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Health and Longevity news (from KurzweilAI.net)
Cable Driven Robot Assists Patients With Neurological Disorders
Science Daily,
May 9, 2008
Florida Atlantic University scientists have invented a unique robotic device to assist with the physical rehabilitation process of patients suffering from neurological damages to their upper extremities such as those due to stroke or Parkinson's disease.
(Florida Atlantic University)
The invention is composed of motors, cables and spools enclosed within an acrylic case with a joystick that is indirectly connected to the system through magnetic attraction. This device is the first-known cable-driven robot to utilize a barrier between the operator and the moving mechanisms of the system.
The system does not contain any rigid parts that could suddenly harm or injure the user, and the device can be used in a physical therapy office or at home without supervision.
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Do antidepressants enhance immune function?
PhysOrg.com,
May 8, 2008
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia researchers found that taking the SSRI antidepressant citalopram improves natural killer (NK) immune cell activity in both depressed and non-depressed women with HIV.
NK cells, a type of white blood cell, are part of the body's first line of defense against infections such as HIV. The researchers had previously found that stress and depression impair NK cell function and accelerate the course of HIV/AIDS.
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New Cancer Gene Discovered
KurzweilAI.net,
May 9, 2008
Researchers at the Oklahoma University Cancer Institute have identified a new gene that causes cancer.
The gene and its protein, both called RBM3, are vital for cell division in normal cells. In cancer cells, low oxygen levels in the tumors cause the amount of RBM3 to go up dramatically, leading to uncontrolled cell division, in turn leading to more tumors. They found RBM3 protein in every stage of many cancers, and the amount of protein increased as the cancer grew.
When they genetically "silenced" the protein--thus reducing the level of RBM3 in cancerous cells--the cancer cells stopped growing and died. They tested this technique on several types of cancers, including breast, pancreas, colon, lung, ovarian and prostate, showing that targeting RBM3 may a useful tool against many types of solid tumors.
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center News Release
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Surprising discovery: Multicellular stress response is 'all for one'
PhysOrg.com,
May 8, 2008
Northwestern University researchers have found that in the worm C. elegans, specialized neurons organize and control how cells respond to environmental stress, rather than the cells responding individually.
The researchers suggest that other organisms, including humans, may have a similar central neuronal control switch for regulating temperature and the expression of genes, which protects the health of proteins.
The results may lead to new ways to study stress response and diseases that affect the stress pathway.
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Molecular response of cartilage to injury
KurzweilAI.net,
May 9, 2008
An international team led by scientists at the Arthritis Research Campaign has profiled how injuries change gene expression in cartilage cells.
They used microarray technology, PCR, and immunohistochemistry to compare gene expression in injured and uninjured cartilage. They found 690 genes whose expression was increased or decreased at least 2-fold in injured cartilage compared with uninjured samples.
The may lead to finding out why injuries to joint cartilage increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis (worn down cartilage) and find which of these 690 genes (and their products) promotes repair or causes additional damage.
Over 20 million Americans have osteoarthritis, with half of adults over 65 showing signs of it in one or more joints.
Blackwell Publishing News Release
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Tiny Blood Pumps for Failing Hearts
Technology Review,
May 8, 2008
CircuLite, an Australian company, is developing an implantable pump that weighs just one-sixth as much as its smallest predecessor.
About the size of a AA battery, it could ultimately be implanted through a catheterization procedure that is far less invasive than the operations used to place today's pumps. It could thus be used to treat patients in earlier stages of heart failure, for whom implantation surgery had previously been too risky.
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Nanoworms target tumors
KurzweilAI.net,
May 8, 2008
Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized "nanoworms" that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body's immune defense system and home in on tumors, reminiscent of the science fiction movie, Fantastic Voyage.
The scientists constructed their nanoworms from spherical iron oxide nanoparticles that join together, like segments of an earthworm, to produce tiny gummy worm-like structures about 30 nanometers long. Their iron-oxide composition allows the nanoworms to show up brightly in MRI diagnostic devices.
Using nanoworms, doctors should eventually be able to target and reveal the location of developing tumors that are too small to detect by conventional methods. Carrying payloads targeted to specific features on tumors, these microscopic vehicles could also one day provide the means to more effectively deliver toxic anti-cancer drugs to specific tumors, organs and other sites in the body, in high concentrations without negatively impacting other parts of the body.
University of California, San Diego news release
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Seven genetic types of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) found
BBC News,
May 5, 2008
St. George's Hospital researchers have identified specific genetic patterns that account for seven different subtypes of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
CSF is a condition with a diverse range of symptoms, but particularly characterized by profound muscle fatigue after physical exertion.
