse-could-have-colossal-impact-on-human-longevity https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/woolly-mouse-could-have-colossal-impact-on-human-longevity#respond Tue, 04 Mar 2025 23:11:05 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/woolly-mouse-could-have-colossal-impact-on-human-longevity

“Our woolly mouse project drove innovations in areas combining the end to end process from our computational biology analysis tools to our multiplex precision genome engineering technologies,” Lamm told us. “These technologies enable precise and efficient genetic modifications at multiple sites within the genome at the same time, which could help with research focused on addressing the complex multi-genetic age-related diseases in the future.”

By further refining the genetic engineering techniques developed by Colossal, researchers may eventually develop therapies tailored to an individual’s genetic makeup, mitigating the effects of aging at a cellular level.

“Many diseases are multigenic in nature and require deep analysis computationally and being able to edit the genome at multiple sites with high degrees of efficiency to not cause off-target effects,” Lamm told us. “Our end to end process and the further development of our multiplex editing and DNA synthesis capabilities will lead to others being able to use our tools and system to treat these more complicated diseases. Together, these innovations are part of the science focused on developing personalized, targeted therapies to mitigate the effects of aging, accelerate the development of regenerative medicine, and extend both lifespan and healthspan.”

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/woolly-mouse-could-have-colossal-impact-on-human-longevity/feed 0 Scientists aiming to bring back woolly mammoth create woolly mice https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/scientists-aiming-to-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-create-woolly-mice https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/scientists-aiming-to-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-create-woolly-mice#respond Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:08:26 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/scientists-aiming-to-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-create-woolly-mice

A plan to revive the mammoth is on track, scientists have said after creating a new species: the woolly mouse.

Scientists at the US biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences plan to “de-extinct” the prehistoric pachyderms by genetically modifying Asian elephants to give them woolly mammoth traits. They hope the first calf will be born by the end of 2028.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/scientists-aiming-to-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-create-woolly-mice/feed 0 Quantum Phase Transitions: Hidden Patterns in Space and Time with Meigan Aronson https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/quantum-phase-transitions-hidden-patterns-in-space-and-time-with-meigan-aronson https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/quantum-phase-transitions-hidden-patterns-in-space-and-time-with-meigan-aronson#respond Tue, 04 Mar 2025 09:11:48 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/quantum-phase-transitions-hidden-patterns-in-space-and-time-with-meigan-aronson

Phase transitions are a familiar part of life, representing predictable paths by which solids turn to liquids, mixtures turn to solutions, magnets become nonmagnetic. Temperature plays a central role in driving many phase transitions, however there are others that don’t depend on temperature at all—such as instabilities in social networks, bird flocking, and even the process of visual recognition in humans. Phase transitions represent change that impacts all length scales from the tiniest to the global, becoming permanent on time scales from the shortest to the longest. Most enigmatic are phase transitions that happen only at zero temperature, driven by the intrinsic quantum mechanical nature of matter. How are these quantum phase transitions different from temperature driven phase transitions? What are the different phases that can be explored by quantum systems at zero temperature? Living as we do at nonzero temperature, can we experience quantum phenomena that occur at zero temperature? Phase transitions and the ways in which they pattern space and time are at the heart of our developing understanding of quantum matter.

Meigan Aronson is an experimental condensed matter physicist whose research centers on the discovery and exploration of quantum materials. She received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College, and her PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After a postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory, she enjoyed faculty positions at the University of Michigan and at Stony Brook University, where she was also a group leader at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Her research uses neutron scattering to study the emergence of new phases of matter, especially novel types of order that are only found near quantum phase transitions. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Neutron Scattering Society of America, and has received the Department of Defense National Security Science and Engineering Fellowship. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and a Principal Investigator at the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute at The University of British Columbia, where she also served as Dean of the Faculty of Science.

This public lecture was recorded at Aspen Center for Physics on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. Thank you to the Nick and Maggie DeWolf Foundation for making our winter lecture series possible since 1985.

