Lifeboat Foundation

My new article for Vice Motherboard on extreme biohacking that compares the Uncanny Valley to Speciation Syndrome:

Transhumanism tech like CRISPR, 3D printing, and coming biological regeneration of limbs will not only change lives for those that have deformities, but it will change how we look at things like a person with a three-foot tail and maybe even a second head.

At the core of all this is the ingrained belief that the human being is pre-formed organism, complete with one head, four limbs, and other standard anatomical parts. But in the transhumanist age, the human being should be looked at more like a machine—like a car, if you will: something that comes out a particular way with certain attributes, but then can be heavily modified. In fact, it can be rebuilt from scratch.

Continue reading “The Coming Genetic Editing Age of Humans Won’t Be Easy to Stomach” »

The race is on to develop the first senescent cell clearance therapies (a.k.a., “senolytics”) to reverse the aging process and treat age-related diseases.

An interesting procedure for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis.

Mol Biol Cell. 2015 May 1;26:1752–63. doi: 10.1091/mbc. E14-07–1239. Epub 2015 Mar 4. Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t.

Awesome.

Researchers have developed a new gene editing tool that is more efficient and easier to use. CRISPR-EZ addresses the issue of target RNA accuracy and embryo viability in IVF transgenic mice.

( andrew modzelewski/lin he | university of california berkeley )

Continue reading “More Efficient CRISPR Gene Editing May Potentially Help Cure Diseases” »

When nerve cells have to communicate with each other in our brains, it involves release of neurotransmitters acting as messengers at neural synapses. Here the released neurotransmitter is bound and registered by receptors at the surface of the receiving nerve cell. This will, in turn, trigger a signal which is sent on to other nerve cells. The circuits in the brain using the neurotransmitters noradrenaline, dopamine, GABA and serotonin are known to play an important role in mood, reward and mental well-being, and they also have a key role to in mental disorders such as addiction and depression.

After release of neurotransmitters between nerve cells, they must, however, be removed again to end the signal. This is done by a family of transport proteins which function as molecular vacuum cleaners in the cell membrane of the nerve cell where they pump the neurotransmitter back into the nerve cell for later reuse. This transport is of great importance to the signaling between the nerve cells, but happens relatively slowly. A collaborative project between researchers from Aarhus University has made it possible to explain what happens in the crucial rate-limiting step in the transport process for neurotransmitters such as serotonin, noradrenaline, GABA and dopamine which are all transported by related proteins with the same mechanism.

Continue reading “New discovery from the molecular machinery for depression and addiction” »

MIT biological engineers have developed an algorithm for building DNA nanoparticles automatically, paving the way to many more applications for “DNA origami.”

In a north London hospital, scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in the laboratory in a bold attempt to make body parts using stem cells.

It is among several labs around the world, including in the U.S., that are working on the futuristic idea of growing custom-made organs in the lab.

Let’s formulate the task of life extension slightly differently. Something like this…How can we extend sex appeal?

Gyms and beauty salons are in charge of this question now. There is some success, but it’s mostly superficial. Plastic surgery only masks, but doesn’t delay the processes of aging.

Expanding sex appeal is a complex task. Its aspects include both beauty and the activity of the brain. To be sexually attractive we have to be smart and fun. One cannot solve the problem of dementia with makeup.

Continue reading “31 responses to ‘Neverending Sex’” »