Sonia Arrison

Life expectancy divide in San Mateo County

sonia — Fri, 31 May 2013 23:29:28 +0000

It’s well known that there are great disparities in life expectancy around the world and within the US, but how many people know the numbers for their neighborhoods? Today I dug into the data for San Mateo County and found a big divide within just a few miles. In Atheton and Belmont, the current average age of death is 80 years. In East Palo Alto, it is 61.8. Here’s links to the data.

Wealth is of course one factor, but there are many others. Steve Jobs, who was amazingly wealthy, died at 56.

80-Year-Old Climbs Everest, Breaks Record

sonia — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:12:19 +0000

Another beautiful case of the ‘old’ not really being quite so old. 80-year-old Yuichiro Miura reached the top of Everest and called his daughter, saying that “This is the best feeling in the world.” Gotta love it. Here’s the WSJ article covering it.

Scientists slow aging in mice by tweaking brain’s hypothalamus

sonia — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:39:19 +0000

From Singularity Hub:

When we age, all parts of our body deteriorate over time. But while aging as a whole might be an accumulation of disparate processes, scientists have long wondered if it might be controlled by some central location in the body. Researchers have now uncovered an area in the brain about the size of an almond in humans that wields powerful control over the body’s aging process. By manipulating a single substance secreted by the hypothalamus they were able to extend the lives of mice. The work opens up the possibility that the hypothalamus may be an important target in treating age-related diseases such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

Here’s a link to the press release and the Nature article.

Tissue Engineering Miracles Should Create Social Movement

sonia — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:44:02 +0000

Cross-Posted from Singularityweblog.com:

Just last month, regenerative medicine scored another solid victory by saving a toddler’s life. Yet, disappointingly, the news came and went without much follow-on thought.

Hannah Warren, a Korean-Canadian girl who is now two years old, was born without a trachea – a condition that would have meant certain death in the past. Fortunately for Hannah, regenerative medicine techniques were able to save her life in a way that will restore health and normalcy to the cute little girl. Doctors built a trachea for Hannah by creating a ‘scaffold’ or windpipe mold out of non-absorbable nanofibers and seeding it with stem cells from her bone marrow. Because the bioengineered organ was made with her own cells, she won’t have to take anti-rejection drugs like regular transplant recipients must do.

[...]

The Real Modern Family

sonia — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:42:54 +0000

Attorney Michelle Crosby has written a thoughtful piece at the Huffington Post about family structure and the issues we will face once people are living radically longer and healthier lives. She writes that, “Someday, your child or grandchild may live to be 150 years old. My hope is that, by then, instead of stigmatizing families that don’t fit our out-of-date, historical view, we celebrate the love they create and nurture by working hard to stay gethered, even if they’re no longer together.”

Bone made in lab from stem cells

sonia — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:17:29 +0000

Here’s a nice summary of the research from the WSJ:

Dr. de Peppo and his colleagues used a method known as reprogramming to transform human skin cells into embryonic-like stem cells, which can become all other cells in the body.

When certain chemicals were added, the stem cells became cells that can go on to form bone. The bone cells were placed on a scaffold, a sort of frame where they could grow and achieve a three-dimensional structure. The scaffold had been made by washing a cow’s bones in chemicals, which left behind a collagen-based structure.

After the scaffold was seeded with the bone cells, it was put in a bioreactor, a tabletop device that provides nutrients and removes waste. As a result, bits of bone, each about 16 square millimeters (0.025 square inches) in size, grew on the scaffold.

Toddler is youngest to ever get lab-made windpipe

sonia — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:53:55 +0000

“A 2-year-old girl born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells, the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment.” Read more here from AP.

And here’s a quote from Dr. Macchiarini, who did the surgery and is a pioneer in the field:

“The most amazing thing, which for a little girl is a miracle, is that this transplant has not only saved her life, but it will eventually enable her to eat, drink and swallow, even talk, just like any other normal child,” Macchiarini said in a statement. “She will go from being a virtual prisoner in a hospital bed to running around and playing with her sister and enjoying a normal life, which is a beautiful thing.”

See more here at ABC News.

Brain Implants Could Restore the Ability to Form Memories

sonia — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:41:56 +0000

This MIT Tech Review article outlines work on a ‘memory prosthesis,’ which could help restore brain function for those with Alzheimer’s, stroke, or other types of brain injury.

Happy DNA Day!

sonia — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:45:42 +0000

“On this day (25 April) in 1953 Nature published three papers describing the structure of DNA: one from James Watson and Francis Crick of Cambridge University that proposed the now famous double helix, and two accompanying papers from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins of King’s College, London, who used X-ray diffraction images to support the helix hypothesis.”

100 Plus now available in paperback

sonia — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:23:52 +0000

Here’s the link to the paperback at Amazon.