Lifeboat Foundation

Dr. Nick Melosh at the BrainMind Summit hosted at Stanford, interviewed by BrainMind member Christian Bailey.

Nick Melosh is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Nick’s research at Stanford focuses on how to design new inorganic structures to seamlessly integrate with biological systems to address problems that are not feasible by other means. This involves both fundamental work such as to deeply understand how lipid membranes interact with inorganic surfaces, electrokinetic phenomena in biologically relevant solutions, and applying this knowledge into new device designs. Examples of this include “nanostraw” drug delivery platforms for direct delivery or extraction of material through the cell wall using a biomimetic gap-junction made using nanoscale semiconductor processing techniques. We also engineer materials and structures for neural interfaces and electronics pertinent to highly parallel data acquisition and recording. For instance, we have created inorganic electrodes that mimic the hydrophobic banding of natural transmembrane proteins, allowing them to ‘fuse’ into the cell wall, providing a tight electrical junction for solid-state patch clamping. In addition to significant efforts at engineering surfaces at the molecular level, we also work on ‘bridge’ projects that span between engineering and biological/clinical needs. My long history with nano-and microfabrication techniques and their interactions with biological constructs provide the skills necessary to fabricate and analyze new bio-electronic systems.”

Continue reading “Nanotechnology meets Neuroscience — Nicholas Melosh at BrainMind” »

Gabriel Kreiman is a Professor at Harvard Medical School. He is on faculty at Children’s Hospital and the Center for Brain Science at Harvard University. He is Associate Director and Thrust Leader in the Harvard/MIT Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines. He received his MSc and PhD from the California Institute of Technology and pursued postdoctoral work with Professor Poggio at MIT.

The Kreiman laboratory combines behavioral metrics, neurophysiological recordings and computational models to understand cognitive function and to build biologically inspired Artificial Intelligence systems. Kreiman’s work has focused on two main themes: understanding the transformation of pixel-like inputs into rich and complex visual percepts; and elucidating the subjectively filters incoming inputs to create lasting narratives that constitute the fabric of our personal experiences and knowledge.

In 1959, Richard Feynman made the famous assertion that one day we will be able to swallow the surgeon. Advancements in nanomedicine are making that dream come true. Nanoroboticist Metin Sitti shows the tiny robot that can take pictures, biopsy, and deliver medicine inside of you.

Watch the full program here: https://youtu.be/FzFY5ms3AUc.
Original program date: May 30, 2013

Continue reading “The Nanorobot Surgeon You Can Swallow” »

Science fiction has become a reality with recent developments toward biohacking through nanotechnology. Soon, science and industries may soon realize the potential of human hacking… but at what risk versus reward? Medical nanotechnology is one of these such topics. Many experts believe nanotechnology will pave the way for a bright, new future in improving our wellbeing. Yet, at the core of this biohacking are machines and as we’ve seen with other technologies — there are very real risks of malicious intent. In this video, we share some of the applications being developed combining nanotechnology and medicine. We also look at the potential risks found in the practice and how we may mitigate issues before they’re problematic. We also share how companies can reduce security flaws and curb public perception so the nanotechnology industry can flourish without major setbacks. Want to learn more about this budding area of science and medicine?

See our accompanying blog post for the details and be sure to dig around the site, here:

Continue reading “Nanotechnology: Hacking Humans, Its Potential, and Real Risks” »

Many of the proteins that play a crucial role in living cells adhere to a core principle of biology: their form, or shape, fits their function. But there is also a vast number of proteins and their parts that defy that dogma.

Why it matters: New findings are revealing how these flexible, disordered proteins work — and deciphering their role in human diseases and potential treatments.

How it works: Whether many medicines, immune cells, or the moment-to-moment inner workings of cells function depends on the shape of proteins they interact with or use.

Top 10 upcoming future technologies | trending technologies | 10 upcoming tech.

Future technologies are currently developing at an acclerated rate. Future technology ideas are being converted into real life at a very fast pace.

Continue reading “10 Upcoming Future Technologies: How They’ll Impact Your Life” »

The organoids can be used to study the development of diseases and the effects of drugs.

Michael Helmrath, a pediatric surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and his colleagues made headlines last week when they revealed trials where they had transplanted balls of human intestinal tissue into mice, according to a report by *Wired* published on Thursday.

After a few weeks, these transplants developed key features of the human immune system, introducing a model that could be used to effectively simulate the human intestinal system.

Continue reading “Scientists Grew Mini Human Guts Inside Mice” »

A powerful plant-derived toxin with a unique way of killing harmful bacteria has been identified as one of the most promising new antibiotics in decades.

Albicidin, a new antibiotic, is produced by the plant pathogen Xanthomonas albilineans, responsible for causing sugar cane’s destructive leaf scald disease. The toxin is believed to aid the pathogen’s spread by attacking the plant. Albicidin has been shown to be highly effective against harmful bacteria, including drug-resistant superbugs such as E. coli and S. aureus.

Despite its antibiotic potential and low toxicity in pre-clinical experiments, pharmaceutical development of albicidin has been hampered because scientists did not know precisely how it interacted with its target, the bacterial enzyme DNA.

In a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell on February 2, researchers show that brain organoids—clumps of lab-grown neurons—can integrate with rat brains and respond to visual stimulation like flashing lights.

Decades of research has shown that we can transplant individual human and rodent neurons into rodent brains, and, more recently, it has been demonstrated that human brain organoids can integrate with developing rodent brains. However, whether these organoid grafts can functionally integrate with the visual system of injured adult brains has yet to be explored.

“We focused on not just transplanting individual cells, but actually transplanting tissue,” says senior author H. Isaac Chen, a physician and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. “Brain organoids have architecture; they have structure that resembles the brain. We were able to look at individual neurons within this structure to gain a deeper understanding of the integration of transplanted organoids.”