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Category: chemistry – Page 109

This isn’t rocket science it’s neuroscience.

Ever since the dawn of antiquity, people have strived to improve their cognitive abilities. From the advent of the wheel to the development of artificial intelligence, technology has had a profound leverage on civilization. Cognitive enhancement or augmentation of brain functions has become a trending topic both in academic and public debates in improving physical and mental abilities. The last years have seen a plethora of suggestions for boosting cognitive functions and biochemical, physical, and behavioral strategies are being explored in the field of cognitive enhancement. Despite expansion of behavioral and biochemical approaches, various physical strategies are known to boost mental abilities in diseased and healthy individuals. Clinical applications of neuroscience technologies offer alternatives to pharmaceutical approaches and devices for diseases that have been fatal, so far. Importantly, the distinctive aspect of these technologies, which shapes their existing and anticipated participation in brain augmentations, is used to compare and contrast them. As a preview of the next two decades of progress in brain augmentation, this article presents a plausible estimation of the many neuroscience technologies, their virtues, demerits, and applications. The review also focuses on the ethical implications and challenges linked to modern neuroscientific technology. There are times when it looks as if ethics discussions are more concerned with the hypothetical than with the factual. We conclude by providing recommendations for potential future studies and development areas, taking into account future advancements in neuroscience innovation for brain enhancement, analyzing historical patterns, considering neuroethics and looking at other related forecasts.

Keywords: brain 2025, brain machine interface, deep brain stimulation, ethics, non-invasive and invasive brain stimulation.

Humans have striven to increase their mental capacities since ancient times. From symbolic language, writing and the printing press to mathematics, calculators and computers, mankind has devised and employed tools to record, store, and exchange thoughts and to enhance cognition. Revolutionary changes are occurring in the health care delivery system as a result of the accelerating speed of innovation and increased employment of technology to suit society’s evolving health care needs (Sullivan and Hagen, 2002). The aim of researchers working on cognitive enhancement is to understand the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms underlying cognitive capacities while theorists are rather interested in their social and ethical implications (Dresler et al., 2019; Oxley et al., 2021).

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The authors of a recent review published in Ageing Research Reviews summarize the research on epigenetic reprogramming and its potential as a rejuvenation therapy [1].

Aging leads to changes in the epigenome. Those changes can lead to alterations in gene regulation, affecting cellular homeostasis, and can play a role in age-associated phenotypes. Epigenetic modifications, the addition or removal of chemical groups to the DNA or DNA-associated proteins, have a profound impact on gene expression, tissue functions, and identity [2].

This review’s authors believe epigenetic reprogramming to be among the most currently promising interventions to stop or delay aging, potentially even reversing it at the cellular level. They believe that epigenetics are the basis of aging; therefore, being able to impact the epigenome would allow them to address multiple Hallmarks of Aging simultaneously.

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In a study published last month in mSystems, researchers from Osaka University revealed that the interaction between two common types of oral bacteria leads to the production of a chemical compound that is a major cause of smelly breath.

Bad breath is caused by that are produced when bacteria in the mouth digest substances like blood and food particles. One of the smelliest of these compounds is methyl mercaptan (CH3SH), which is produced by microbes that live around the teeth and on the surface of the tongue. However, little is known about which specific bacterial species are involved in this process.

“Most previous studies investigating CH3SH-producing oral bacteria have used isolated enzymes or relatively small culture volumes,” explains lead author of the study Takeshi Hara. “In this study, we aimed to create a more realistic environment in which to investigate CH3SH production by major .”

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Cells need energy to function. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg can now explain how energy is guided in the cell by small atomic movements to reach its destination in the protein. Imitating these structural changes of the proteins could lead to more efficient solar cells in the future.

The sun’s rays are the basis for all the energy that creates life on Earth. Photosynthesis in plants is a prime example, where solar energy is needed for the plant to grow. Special proteins absorb the sun’s rays, and the energy is transported as electrons inside the protein, in a process called . In a new study, researchers show how proteins deform to create efficient transport routes for the charges.

“We studied a protein, photolyase, in the fruit fly, whose function is to repair damaged DNA. The DNA repair is powered by solar energy, which is transported in the form of electrons along a chain of four tryptophans (amino acids). The interesting discovery is that the surrounding protein structure was reshaped in a very specific way to guide the electrons along the chain,” explains Sebastian Westenhoff, Professor of Biophysical Chemistry.

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In an experiment akin to stop-motion photography, scientists have isolated the energetic movement of an electron while “freezing” the motion of the much larger atom it orbits in a sample of liquid water.

The findings, reported in the journal Science, provide a new window into the electronic structure of molecules in the liquid phase on a timescale previously unattainable with X-rays. The new technique reveals the immediate electronic response when a target is hit with an X-ray, an important step in understanding the effects of radiation exposure on objects and people.

“The induced by radiation that we want to study are the result of the electronic response of the target that happens on the timescale,” said Linda Young, a senior author of the research and Distinguished Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory.

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Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) is an incredibly useful technique for probing material samples—but current assumptions about the process ignore some of the key time-dependent effects it involves. So far, this has resulted in overly-simplified calculations, which have ultimately prevented the technique from reaching its full potential.

In a study published in The European Physical Journal Plus Alberto Noccera at the University of British Columbia, Canada, together with Adrian Feiguin at Northeastern University, United States, developed a which offers a more precise theoretical description of the AES process, while taking its time dependence into account. Their method could help researchers to improve their quality of material analysis across a wide array of fields: including chemistry, , and microelectronics.

In the Auger process, an inner-shell electron is initially kicked out of its atom, often through an impact with an energetic light pulse. Afterward, the vacancy it leaves behind is filled by an outer-shell electron.

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Scientists have created a wood pulp hydrogel to strengthen anti-cancer medications and restore damaged cardiac tissue.

Now that they have created a novel hydrogel that can be utilised to repair damaged heart tissue and enhance cancer therapies, you can cure a broken heart on Valentine’s Day, according to SciTech Daily.

Dr Elisabeth Prince, a researcher in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo, collaborated with scientists from Duke University and the University of Toronto to design a synthetic material that is made of wood pulp-derived cellulose nanocrystals. The material’s unique biomechanical qualities are recreated by engineering it to mimic the fibrous nanostructures and characteristics of human tissues.

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New research from UBC Okanagan could make monitoring gut health easier and less painful by tapping into a common—yet often overlooked—source of information: the mucus in our digestive system that eventually becomes part of fecal matter.

Researcher Dr. Kirk Bergstrom and post-graduate student Noah Fancy of UBCO’s Biology department have discovered a non-invasive technique to study MUC2, a critical gut protein, from what we leave behind in the bathroom.

Theie findings are published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

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