Archive for the ‘bioengineering’ category: Page 167
Dec 31, 2017
The fourth state of matter, plasma: A technology to improve bone healing?
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, food, life extension, weapons
Cold plasma looks like the glow from the “Star Wars” blue lightsaber but this beam of energy, made of electrons that change polarity at micro-second or nanosecond speeds, could help bones heal faster, according to a study published August 11th in the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.
Most people interact with plasma every day. It’s in our TVs, fluorescent lights, lightning, the aurora borealis, and the sun. However, these are all examples of hot or “thermal” plasmas. Since the discovery of cold plasma, about 20 years ago, it has been used in agriculture to sterilize the surface of fruit without damaging the delicate edibles. More recently, scientists have been performing experiments treating living animal cells and tissues with cold plasma to learn more about its potential applications in medicine.
“We’ve previously studied how different applications of cold plasma can either directly kill cells, such as in skin cancer, or help them grow, as in developing bones. In this study, we asked how cold plasma would affect the area surrounding cells, known as the extracellular matrix,” says lead author Theresa Freeman, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. The extracellular matrix around cells is made of collagen and other proteins that interact with the cells and can influence their growth and behavior. For example, the extracellular matrix can either promote or inhibit bone formation or cancer cell growth and metastasis.
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Dec 29, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — Cosmos Connection
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, complex systems, cryonics, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, life extension
Dec 28, 2017
Faster, stronger, better jumpers: Genetically engineered ‘super-horses’ to be born in 2019
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics
Scientists, who had previously cloned polo ponies, have achieved yet another breakthrough in their work that could lead to the creation of genetically engineered “super-horses” that are faster, stronger and better jumpers than regular horses within two years.
Scientists in Argentina reportedly managed to rewrite the genomes of cloned horses by using a powerful DNA editing technique called CRISPR. They also produced healthy embryos that are now expected to be implanted into a surrogate mother by 2019.
CRISPR, an acronym that stands for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeats, is basically a technique in a bacteria’s immune system. When a virus invades a bacterial cell, the CRISPR system captures a piece of the virus’s DNA and slides it into a section of the bacteria’s own DNA, allowing it to detect and destroy the virus as well as similar viruses in future attacks.
Dec 27, 2017
Crispr Isn’t Enough Any More. Get Ready for Gene Editing 2.0
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, transportation
Usually, when we’ve referred to Crispr, we’ve really meant Crispr/Cas9—a riboprotein complex composed of a short strand of RNA and an efficient DNA-cutting enzyme. It did for biology and medicine what the Model T did for manufacturing and transportation; democratizing access to a revolutionary technology and disrupting the status quo in the process. Crispr has already been used to treat cancer in humans, and it could be in clinical trials to cure genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia as soon as next year.
But like the Model T, Crispr Classic is somewhat clunky, unreliable, and a bit dangerous. It can’t bind to just any place in the genome. It sometimes cuts in the wrong places. And it has no off-switch. If the Model T was prone to overheating, Crispr Classic is prone to overeating.
Even with these limitations, Crispr Classic will continue to be a workhorse for science in 2018 and beyond. But this year, newer, flashier gene editing tools began rolling off the production line, promising to outshine their first-generation cousin. So if you were just getting your head around Crispr, buckle up. Because gene-editing 2.0 is here.
Dec 26, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — The Becoming SuperHuman Podcast
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, cryonics, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, science
Tags: aging, anti-aging, biotech, biotechnology, healthspan, immortality, lifespan, longevity
Dec 22, 2017
The US Just Ended Its Own Ban on Engineering Deadly Viruses in The Lab
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: bioengineering, government, health
The US federal government has lifted an enforced moratorium on funding research into how to make viruses deadlier and more transmissible.
The moratorium, which was imposed three years ago, froze funding for what’s called “gain of function” research: controversial experiments seeking to alter pathogens and make them even more dangerous. Now, the money is back on the table, giving those trials the green light once more.
The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis S. Collins, announced the lifting of the moratorium on Tuesday, saying gain of function (GOF) research with viruses like influenza, MERS, and SARS could help us “identify, understand, and develop strategies and effective countermeasures against rapidly evolving pathogens that pose a threat to public health”.
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Dec 21, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — Beyond Confidence — Biotechnology and Human Health
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, life extension, neuroscience
Dec 20, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — Make 90 the new 50! — Healing Ties Podcast
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, cryonics, DNA, genetics, health, life extension, science, transhumanism
Dec 16, 2017
Organized Crime Is Being Decentralized
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: 3D printing, bioengineering, biological
Every time there’s a new technology, criminals immediately take advantage of it, explains Steven Kotler. It’s only a matter of time before they find new, nefarious uses for 3D printing and synthetic biology.