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The fourth discussion of the NEW NOW program, “Transhumanism: Beyond the Human Frontier?”, took place on December 16.

Together with our guest experts, we tried to identify the latest technology that has either already become a reality or is currently in development, focusing on the ethical aspects of the consequences that ensue. We reflected on the question of whether the realization of transhumanist ideas is likely to entail a radical change in the ways people relate to one another. How far are we prepared to go in changing our bodies in order to attain these enhanced capacities? We will attempt to identify the “human frontier”, beyond which the era of posthumanism awaits.

Speakers:

James “J.” Hughes Ph.D. is a bioethicist and sociologist who serves as the Associate Provost for the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB), and as Senior Research Fellow at UMB’s Center for Applied Ethics. He holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Chicago where he taught bioethics at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Since then Dr. Hughes has taught health policy, bioethics, medical sociology and research methods at Northwestern University, the University of Connecticut, and Trinity College.

Timothy Morton is Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University. They have collaborated with Laurie Anderson, Björk, Jennifer Walshe, Hrafnhildur Arnadottir, Sabrina Scott, Adam McKay, Jeff Bridges, Olafur Eliasson, Pharrell Williams and Justin Guariglia. Morton co-wrote and appears in Living in the Future’s Past, a 2018 film about global warming with Jeff Bridges. They are the author of the libretto for the opera Time Time Time by Jennifer Walshe.

Eric Schwitzgebel. Most of Professor Eric Schwitzgebel research explores connections between empirical psychology and philosophy of mind, especially the nature of belief, the inaccuracy of our judgments about our stream of conscious experience, and the tenuous relationship between philosophical ethics and actual moral behavior.

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Aging is a complex process that can lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, muscular degeneration, atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration, and it is currently one of the major scientific concerns in the field of medicine [1].

Several strategies have been developed to date for the promotion of healthy aging and an increase in the duration of life. One of the recent strategies that can decrease the deleterious impact of aging and increase the regenerative property at the cellular level is cellular reprogramming.

Cellular reprogramming can convert a somatic cell into an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC). It not only helps to restore tissue and organ function but also helps to determine cell fate. This, in turn, helps in the maintenance of cellular identity through the expression of cell type-specific genes and suppression of lineage-inappropriate genes [2].

The patients wake up from anaesthesia with the cancer treated.

There’s a new robotic technology that finds lung cancer early and also has the ability to treat it at the same time, according to a report by CBS Philadelphia.

The American Lung Association’s annual report revealed that lung cancer survival rates are on the rise thanks partially to this new technology. The five-year survival rate is now estimated at 25%.

One example of this success is Kathleen McGinn, who found her cancer early and treated it with the new robotic procedure. “I’m very optimistic for my future,” McGinn told CBS.


“We’re up to 25% survival at five years, which is significantly up from the 17% survival in 2015. We attribute most of this to early detection, better treatments and systemic therapies for patients who have lung cancer that spread to other parts of the body,” said Dr. Bobby Mahajan with the American Lung Association said.

Patients who never smoked.

A mechanism has been discovered that regulates cellular levels of tau, a protein whose aberrant accumulation is at the root of tauopathies, a class of devastating neurodegenerative diseases.

The finding was discovered in the laboratory of Michel Cayouette, director of cellular neurobiology research at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) and a medical professor at the University of Montreal.

The research, which was recently published in the journal Science Advances, demonstrates how the protein known as ‘numb’ regulates intracellular tau levels, making numb a potential therapeutic agent for tauopathies.

Back pain is a common condition with numerous causes, including poor posture, overexertion, constant stress at work or at home, lack of exercise, and poor posture. For a considerable number of patients, the symptoms are chronic, meaning they last a long period or reoccur repeatedly. However, port and exercise therapy, when done properly, can provide alleviation.

Physiotherapy, as well as strength and stability exercises, are common treatment options. But how can the treatment be as effective as possible? Which method reduces pain the most effectively? A recent meta-analysis published in the Journal of Pain by Goethe University Frankfurt revealed new insights.

The researchers began with data from 58 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving over 10,000 individuals suffering from chronic low back pain throughout the globe. The relevant data from the original manuscripts were first filtered out and then analyzed in groups. When analyzing this data, the researchers looked at whether and how conventional forms of therapy and individualized treatment varied in terms of outcome. “Individualized” refers to some kind of personal coaching where therapists precisely target the needs and potentials of each patient and collaborate with them to choose the course of their treatment.

“There are no hard limits imposed by biology or by physics that says that we can’t live better longer,” Kristen Fortney, CEO of San Francisco-based BioAge Labs, told the outlet. Focused on discerning the markers of aging, BioAge Labs is using large amounts of biobank blood and tissue samples to do so.

The company has already found a drug target that slows aging-linked muscle loss in mice.

“There is a protein called apelin that circulates in the blood, and we saw that middle-aged people with higher levels of apelin in their blood were living longer, with better muscle function and better cognitive function as they age,” Fortney said, according to Express.

A new study in an animal model of aging indicates a potential reason for why women who have early menopause or other genetic conditions affecting the reproductive system are more prone to develop cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia.

The new study, led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC and published in the journal Aging Cell, found that disrupting a process called meiosis in C. elegans reproductive cells caused a decline in the worms’ health and triggered an accelerated aging gene signature similar to that of aging humans.

“This study is exciting because it’s the first direct evidence that manipulating the health of reproductive cells leads to premature aging and a decline in healthspan,” said senior author Arjumand Ghazi, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics, developmental biology, and cell biology and physiology at Pitt and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “The implications of this finding are profound: It suggests that the status of the reproductive system is important not simply to produce children, but also for overall health.”