Lifeboat Foundation

Jan Scheuermann was one of the first volunteers on DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program and became a pioneer in the field of brain-machine interface, controlling first an advanced robotic arm, and then a simulated jet, with her mind alone. The New Yorker tells her story in exquisite detail, along with the story of Nathan Copeland, the volunteer who followed Jan in the research and put his own spin on how it unfolded.

A neuroscientist’s research into the mysteries of motion helps a paralyzed woman escape her body.

“With our technology, we can engineer any tissue type, and after transplantation we can efficiently regenerate any diseased or injured organ — a heart after a heart attack, a brain after trauma or with Parkinson’s disease, a spinal cord after injury”

Breakthrough development uses a patient’s own stomach cells, cutting the risk of an immune response to implanted organs.

A GENETICALLY modified virus that kills cancer cells and destroys their hiding places has been developed by British scientists.

It targets both cancer cells and healthy cells that are tricked into protecting the cancer from the immune system.

The role of fibroblasts is to hold different types of organs together but they can get hijacked by cancer cells to become cancer-associated fibroblasts or CAFs.

Continue reading “Brit scientists develop genetically modified virus that kills cancer cells” »

Researchers at Virginia Tech are excited by a new drug that could help stop brain cancer spreading before it can do even more damage.

Despite being necessary for normal bodily functions, fluid in our bodies can sometimes work against us when we try to contain the spread of deadly conditions, such as brain cancer.

With glioblastoma, the deadliest of brain cancer, this fluid operates at a much higher pressure, resulting in the cancerous cells spreading across the brain at a much faster rate. To make things worse, one of the most common types of cancer therapy – whereby a catheter places a drug directly into the tumour – can accelerate the spread of cancer cells.

On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Commander Riker had an impressive ability to receive head wounds. Luckily for him, Dr. Crusher could whip out the “dermal regenerator,” a handheld sci-fi tool that healed skin wounds with a colorful laser.

In early tests, this laser-activated silk and gold material held wounds together better than stitches or glue.

There are many types of surgery for sleep apnea. Your doctor might recommend one of them if other treatments, such as oxygen therapy or a CPAP machine, aren’t working for you. We’ll go over the different surgical options, including how they’re done, which ones are most effective, and their risks.

In 1922 scientists went to a hospital ward with diabetic children, most of them comatose and dying from diabetic keto-acidosis (DKA). This is known as one of medicine’s most incredible moments. Imagine a room full of parents sitting at the bedside waiting for the inevitable death of their child.

What are the values of religion in the 21st century? As we continue accelerating towards a new scientific and technological era, it shouldn’t be a surprise to find an increasing number of people adhering to secular values and skeptical critical thinking. But then religion persists. Interestingly, while newer religions are emerging, they’re subsequently accommodating this new era into their philosophical belief structure.

In this cyborg religion, being against science and technology is a sin! Then again, so is having sex and doing drugs. Bummer!

The new service lets consumers contribute to medical research, but still poses privacy concerns.

• By Karen Weintraub on November 17, 2018