Published in July 23rd, 2010
This is an amazing article about (70 year old!) Harvard Professor George Whitesides. He’s working to create cheap diagnostics for developing countries and he tells the reporter this: My view of the health care worker of the future is not a doctor, but an 18-year-old, otherwise unemployed, who has two things. He has a backpack [...]
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Published in July 14th, 2010
This is super-interesting and the researchers say they could be testing it in humans within a year. From the press release: “Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center created a large, well armed battalion of tumor-seeking immune system cells and watched, in real time using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), as the special forces traveled throughout [...]
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Published in July 9th, 2010
Was a super-interesting discussion. Recordings of the sessions are up on the web already if you missed them.
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Published in June 30th, 2010
Here’s my most recent column on DIY bio: Personal computing altered the world forever, and now the digitization of biology is poised to bring about sweeping change. Craig Venter’s recent announcement of the first synthetic genome was a huge milestone, but many outside of Silicon Valley remain unaware of the “do-it-yourself biology” movement (DIY bio). [...]
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Published in May 24th, 2010
I’m just catching up on the DIY bio mailing list and saw this video. A great little tune that the scientifically-minded should like.
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Published in May 20th, 2010
The J C Venter Institute announced today that they have finally managed to create self-replicating artificial life. Here is the full report. “This is the first time any synthetic DNA has been in complete control of a cell,” Dr Venter told reporters. Some great articles/discussion on it are here: The Economist BBC News Edge And [...]
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Published in May 17th, 2010
I’m always a bit skeptical of such feel good articles when this is just an announcement about a test, but according to the UK’s Daily Mail, “The treatment, which will be tested on British patients over the next few months, can reverse and even cure malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. If [...]
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Published in May 17th, 2010
According to the UK Times: “Scientists have discovered the “Methuselah” genes whose lucky carriers have a much improved chance of living to 100 even if they indulge in an unhealthy lifestyle. The genes appear to protect people against the effects of smoking and bad diet and can also delay the onset of age-related illnesses such [...]
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Published in May 13th, 2010
Professor Nir Barzilai from New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine recently said that he thinks a longevity pill will be ready for testing in two years. He told London’s Sun newspaper that “Pharmaceutical companies are developing these drugs now. They will probably be available for testing from 2012.” It is unclear which company or [...]
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Published in May 12th, 2010
This is a great summary article on the newly announced “robots” made out of DNA. Until now, such experiments had yielded molecular novelties, from smiley faces so small that a billion can fit in a teaspoon to molecule-size boxes with lids that can be opened, closed and locked with a DNA key. These new construction [...]
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Published in April 22nd, 2010
From the Telegraph: The research into how Planarian worms can regrow body parts – including a whole head and brain – could one day make it possible to regenerate old or damaged human organs and tissues, the University of Nottingham said. The research, led by Dr Aziz Aboobaker, a Research Councils UK Fellow in the [...]
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Published in April 19th, 2010
This is a great article on organ printing by Cnet. Organovo is working on blood vessels before attempting to print larger organs since oxygen is an issue.
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Published in April 2nd, 2010
From the WSJ: “Scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and others have shown they can keep certain types of cells living forever, including those from the breast, skin, retina and, recently, the colon, by adding telomerase to keep telomeres intact or repair those that became too short. Now researchers are [...]
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Published in March 16th, 2010
“That’s the conclusion of a study, published online this week in Plant Biotechnology Journal, which sought to determine whether seven diverse human therapeutic proteins could be produced in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a green alga used widely in biology laboratories as a genetic model organism, much like the fruit fly Drosophila and the bacterium E. coli. “What [...]
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Published in March 11th, 2010
The NYT has a great story today about how the genome can be used to identify the cause of disease. Read more here.
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Published in March 1st, 2010
From CNET News: “This month, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany, are unveiling a new type of screw that not only biodegrades within two years but actually encourages bone growth into the implant itself so as not to leave gaping holes where the screws used [...]
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Published in February 23rd, 2010
Scientists have been experimenting with “printing” various types of human tissue for years now, often using their own tricked-out devices. The Economist has a great article on a company that is now making printers specifically for this purpose. In addition, over at the Singularity Hub, there is a nice discussion of some of the players [...]
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Published in February 15th, 2010
Great article on the topic from the NYT. This sentence is of interest: Ideally you wouldn’t even need to know anything about DNA to manipulate it, just as a 5-year-old doesn’t need to understand the chemical composition of the plastic in his Legos to build a fortress on the living-room carpet. We will soon be [...]
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Published in January 29th, 2010
This is an excellent video of Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest Regenerative Medicine center. Regrowing organs is a therapy that has already been done in test cases and isn’t too far away from becoming mainstream.
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Published in January 27th, 2010
The Personalized Medicine World Conference in Silicon Valley last week showcased huge opportunities for new advances in medicine and personalized health. What remained unclear was who will take the lead, what techniques or products will win, and whether the medical establishment will go along or stand in the way. Folks in Silicon Valley are used [...]
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