Most definitely and quantum bio will be used to stimulate our immune systems. It is coming.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
The human immune system is powerful and complex.
It can identify and destroy invaders of nearly infinite variety, yet spare the more than 30 trillion cells of the healthy body.
During the ‘in vivo’ reprogramming process, cellular telomeres are extended due to an increase in endogenous telomerase. This is the main conclusion of a paper published in Stem Cell Reports by a team from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO). Their observations show, for the first time, that the reprogramming of living tissue results in telomerase activation and telomere elongation; thus reversing one of the hallmarks of aging: ‘the presence of short telomeres’.
“We have found that when you induce cell dedifferentiation in an adult organism, the telomeres become longer, which is consistent with cellular rejuvenation”, explains María A. Blasco, head of the CNIO Telomeres and Telomerase Group and leader of this research. This lengthening of the telomeres is an unequivocal sign of cell rejuvenation, which has been quantified for the first time here in a living organism.
Blasco and her colleagues have worked with the so-called “reprogrammable mice” –created by Manuel Serrano, also a CNIO researcher, whose group is also involved in this project. Broadly speaking, the cells of these transgenic animals carry the four Yamanaka factors (OSKM) whose expression is turned on when an antibiotic is administered. In doing so, the cells regress to an embryonic-like state, a condition known as known as pluripotency.
Posted in biotech/medical, genetics
When I saw this article, I chuckled. Although the article zeros in on CRISPR, we could in some ways claim humans have already been altered by various stimulates over time especially as we look at steroids, botox to improve neuro & nerve ending activities, etc.
Humans continue to accomplish technological feats that change the world as we know it, often doing so in such fundamental ways that the previous generation scarcely recognizes the new society. Those of us in our late teens and early 20s will not be immune to this fate. We too will not recognize our planet, and it will be sooner than later.
For the past few decades, scientists have been toying with a piece of prokaryotic DNA that enables these single-celled organisms to defend themselves from viral invaders. CRISPR, as it is abbreviated, allows prokaryotes to remove the DNA that viruses insert into their genome, which, left unattended to, forces a hijacked cell to manufacture new viruses. CRISPR edits a cell’s DNA, cutting out sequences that do not belong. However, its potential goes beyond this function.
For humans, the technology behind harnessing CRISPR could empower us to alter our own genetic code. With this power, as the saying goes, comes great responsibility. And with this power comes great risk.
In Brief
IBM understands the unique nature of its artificial intelligence (AI) software assistant Watson, and so they are not taking the direct consumer approach of Siri, Cortana, Alexa, or Google’s Assistant.
In partnership with H&R Block, Watson is being trained “on the language of taxes,” according to IBM’s press release announcing Watson’s new role as the world’s first AI tax preparation assistant.
In Brief Research by Russian scientists has revealed the efficacy of cold plasma as a treatment for non-healing wounds. Their study conclusions could lead to much-needed relief for the millions of people suffering from chronic open wounds.
Non-healing wounds are troublesome to treat, with current methods teetering between extremely difficult and impossible, but cold plasma might be able to change all that.
Researchers have attempted to use cold atmospheric-pressure plasma — a partially ionized gas with a proportion of charged particles close to 1 percent and a temperature of 99,726°C (179,540ºF) — for medical treatment before, but never specifically for non-healing wounds. Apart from confirming the bactericidal properties of cold plasma and showing that cells and tissues have a high resistance to it, those earlier studies yielded non-conclusive results.
Check out our campaign today: https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/cellage-targeting-senescen…c-biology/
