Lifeboat Foundation

In an exclusive interview, Peter Hegemann said AI is more dangerous than optogenetics.

Contrary to popular belief, there is very little chance that optogenetics will be used in the future to control the human brain, says Peter Hegemann, a biochemist and biophysicist, in a conversation with Interesting Engineering (IE) at the Hong Kong Laureate Forum 2023.

Optogenetics is a scientific technique that uses light to control and manipulate cells within living tissues, particularly in the brain. It allows researchers to control the activity of specific neurons with high precision, both in terms of location and timing.

Continue reading “Scientists debunk notions of optogenetics controlling the human brain” »

Get a blood test, check blood pressure, and swab for aliments — all without a doctor or nurse.

Adrian Aoun, CEO and co-founder of Forward Health, aims to scale healthcare.

Adrian Aoun, CEO and co-founder of Forward Health, aims to scale healthcare. It started in 2017 with the launch of tech-forward doctor’s offices that eschewed traditional medical staffing for technology solutions like body scanners, smart sensors, and algorithms that can diagnose ailments. Now, in 2023, he’s still on the same mission and rolled up all the learnings and technology found in the doctor’s office into a self-contained, standalone medical station called the CarePod.

Continue reading “Forward Health launches CarePods, a self-contained, AI-powered doctor’s office” »

Annual low-dose CT lung cancer screening is recommended based on age and smoking history. Find out if you are eligible.

Read about how to use antibiotics and about when not to use antibiotics.

How did life begin? How did chemical reactions on the early Earth create complex, self-replicating structures that developed into living things as we know them?

According to one school of thought, before the current era of DNA-based life, there was a kind of molecule called RNA (or ribonucleic acid). RNA – which is still a crucial component of life today – can replicate itself and catalyse other chemical reactions.

But RNA molecules themselves are made from smaller components called ribonucleotides. How would these building blocks have formed on the early Earth, and then combined into RNA?

New materials developed at the University of Surrey could pave the way for a new generation of flexible X-ray detectors, with potential applications ranging from cancer treatment to better airport scanners.

Traditionally, X-ray detectors are made of heavy, rigid material such as silicon or germanium. New, flexible detectors are cheaper and can be shaped around the objects that need to be scanned, improving accuracy when screening patients and reducing risk when imaging tumors and administering radiotherapy.

Dr. Prabodhi Nanayakkara, who led the research at the University of Surrey, said, “This new material is flexible, low-cost, and sensitive. But what’s exciting is that this material is tissue equivalent. This paves the way for live dosimetry, which just isn’t possible with current technology.”

The AI tool can indicate the risk of heart attacks, as well as information on narrowings of the arteries and other clinical risk factors.

Stevanovicigor/ iStock.

In a development that could help the people at risk, an artificial intelligence technology has been created that can gaze into the future and predict the 10-year risk of deadly heart attacks.

Colon cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, and there has been a rise in the incidence of early-onset colon cancer or colon cancer diagnosed before the age of 50 years old. Early-onset colon cancer has several differences in clinical presentation, as well as histopathology, genetic alteration, and molecular profiling. Early-onset colon cancer can be differentiated into familial type that includes hereditary familial syndrome and sporadic type. Demographic variance also exists in both developing and developed countries. Due to the rising incidence of colon cancer diagnosed in younger age, it is imperative to examine the available evidence regarding the mortality rate of early-onset colon cancer. Colon cancer is affected by numerous modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors.

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), quantum biology, artificial intelligence, and bioengineering have collided to redefine the landscape of CRISPR Cas9 genome editing tools. This multidisciplinary approach, detailed in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, promises to elevate the precision and efficiency of genetic modifications in organisms, particularly microbes, paving the way for enhanced production of renewable fuels and chemicals.

CRISPR is adept at modifying genetic code to enhance an organism’s performance or correct mutations. CRISPR Cas9 requires a guide RNA (gRNA) to direct the enzyme to its target site to perform these modifications. However, existing computational models for predicting effective guide RNAs in CRISPR tools have shown limited efficiency when applied to microbes. ORNL’s Synthetic Biology group, led by Carrie Eckert, observed these disparities and set out to bridge the gap.

“A lot of the CRISPR tools have been developed for mammalian cells, fruit flies, or other model species. Few have been geared towards microbes where the chromosomal structures and sizes are very different,” explained Eckert.