Lifeboat Foundation

An international group of researchers has made a decisive step towards creating the technology to achieve simulations of brain-scale networks on future supercomputers of the exascale class. The breakthrough, published in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, allows larger parts of the human brain to be represented, using the same amount of computer memory. Simultaneously, the new algorithm significantly speeds up brain simulations on existing supercomputers.

The human brain is an organ of incredible complexity, composed of 100 billion interconnected nerve cells. However, even with the help of the most powerful supercomputers available, it is currently impossible to simulate the exchange of neuronal signals in networks of this size.

“Since 2014, our software can simulate about one percent of the neurons in the human brain with all their connections,” says Markus Diesmann, Director at the Jülich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6). In order to achieve this impressive feat, the software requires the entire main memory of petascale supercomputers, such as the K computer in Kobe and JUQUEEN in Jülich.

Continue reading “Researchers find algorithm for large-scale brain simulations” »

When this DNA origami nanorobot detects blood vessels associated with tumors, it opens up to deliver thrombin, a clotting factor that chokes off the blood supply to the tumor.

Before the 7.6 billion people alive today, demographers estimate that about 100 billion people lived and died. This is the reality of the human condition. Memento mori, as medieval Christians reflected—Remember that you have to die.

What if it didn’t have to be this way? There are, in fact, organisms whose bodies steadily and reliably replace cells with healthier cells, and whose tissues and organs self-repair and maintain their vigor. They’re called children. And there are cells in adults that divide indefinitely. They’re called cancer. What if there were a way to genetically re-engineer and chemically reprogram our cells to divide indefinitely like they do in children, and to continue this process throughout adulthood without becoming cancerous? Could we become immortal?

“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work,” Woody Allen once said, “I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.” There are today well-funded groups of scientists who believe we can do just that. If these techno-dreamers succeed, would you want to live for 150 years? 300 years? Or even 500 years? I’m not talking about being brain-dead and bedridden on a morphine drip. I mean living a full, rich physical and mental life for centuries, possibly forever. Would you opt for immortality?

Israel-based BrainQ is a new neurotech startup hoping to take on brain-computer interface (BCI) companies like Braintree founder Bryan Johnson’s Kernel and Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

It’s not clear yet what Musk’s startup intends to do with the computer chips it plans to put in our heads, but Johnson’s startup says it is focused on developing “technologies to understand and treat neurological diseases in new and exciting ways.”

Whatever sector each company goes for, both plan to insert chips in our brains to connect us to computers — the consequences of which could have dramatic effects on human memory, intelligence, communication and many other areas that could rocket humanity forward, should they work out.

Continue reading “BrainQ aims to cure stroke and spinal cord injuries through mind-reader tech” »

The only difference is that in the case of the new technology Qure.ai is using, the artificial neuro network will be exposed to millions of cases instead of thousands. But can one trust a diagnosis made with the help of machines or AI? Human beings would typically trust another human being over a machine. But Warrier says that that is part and parcel of the diagnosis – human or artificial. Eighty-million chest X-rays happen in India every year, with radiology error rates for chest X-rays at 20–23 per cent. In fact, 19 per cent of lung nodules are missed! So even now if one goes to a trained radiologist, there are chances he can read or make a mistake in the diagnosis. But since the software runs through “millions” of scans instead of thousands as a human might, chances of an error are, in fact, lower. So chances of an error are, if anything, minimised. Secondly, as of now, Qure.ai is not producing a final report but developing a report that is ready for further analysis by a radiologist. “At locations across the country where radiologists are not available, this report can be the one that is physically available. It could go wrong but something is better than nothing,” argues Warrier. In cases where physicians disagree – often happens in cases like interstitial lung disease — the report produced through AI is “consistent and reproducible” and can be relied upon to arrive at a final conclusion. In India, Qure.ai has no competitors, but globally Zebra Medical Vision is the nearest competitor. The software has been adopted and deployed in five centres in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. The company is also working with public health programmes in some countries. TB Reach has used it for processing TB cases (chest X-rays) from Nepal and Cameroon. Its solutions are being marketed in North America through its partners EnvoyAI (TeraRecon). According to Warrier, the global sales team of their parent company, Fractal Analytics, is helping them to reach out to health care providers and possible customers in the US and Europe. It may be early days yet, but if the technology and product prove as good as they claim, the benefits for patients will be felt for a long time to come.

The human heart is an organ whose cells rarely divide, making tissue repair and regeneration a huge problem following a heart attack. Many animals, such as zebrafish and salamanders, are different; they can regenerate damaged hearts easily.

As humans, we also once had the same regenerative capacity during our early development, but after we were born, we lost this ability. This is also true for many other organs, including the brain, spinal cord, and pancreas. The cells in these tissues divide very rarely if at all, and this is a big problem. But, what if we could get that regenerative ability back and repair damage to our hearts the way these amazing animals do?

Researchers have been trying for decades to find out how we can enjoy the same tissue regeneration, but they have met with limited success—until now.

However, the pattern seems clear, and is worth heeding by other nations: despite China’s reputation for authoritarian and hierarchical rule, in science the approach seems to be to ensure that top researchers are well supported with funding and resources, and then to leave them to get on with it.

Chinese investment is paying off with serious advances in biotech, computing and space. Are they edging ahead of the west?

By Philip Ball

Continue reading “China’s great leap forward in science” »

Imagine constantly worrying that something you eat is going to cause your throat to swell shut or your heart to stop beating. That’s the reality people with severe peanut allergies must live with every day, because their bodies launch out-of-control immune responses against even a trace of peanut protein.

But now, relief may be on the horizon. A phase 3 clinical trial by pharmaceutical company Aimmune Therapeutics shows that gradual and methodical exposure to purified peanut protein can train the body to drastically tone down the reaction. After one year of daily treatment with the company’s peanut protein-filled capsules, currently called AR101, study participants could safely tolerate 30 times more allergen than they could before the trial began.

The trial included 496 children aged 4 to 17 with allergies so severe that they could not ingest more than 30 milligrams of peanut protein without experiencing moderate to highly dangerous effects. For reference, one peanut contains 250 to 350 milligrams of peanut protein.

Continue reading “Daily Pill Shows Promise For Alleviating Life-Threatening Peanut Allergies” »

According to China’s National Central Cancer Registry, Esophageal cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in China. Like many other types, cancer of the esophagus can be treated with chemotherapy. But, as is also true of other forms of cancer, chemotherapy isn’t always successful. In China, and around the world, there’s a great need for the development of new treatments.

Dr. Shixiu Wu, president of the Hangzhou Cancer Hospital, has tested a somewhat new treatment that takes a patient’s T-cells from the body, genetically edits them to target cancerous cells, then puts the altered cells back. If the process sounds at all familiar, it’s probably because using T-cells in this manner was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration back in August 2017.

Continue reading “Chinese Doctors Are Using Modified T-Cells to Treat Advanced Forms of Cancer” »