Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 9890

A team of Tufts University-led researchers has developed three-dimensional (3D) human tissue culture models for the central nervous system that mimic structural and functional features of the brain and demonstrate neural activity sustained over a period of many months. With the ability to populate a 3D matrix of silk protein and collagen with cells from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions, the tissue models allow for the exploration of cell interactions, disease progression and response to treatment. The development and characterization of the models are reported today in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

The new 3D brain tissue models overcome a key challenge of previous models –the availability of human source neurons. This is due to the fact that neurological tissues are rarely removed from healthy patients and are usually only available post-mortem from diseased patients. The 3D tissue models are instead populated with human induced (iPSCs) that can be derived from many sources, including patient skin. The iPSCs are generated by turning back the clock on cell development to their embryonic-like precursors. They can then be dialed forward again to any cell type, including neurons.

The 3D brain tissue models were the result of a collaborative effort between engineering and the medical sciences and included researchers from Tufts University School of Engineering, Tufts University School of Medicine, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, and the Jackson Laboratory.

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Made from a synthetic version of the highly-prized sapphire gemstone, new transparent armor is lighter, thinner and pulverizes bullets on impact.

Currently used by the military on powerful missile launchers and state-of-the-art fighter jets, the unusual transparent armor also has wide-ranging potential to protect troops on the battlefield.

Sapphire gems have long been sought after for their stunning blue beauty, but synthetic sapphires are prized for combat applications. The sapphire is harvested synthetically, producing pure sapphires that are transparent like glass — instead of the iconic blue.

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Michael Schein: How did you end up working at the forefront of biology and technology?

Andrew Hessel: I have the strangest career ever. I originally got into the life sciences simply because all the other areas of technology just weren’t that interesting to me. Most technology falls apart and ends up in the junkyard. Cars rust. Even buildings can burn down. But biotech is different because even though organisms die, DNA gets passes on. Unfortunately, as I quickly learned, most scientists make really crappy money. So I thought: Let me find a way to pursue what I’m interested in but in a way that lets me make a good living. With that in mind, I’ve detoured into a medley of different technology companies. Eventually I made my way to work that’s at the intersection of biological research and computers. That’s how I ended up doing what I do now.

Schein: Tell us about the specific kind of biotech that takes up most of your headspace these days.

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For many years, quantum computers were not much more than an idea. Today, companies, governments and intelligence agencies are investing in the development of quantum technology. Robert König, professor for the theory of complex quantum systems at the TUM, in collaboration with David Gosset from the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo and Sergey Bravyi from IBM, has now placed a cornerstone in this promising field.

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This video is the second in a multi-part series discussing computing. In this video, we’ll be discussing computing – more specifically, Moore’s Law with the exponential growth of technology due to our ability to pack more and more transistors into integrated circuits and the potential death of Moore’s Law!

[0:30–3:50] Starting off we’ll look at, how the integrated circuit has shaped the world due to our ability to pack more and more transistors into them, more specifically, in their usage in computing in the form of microprocessors (CPUs) and other computation related hardware.

[3:50–7:11] Following that we’ll discuss, how the transistor will continue to shrink onwards from this year, 2017 and the latest innovations that can shrink them even further, such as FinFETs.

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Earlier this year, we hosted the Ending Age-Related Diseases 2018 conference at the Cooper Union in New York City. This conference was designed to bring together the best in the aging research and biotech investment worlds and saw a range of industry experts sharing their insights.

Dr. James Peyer is the founder and Managing Partner of Apollo Ventures, an early-stage life science investor and company builder that focuses on breakthrough technologies for treating age-related diseases.

He discusses the strategic paths to bringing longevity-promoting therapeutics to market as quickly as possible, with a particular focus on engaging pharmaceutical companies via disease-focused, proof-of-concept trials.

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