Vivek Wadhwa, who has just joined us at Singularity University, wrote this article for the Washington Post on hacking DNA. Much of his argument echos what I say in 100 Plus: “Just as the personal computer revolution brought information technology from corporate data centers to the masses, the biology revolution is personalizing science”

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Here’s a link to my recent interview with ‘Big Think’ where I mentioned Timothy Brown, the only man who has ever been cured of AIDS.

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Last weekend’s Singularity Summit in NYC was an excellent event. I enjoyed meeting many smart folks interested in future tech issues. Here’s an article from MSNBC about the event, as well as a photo taken by my friend Steve Rosenbaum: Having healthier people around for longer means that they can remain productive far later in [...]

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From GenomeWeb News: The Obama Administration is asking the biomedical and biotech industries and research communities for their ideas about what steps the country should take to support and advance biological research innovation and business. The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy wants interested parties to provide comments on ways to address new [...]

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This is important news: Researchers have shown they can reverse the aging process for human adult stem cells, which are responsible for helping old or damaged tissues regenerate. The findings could lead to medical treatments that may repair a host of ailments that occur because of tissue damage as people age. A research group led [...]

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Researchers funded by the UK-based Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered a new mechanism controlling ageing in white blood cells. The research, published in the September issue of the Journal of Immunology, opens up the possibility of temporarily reversing the effects of ageing on immunity and could, in the future, allow for [...]

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Dr. Atala of Wake Forest University is one of the leaders in the field of regenerative medicine — a true hero. Here’s a recent op-ed he wrote for CNN on the topic.

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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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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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Was a super-interesting discussion. Recordings of the sessions are up on the web already if you missed them.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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