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Lab in a Drop
PhysOrg.com,
May 6, 2008
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have developed a rapid test for genetic diagnosis that combines the preparation of biological samples with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on one chip.
The "laboratory device" for all steps in this system is a single drop containing magnetic nanoparticles, which is moved across the chip by a magnetic field.
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Stomach hormone turns hungry people into junkies
NewScientist.com news service,
May 6, 2008
When volunteers received a dose of a natural hunger-inducing hormone called ghrelin, their brains responded to pictures of food in the same way that addicted people's brains do to cigarettes or drugs, says Alain Dagher, a neurologist at McGill University.
Made in the stomach, ghrelin levels rise when people are hungry and wane after a meal. This mechanism probably helped humans to load up on life-saving calories when food was scarce--a likely scenario during much of evolutionary history. But with well-stocked supermarkets and a fast-food outlet on every corner, such brain signals can make food addicts of us all.
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Health and Longevity articles (from KurzweilAI.net)
Bootstrapping our way to an ageless future
By Aubrey de Grey
(Added September 19th 2007)
Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey expects many people alive today to live to 1000 years of age and to avoid age-related health problems even at that age. In this excerpt from his just-published, much-awaited book, Ending Aging, he explains how.
| Press ignores bias in study of multivitamins and prostate cancer
By Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman
(Added May 25th 2007)
In a recent paper reporting on the National Cancer Institute study of multivitamin use and the risk of prostate cancer, the NCI authors cited several possible bias factors. An analysis by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman shows why the study’s biases should be considered before drawing conclusions.
| Strategic Sustainable Brain
By Natasha Vita-More
(Added March 31st 2006)
The human brain faces a challenging future. To cope with accelerating nanotech- and biotech-based developments in an increasingly complex world, compete with emerging superintelligence, and maintain its performance and sustainability as people live longer, the fragile human brain will need major enhancements: a backup system, eliminating degenerative processes, direct mind-linkup to ubiquitous computing networks, error-correction for memory, and a global Net connection with remote neural access.
| Nanoethics and Human Enhancement
By Patrick Lin and Fritz Allhoff
(Added March 31st 2006)
Radical nanotech-based human enhancements such as bionic implants and "respirocyte" artificial red blood cells will become technologically viable in the near future, raising profound ethical issues and forcing us to rethink what it means to be human. Recent pro-enhancement arguments will need to be critically examined and strengthened if they are to be convincing.
| Reprogramming your Biochemistry for Immortality
By Ray Kurzweil
(Added March 8th 2006)
Scientists are now talking about people staying young and not aging. Ray Kurzweil is taking it a step further: "In addition to radical life extension, we’ll also have radical life expansion. The nanobots will be able to go inside the brain and extend our mental functioning by interacting with our biological neurons."
| Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Nanosurgery
By Robert A. Freitas Jr.
(Added February 13th 2006)
The ability to build complex diamondoid medical nanorobots to molecular precision, and then to build them cheaply enough in sufficiently large numbers to be useful therapeutically, will revolutionize the practice of medicine and surgery.
| Ray Kurzweil's Plan for Cheating Death
By Terry Grossman
(Added February 3rd 2006)
A cure for aging may be found in the next fifty years. The trick now is to live long enough to be there when it happens. In his two new books, Ray Kurzweil has painted a clear picture of the future and provided a blueprint for how to get there.
| Interview with Robert A. Freitas Jr. Part 2
By Robert A. Freitas Jr. and Sander Olson
(Added February 2nd 2006)
There are very few diseases or conditions--including infectious diseases--aside from physical brain damage, that cannot be cured using nanomedicine, says nanomedicine pioneer Robert A. Freitas Jr. He believes nanomedicine's greatest power will emerge in a decade or two as we learn to design and construct complete artificial nanorobots using diamondoid nanometer-scale parts and subsystems.
| Ray Kurzweil's Dangerous Idea
By Ray Kurzweil
(Added January 17th 2006)
"What is your dangerous idea?" Over one hundred big thinkers answered this question, as part of The Edge's Annual Question for 2006. Ray Kurzweil's dangerous idea? We can achieve immortality in our lifetime.
| Open-Source Biology And Its Impact on Industry
By Rob Carlson
(Added March 3rd 2004)
Technology based on intentional, open-source biology is on its way, whether we like it or not. Distributed biological manufacturing is the future of the global economy and will occur as inexpensive, quality DNA sequencing and synthesis equipment becomes available to anyone. In 2050, garage biology hacking will be well under way. Fear of potential hazards should be met with increased research and education, rather than closing the door on the profound positive impacts that distributed biological technology will have on human health, human impacts on the environment, and increasing standards of living around the world.
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