Almost anywhere in the world, an HIV-infected woman who has an uninfected partner and wants to have a baby would be first in line to receive ARVs. The challenges Katia faced in getting treatment amid Russia’s epidemic highlight the country’s faltering response, which critics have blasted as misguided, lackadaisical, and downright dismissive. Some federal health officials even question the term epidemic. “This is a very large and very serious epidemic, and certainly one of the few epidemics in the world that continues to get worse rather than get better,” says Vinay Saldanha, the Moscow-based regional director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “This is a public health crisis.”
The government has begun to confront its shortcomings, but critics want more aggressive change.
July 12th sees us launch our first conference in New York City dedicated to the field of rejuvenation biotechnology, the science that seeks to end age-related diseases forever.
At the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, Cooper Union in New York City, we will be hosting a special one-day conference focused on aging research and biotech investment. Developing therapies from initial concepts, through clinical testing, and ultimately to market takes a pipeline, and right now, that p…
Autonomous deliveries and drones
UPS execs insist that the UPS driver is a core element to its success and the face of the company, but they have tested the use of drone deliveries for some applications including dropping essential supplies in Rwanda and demonstrating how medicine could be delivered to islands. In rural areas, where drones have open air to execute deliveries and the distance between stops makes it challenging for the drivers to be efficient, drones launched from the roofs of UPS trucks offer a solid solution to cut costs and improve service. Drones could also be deployed in UPS sorting facilities and warehouses to get items on high shelves or in remote areas.
The technology used by UPS generates a cache of data that opens up even more opportunities to become more efficient, improve the customer experience, innovate delivery solutions, and more. From optimizing the UPS network to driving operational improvements, big data and artificial intelligence are at the core of UPS’s business performance.
Microsoft is “all-in” on building a quantum computer and is making advancements “every day”, according to one of the company’s top experts on the technology.
Julie Love (above), Director of Quantum Computing, called the firm’s push to build the next generation of computer technology “one of the biggest disruptive bets we have made as a company”.
Quantum computing has the potential to help humans tackle some of the world’s biggest problems in areas such as materials science, chemistry, genetics, medicine and the environment. It uses the physics of qubits to create a way of computing that can work on specific kinds of problems that are impossible with today’s computers. In theory, a problem that would take today’s machines billions of years to solve could be completed by a quantum computer in minutes, hours or days.
Posted in biotech/medical, cyborgs
A team of European scientists believes that their gene therapy research could prove to be a life-changing option for individuals who suffer from spinal cord injuries.
A research team from King’s College in London has taken a giant step toward helping paralyzed individuals regain “control of their hands.” In a recent experiment, the scientists have had success repairing spinal cord damage in rats using gene therapy.
The spinal cord is a cylindrical tube of nerve fibers and connected tissue that is enclosed within the spine. It carries instructions to virtually every part of the body, forming the central nervous system.
Even before she was born, Elianna Constantino had already cheated death.
Elianna has a rare inherited blood disorder called alpha thalassemia major, which prevents her red blood cells from forming properly. The disease, which has no cure, is usually fatal for a developing fetus.
But while still in her mother’s womb, Elianna received a highly daring treatment. Doctors isolated healthy blood stem cells from her mother and injected them through a blood vessel that runs down the umbilical cord. Four months later, Elianna was born with a loud cry and a glistening head of hair, defying all medical odds.
