Candidates are speeding toward human trials.
Category: genetics
TABLE OF CONTENTS —————
:00–15:11 : Introduction
:11–36:12 CHAPTER 1: POSTHUMANISM
a. Neurotechnology b. Neurophilosophy c. Teilhard de Chardin and the Noosphere.
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POSTHUMAN TECHNOLOGY
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:12–54:39 CHAPTER 2 : TELEPATHY/ MIND-READING
a. MRI
b. fMRI
c. EEG
d. Cognitive Liberty e. Dream-recording, Dream-economies f. Social Credit Systems g. Libertism VS Determinism.
:02:07–1:25:48 : CHAPTER 3 : MEMORY/ MIND-AUGMENTING
a. Memory Erasure and Neuroplasticity b. Longterm Potentiation (LTP/LTD)
c. Propanolol d. Optogenetics e. Neuromodulation f. Memory-hacking g. Postmodern Dystopias h. Total Recall, the Matrix, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind i. Custom reality and identity.
:25:48–1:45:14 CHAPTER 4 : BCI/ MIND-UPGRADING
a. Bryan Johnson and Kernel b. Mark Zuckerberg and Neuroprosthetics c. Elon Musk, Neural Lace, and Neuralink d. Neurohacking, Neuroadvertizing, Neurodialectics e. Cyborgs, Surrogates, and Telerobotics f. Terminator, Superintelligence, and Merging with AI
g. Digital Analogs, Suffering, and Virtual Drugs h. Neurogaming and “Nervana” (technological-enlightenment)
:45:14 −2:02:57 CHAPTER 5 : CONNECTOME/ MIND-MAPPING
a. Neurons, MEG scans, and Supercomputers b. Uploading worm brains, fly brains, mouse brains etc.
c. Cryo Ultra Mictrotomes, Diffusion Spectrum Imaging d. Anders Sandberg, Connectomics, and the Allen Institute e. Quantum Mechanics, Heisenberg Principle, No Cloning Theorem f. Human Connectome g. Human Metabolome h. Human Proteome i. Human Moleculome.
New research from an international team of scientists has tracked a compelling series of connections between the gut microbiome and memory. Using a novel mouse model engineered to simulate the genetic diversity of a human population, the study illustrates how genetics can influence memory via bacterial metabolites produced in the gut.
Over the past few years there has been significant research interest in the relationship between memory, cognition and the gut microbiome. While certain families of bacteria that live in our gut have been implicated in memory function, this new study set out to investigate the connection from a different angle, starting with the role genetics play in this relationship.
“To know if a microbial molecule influenced memory, we needed to understand the interaction between genetics and the microbiome,” explains co-corresponding author on the study, Antoine Snijders.
Rice University researchers have discovered a hidden symmetry in the chemical kinetic equations scientists have long used to model and study many of the chemical processes essential for life.
The find has implications for drug design, genetics and biomedical research and is described in a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To illustrate the biological ramifications, study co-authors Oleg Igoshin, Anatoly Kolomeisky and Joel Mallory of Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) used three wide-ranging examples: protein folding, enzyme catalysis and motor protein efficiency.
In each case, the researchers demonstrated that a simple mathematical ratio shows that the likelihood of errors is controlled by kinetics rather than thermodynamics.
People with cancer show no serious side effects after treatment with gene-edited immune cells.
Coffee has been linked to changes on our DNA that affect how active certain genes are. The finding may help explain some of coffee’s touted health benefits.
On Earth, there are organisms that resist radiation, heat, cold, and drying, even to the point of being able to live in the space vacuum.
Genetic biotechnology is usually discussed in the context of current and emerging applications here on Earth, and rightly so, since we still live exclusively in our planetary cradle. But as humanity looks outward, we ponder what kind of life we ought to take with us to support outposts and eventually colonies off the Earth.
While the International Space Station (ISS) and the various spacecraft that ferry astronauts on short bouts through space depend on consumables brought up from Earth to maintain life support, this approach will not be practical for extensive lunar missions, much less long term occupation of more distant sites. If we’re to build permanent bases, and eventually colonies, on the Moon, Mars, asteroids, moons of outer planets or in free space, we’ll need recycling life support systems. This means air, water, and food replenished through microorganisms and plants, and it’s not a new idea.
Space exploration enthusiasts have been talking about it for decades, and it’s the most obvious application of microorganisms and plants transplanted from Earth. What is new, however, is the prospect of a comprehensive use of synthetic biology for a wide range of off-Earth outpost and colonization applications.
Central to a lot of scientific research into aging are tiny caps on the ends of our chromosomes called telomeres. These protective sequences of DNA grow a little shorter each time a cell divides, but by intervening in this process, researchers hope to one day regulate the process of aging and the ill health effects it can bring. A Harvard team is now offering an exciting pathway forward, discovering a set of small molecules capable of restoring telomere length in mice.
Telomeres can be thought of like the plastic tips on the end of our shoelaces, preventing the fraying of the DNA code of the genome and playing an important part in a healthy aging process. But each time a cell divides, they grow a little shorter. This sequence repeats over and over until the cell can no longer divide and dies.
This process is linked to aging and disease, including a rare genetic disease called dyskeratosis congenita (DC). This is caused by the premature aging of cells and is where the team focused its attention, hoping to offer alternatives to the current treatment that involves high-risk bone marrow transplants and which offers limited benefits.
The movie Avatar evoked an imaginary world of lush bioluminescent jungles. Now the popular fascination for sustainably glowing foliage is being realized through advances in designer genetics. This week in Nature Biotechnology, scientists have announced the feasibility of creating plants that produce their own visible luminescence.
The scientists revealed that bioluminescence found in some mushrooms is metabolically similar to the natural processes common among plants. By inserting DNA obtained from the mushroom, the scientists were able to create plants that glow much brighter than previously possible.
This biological light can be used by scientists for observing the inner workings of plants. In contrast to other commonly used forms of bioluminescence, such as from fireflies, unique chemical reagents are not necessary for sustaining mushroom bioluminescence. Plants containing the mushroom DNA glow continuously throughout their lifecycle, from seedling to maturity.
Synthetic biology has been described as a kind of “genetic engineering on steroids”.
Synthetic biology …Simply mentioning this term — whether at a cocktail party or on a pop culture TV show — evokes a plethora of responses. These could range from puzzled looks to questions about the somewhat famous, though likely quixotic, quest to resurrect a woolly mammoth from remnants recovered in Siberia. Also, on the radar screen is synthetic biology as applied to the development of drugs and biological weapons. But flying below the radar — and, oddly, the sweet spot for investments by governments and private industry — is a less sexy focus on the industrial uses of synthetic biology. Such uses range from environmental clean-ups to new energy sources.
What do we mean by “synthetic biology”? To keep things simple, synthetic biology has been described as a kind of “genetic engineering on steroids”. Plain, old genetic engineering includes a range of strategies, the classic one being transgenics — copying a gene from one biological species and inserting it into the cell nucleus of another species. This has enabled bacteria to produce human insulin and plants to produce their own defenses against pests and herbicides such as glyphosate. Genetic engineering also include CRISPR technology, which can function as a kind of line item editing.
In contrast, synthetic biology involves the rewriting of large segments of the genomes of organisms, resulting in what effectively are new organisms. Whereas the mammoth revival is synthetic biology and while it gets good media attention, it’s more a cartoon use of synthetic biology. On the other hand, the transformations that could occur by creating new life forms — that’s really what synthetic biology is — may not be so sexy. Yet, they could change the world.