#quantumphasetransitions #spin #quantummechanics #neutronscattering #quantumphases #physics

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/quantum-phase-transitions-hidden-patterns-in-space-and-time-with-meigan-aronson/feed 0 Harnessing gravity to create a low-cost microfluidic device for rapid cell analysis https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/harnessing-gravity-to-create-a-low-cost-microfluidic-device-for-rapid-cell-analysis https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/harnessing-gravity-to-create-a-low-cost-microfluidic-device-for-rapid-cell-analysis#respond Sat, 01 Mar 2025 10:16:36 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/harnessing-gravity-to-create-a-low-cost-microfluidic-device-for-rapid-cell-analysis

A team of researchers at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University has developed an innovative artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, low-cost device that will make flow cytometry—a technique used to analyze cells or particles in a fluid using a laser beam—affordable and accessible.

The prototype identifies and counts cells from unpurified blood samples with similar accuracy as the more expensive and bulky conventional flow cytometers, provides results within minutes and is significantly cheaper and compact, making it highly attractive for point-of-care clinical applications, particularly in low-resource and rural areas.

Peter Lillehoj, the Leonard and Mary Elizabeth Shankle Associate Professor of Bioengineering, and Kevin McHugh, assistant professor of bioengineering and chemistry, led the development of this new device. The study was published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/03/harnessing-gravity-to-create-a-low-cost-microfluidic-device-for-rapid-cell-analysis/feed 0 Contamination detection tool merges synthetic biology and nanotech for ultrasensitive water testing https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/contamination-detection-tool-merges-synthetic-biology-and-nanotech-for-ultrasensitive-water-testing https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/contamination-detection-tool-merges-synthetic-biology-and-nanotech-for-ultrasensitive-water-testing#respond Fri, 28 Feb 2025 09:17:27 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/contamination-detection-tool-merges-synthetic-biology-and-nanotech-for-ultrasensitive-water-testing

A platform developed nearly 20 years ago previously used to detect protein interactions with DNA and conduct accurate COVID-19 testing has been repurposed to create a highly sensitive water contamination detection tool.

The technology merges two exciting fields— and nanotechnology—to create a new platform for chemical monitoring. When tuned to detect different contaminants, the technology could detect the metals lead and cadmium at concentrations down to two and one parts per billion, respectively, in a matter of minutes.

The paper was published this week in the journal ACS Nano and represents research from multiple disciplines within Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/contamination-detection-tool-merges-synthetic-biology-and-nanotech-for-ultrasensitive-water-testing/feed 0 The Biggest AI for Biology Yet Writes Genomes From Scratch https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/the-biggest-ai-for-biology-yet-writes-genomes-from-scratch https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/the-biggest-ai-for-biology-yet-writes-genomes-from-scratch#respond Thu, 27 Feb 2025 23:06:04 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/the-biggest-ai-for-biology-yet-writes-genomes-from-scratch

A new algorithm, Evo 2, trained on roughly 128,000 genomes—9.3 trillion DNA letter pairs—spanning all of life’s domains, is now the largest generative AI model for biology to date. Built by scientists at the Arc Institute, Stanford University, and Nvidia, Evo 2 can write whole chromosomes and small genomes from scratch.

It also learned how DNA mutations affect proteins, RNA, and overall health, shining light on “non-coding” regions, in particular. These mysterious sections of DNA don’t make proteins but often control gene activity and are linked to diseases.

The team has released Evo 2’s software code and model parameters to the scientific community for further exploration. Researchers can also access the tool through a user-friendly web interface. With Evo 2 as a foundation, scientists may develop more specific AI models. These could predict how mutations affect a protein’s function, how genes operate differently across cell types, or even help researchers design new genomes for synthetic biology.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/the-biggest-ai-for-biology-yet-writes-genomes-from-scratch/feed 0 Introducing NEO Gamma | Another Step Closer to Home https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/introducing-neo-gamma-another-step-closer-to-home https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/introducing-neo-gamma-another-step-closer-to-home#respond Thu, 27 Feb 2025 18:10:08 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/introducing-neo-gamma-another-step-closer-to-home

It is unclear if this is an autonomous robot, but I want one.🤖

NEO Gamma is the next generation of home humanoids designed and engineered by 1X Technologies. The Gamma series includes improvements across NEO’s hardware and AI, featuring a new design that is deeply considerate of life at home. The future of Home Humanoids is here.

