Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,109

Is Sex for Reproduction About to Become Extinct?

As the coming genetic revolution plays out, we’ll still have sex for most of the same reasons we do today. But we’ll increasingly not do it to procreate.

Another rocket booster will be the application of gene editing technologies like CRISPR to edit the genomes of pre-implanted embryos or of the sperm and eggs used to create them. Just this week, Chinese researchers announced they had used CRISPR to edit the CCR5 gene in the pre-implanted embryos of a pair of Chinese twins to make them immune to HIV, the first ever case of gene editing humans and a harbinger of our genetically engineered future. The astounding complexity of the human genome will put limits on our ability to safely make too many simultaneous genetic changes to human embryos, but our ability and willingness to make these types of alterations to our future children will grow over time along with our knowledge and technological ability.

With so much at stake, prospective parents will increasingly have a stark choice when determining how to conceive their children. If they go the traditional route of sex, they will experience both the benign wisdom and unfathomable cruelty of nature. If they use IVF and increasingly informed embryo selection, they will eliminate most single gene mutation diseases and likely increase their children’s chances of living a longer and healthier life with more opportunity than their unenhanced peers. But the optimizing parents could also set up their children for misery if these children don’t particularly enjoy what they have been optimized to become or see themselves as some type of freakish consumer product with emotions.

But although there will be pros and cons on each side, the fight between conception through good old-fashioned sex and conception in the lab will ultimately not be fair. Differences and competition within and between societies will pressure parents and societies to adopt ever more aggressive forms of reproductive technology if they believe doing so will open possibilities and create opportunities for the next generations rather than close them.

Blood test method may predict Alzheimer’s protein deposits in brain

Researchers report an advance in the development of a blood test that could help detect pathological Alzheimer’s disease in people who are showing signs of dementia. This approach could be less invasive and less costly than current brain imaging and spinal fluid tests. The blood test detects the abnormal accumulation of a form of tau protein known as phosphorylated-tau-181 (ptau181), which is a biomarker that suggests brain changes from Alzheimer’s. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published on March 2 in Nature Medicine.

Over the past 15 years, research advances in the development of biomarkers like tau protein have enabled investigators to more accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, select research participants, and measure response to investigational therapies. Tau and other biomarkers can be detected with PET scans of the brain and lab tests of spinal fluid. However, PET imaging is expensive and involves radioactive agents, and spinal fluid tests require spinal taps, which are invasive, complex and time-consuming. Simpler biomarker tests are still needed.

“The considerable time and resources required for screening research participants with PET scans and spinal taps slow the pace of enrollment for Alzheimer’s disease treatment studies,” said Richard J. Hodes, M.D., director of NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA), which funded much of the study. “The development of a blood test would enable us to rapidly screen a much larger and more diverse group of volunteers who wish to enroll in studies.”

Scientists now believe there are nine “causes” of our decline, the nine horsemen of an internal apocalypse

1️⃣ Genomic Instability 2️⃣ Telomere Attrition 3️⃣ Epigenetic Alterations 4️⃣ Loss of Proteostasis 5️⃣ Nutrient Sensing Goes Awry 6️⃣ Mitochondrial Dysfunction 7️⃣ Cellular Senescence 8️⃣ Stem Cell Exhaustion 9️⃣ Altered Intercellular Communication.

Explore these horsemen and the strategies being deployed to defeat this decline in Chapter 10 — The Future of #Longevity ➡️ futurefasterbook.com

Alibaba’s new AI system can detect coronavirus in seconds with 96% accuracy

Chinese technology giant Alibaba recently developed an AI system for diagnosing the COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Alibaba’s like Amazon, Microsoft, a video game company, and a nation-wide healthcare network all rolled into one with every branch being fed solutions from the company’s world-class AI department.

Per a report from Nikkei’s Asian Review (h/t TechSpot), Alibaba claims its new system can detect coronavirus in CT scans of patients’ chests with 96% accuracy against viral pneumonia cases. And it only takes 20 seconds for the AI to make a determination – according to the report, humans generally take about 15 minutes to diagnose the illness as there can be upwards of 300 images to evaluate.

Is Aging a Disease?

However, labeling aging itself as a disease is both misleading and detrimental. Pathologizing a universal process makes it seem toxic. In our youth-obsessed society, ageism already runs rampant in Hollywood, the job market, and even presidential races. And calling aging a disease doesn’t address critical questions about why we age in the first place. Instead of calling aging a disease, scientists should aim to identify and treat the underlying processes that cause aging and age-related cellular deterioration.

Aging is associated with heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cancer, but what’s underlying all that?

Researchers say coronavirus likely spread silently in Washington for weeks

Wuhan coronavirus pandemic — washington state.

Scientists suggest it has spread in King County for 6 weeks already.

“That being so, Bedford and other researchers believe the virus has likely been spreading through the community undetected for close to six weeks. Researchers estimate that could mean anywhere from 150 to 1,500 people have been infected here, with the most likely number being between 300 and 500.”

COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, may have been spreading in Washington state for weeks undetected, according to researchers at the Seattle Flu Study.

1 more death, 3 new cases of coronavirus reported in King County

Hours after a press conference Saturday announcing new cases of the virus in King County, including the first U.S. death, researchers took to Twitter to reveal results of a genome analysis. The analysis strongly suggested the case of the virus confirmed Friday in a Snohomish County teen from Jackson High School descended from the county’s only other confirmed case – the first U.S. case – way back in mid-January.

Continue reading “Researchers say coronavirus likely spread silently in Washington for weeks” | >

Cyborgs, Robots, And Biohackers: The First-Ever Survey of Transhumanism

the photo series by vintner and fletcher illustrates three gradual stages of transhumanism from ‘testing ground’, ‘patient zero’ to ‘humanity 2.0’. at the lowest tier, ‘testing ground’ looks into individuals who have created wearable technology to expand their human abilities, improving everything from concentration to mental health.‘patient zero’ studies those who have taken permanent action to become half human and half robot. in the final chapter, ‘humanity 2.0’, the transhumanist subjects focus on life extension and immortality.