Website: www.1x.tech.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/introducing-neo-gamma-another-step-closer-to-home/feed 0 Dr. Sean Gibbons, Ph.D. — Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) — Microbes, Ecology And Medicine https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/dr-sean-gibbons-ph-d-institute-for-systems-biology-isb-microbes-ecology-and-medicine https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/dr-sean-gibbons-ph-d-institute-for-systems-biology-isb-microbes-ecology-and-medicine#comments Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:03:25 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/dr-sean-gibbons-ph-d-institute-for-systems-biology-isb-microbes-ecology-and-medicine

Microbes, Ecology And Medicine — Dr. Sean M. Gibbons, Ph.D. — Associate Professor, Institute for Systems Biology (ISB)

Dr. Sean Gibbons, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB — https://isbscience.org/people/sean-gibbons-phd/?tab=biography where his lab investigates how the structure and composition of evolving ecological networks of microorganisms change across environmental gradients, with a specific focus on how ecological communities in the gut change and adapt to individual people over their lifespans (i.e. host genotype, host development and host behavior) and how these changes impact human health (https://gibbons.isbscience.org/). His lab develops computational and experimental tools for investigating host-associated microbial communities to explore the interactions between ecology, evolution and ecosystem function, applying these insights to develop personalized interventions for improving human health and well-being.

Dr. Gibbons received his PhD in biophysical sciences from the University of Chicago in 2015, dual-advised by Jack Gilbert and Maureen Coleman. His graduate work focused on using microbial communities as empirical models for testing ecological theory.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/dr-sean-gibbons-ph-d-institute-for-systems-biology-isb-microbes-ecology-and-medicine/feed 1 From slime molds to corporations, traveling networks chart a new path https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/from-slime-molds-to-corporations-traveling-networks-chart-a-new-path https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/from-slime-molds-to-corporations-traveling-networks-chart-a-new-path#respond Thu, 27 Feb 2025 08:18:54 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/from-slime-molds-to-corporations-traveling-networks-chart-a-new-path

You can learn a lot from a little slime mold. For Nate Cira, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in Cornell Engineering, the tiny eukaryotic organism provided inspiration for modeling “traveling networks”—connected systems that move by rearranging their structure.

Understanding these networks could help explain the structures and movements of certain biological systems and human organizations, from protein units that reassemble themselves to corporations expanding their product lines.

The findings were published Feb. 26 in Nature Communications.

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]]> https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/from-slime-molds-to-corporations-traveling-networks-chart-a-new-path/feed 0 How to Make Superbabies https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/how-to-make-superbabies https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/how-to-make-superbabies#respond Mon, 24 Feb 2025 20:21:33 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/02/how-to-make-superbabies

Working in the field of genetics is a bizarre experience. No one seems to be interested in the most interesting applications of their research.

We’ve spent the better part of the last two decades unravelling exactly how the human genome works and which specific letter changes in our DNA affect things like diabetes risk or college graduation rates. Our knowledge has advanced to the point where, if we had a safe and reliable means of modifying genes in embryos, we could literally create superbabies. Children that would live multiple decades longer than their non-engineered peers, have the raw intellectual horsepower to do Nobel prize worthy scientific research, and very rarely suffer from depression or other mental health disorders.

The scientific establishment, however, seems to not have gotten the memo. If you suggest we engineer the genes of future generations to make their lives better, they will often make some frightened noises, mention “ethical issues” without ever clarifying what they mean, or abruptly change the subject. It’s as if humanity invented electricity and decided the only interesting thing to do with it was make washing machines.

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