Category Archives: Transhuman News

On October 1, the world celebrated the United Nations "International Day of Older Persons". This symbolic day gives us an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges of ageing and to advocate for increasing healthy longevity in the wider public.

On this day we can say clearly and openly: the debilitating ageing process is the root cause of most chronic diseases afflicting the world population. This process causes the largest proportion of disability and mortality, and needs to be treated accordingly. Yet, it is not an inexorable process, it can be ameliorated. Society needs to dedicate efforts toward its treatment and correction, as for any other cause of illness. If given sufficient support, such measures can increase the healthy life expectancy of the aged population, the period of their productivity, their contribution to the development of society and economy, as well as their sense of enjoyment, purpose and valuation of life.

Recently, an online conference was conducted by India Future Society, a young non-profit dedicated to promotion of emerging technologies, including life-extending technologies.

A History of Longevity Research My own personal way of celebration and advocacy for the International Day of Older Persons is the publication of my new book on the history of life extension research, titled A History of Life-extensionism in the Twentieth Century. The book describes the development of life extension research in France, Germany, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

I wanted to show that the desire to prolong human life often constituted a strong motivation for biomedical research and discovery. The novel fields of biomedical science often had their origin in far-reaching pursuits of radical life extension. Several well-known "mainstream" therapies, such as probiotic diets, cell therapy and adjuvant immunotherapy, were born from biological research of ageing and life extension. This exemplifies the value of this research and the need to invest further resources and human interest into it.

My book examines the ideological motivations and social conditions for the pursuit of longevity. The pursuit of life extension could be adjusted to any social and national setting, to any ideology or religious belief. This was in a fact a unifying knowledge, a common belief and aspiration shared by people universally. In particular, the pursuit of longevity has a strong basis in Indian cultural tradition.

But my work is not 'purely academic', not a purely descriptive history of science but a chance to contribute to advocacy for biomedical progress, for the legitimacy and value of life extension research.

Longevity History is now One of the main arguments of my work is that the history of life extension research is far from being finished. In fact it is very much in its infancy, and its growth and development are largely in our own hands. Further developments in the field, far advanced compared to anything that could be imagined in the past, may be possible - provided that the work in this field continues and expands.

There are strong grounds for optimism for the development of this field. A large panel of basic theoretical and experimental studies (mainly in animal models) has clearly demonstrated the possibility of slowing down and even reversing the degenerative ageing processes, the feasibility of regeneration and restoration of biological functions, of a significant healthy life extension accompanied by amelioration of age related diseases. These successes encourage increased investment and effort for their expansion and reinforcement, as well as effort for their maximally rapid translation into effective, safe and universally accessible medical applications. Yet, much further research and validation will be needed for such applications to arrive!

Some of the promising research areas and key directions include: geroprotective substances; regenerative medicine; regulation of cell cycle; regulation of whole body homeostasis; detoxification at the cellular and molecular level; dietary supplementation; gene therapy and genetic and epigenetic modulation; nanomedicine; tissue engineering; artificial organ replacement and electrophysiological interfaces and stimulation; quantified self or comprehensive self-monitoring and diagnosis of age-related conditions, calculating regimens for balanced and healthy nutrition and sufficient physical activity and rest.

More here:
The present, the past and the future of longevity research

Electron microscopy reveals a meshlike protective layer in the viruses that cause herpes and mononucleosis, among other disorders

Although no one has developed a vaccine against bacteriophages now that human pathogens like EpsteinBarr and herpes simplex have been added to the viral chain mail club, that's likely to change. Credit: Naranson via Wikimedia Commons

The EpsteinBarr virus and its relatives in the herpesvirus family are known for their longevity. They persist in host tissues for years, causing diseases like mononucleosis, Kaposi's sarcoma and herpes, and are notoriously difficult to kill. University of California, Los Angeles, biophysicist Z. Hong Zhou thinks the secret to herpesviruses' resilience may be a layer of microscopic chain mail.

Zhou and his colleagues examined the outer shells, or capsids, of a primate herpesvirus under an electron microscope and saw a pattern of interlocking protein rings. Those rings form a mesh that can withstand intense pressures and explain why herpesviruses can maintain decades-long infections.

The study, published in the October 7 issue of Structure, marks the first time anyone has been able to bring the herpesvirus structure into focusliterally. Solving the configuration of a viral capsid requires both the ability to discern individual molecules and the ability to see how those molecules fit together in the viral shell.

Herpesviruses are so big that they don't fit within most electron microscopes fields of view. Trying to understand their structure by looking at atomic-resolution images is like trying to understand the anatomy of an elephant based on extreme close-upseasier said than done. Once Zhou's team brought the image into focus, however, they saw a familiar pattern. The interlocking mesh pattern is very similar to the structure other virologists have found in bacteriophages, a family of viruses that infect bacteria, which suggests that herpesviruses and bacteriophages may share a common evolutionary origin. We never would have seen that connection based on genetic sequences alone, says Jack Johnson, a virologist at The Scripps Research Institute not involved with the study who first discovered the chain mail pattern in bacteriophages. This study shows how important it is to actually look at the structure.

These results may also open up new possibilities for vaccine development. According to Zhou, understanding the geometry of chemical bonds within the chain mail may help researchers develop antiviral particles that can break them apart. Most viruses do not have these rings, Zhou says. Instead, their capsids are made of bricks that disassemble once they've entered a host cell. These capsid bricks are like LEGO blocks ; even though they fit together tightly, they're meant to be pulled apart. Herpesviruses, however, are built to last.

They have to be. Their DNA is packed into the capsid so tightly that the pressure it exerts on the capsid wall is about 50 times greater than the pressure Earth's atmosphere exerts at sea level. Techniques that neutralize viruses which have LEGO-style capsids often don't work on EpsteinBarr, herpes or Kaposi's sarcoma viruses, much to the disappointment of many vaccine developers.

Solving the structure is only a first step toward a vaccine, but a crucial one. Although no one has developed a vaccine against bacteriophages (There really isn't a market for immunizing bacteria, Johnson says), now that human pathogens like EpsteinBarr and herpes simplex have been added to the viral chain mail club, that's likely to change.

More:
The EpsteinBarr Virus Wears Chain Mail

Elon Musks announcement of a semi-autonomous Tesla Model D this past week is one of many autonomous vehicle announcements coming your way

And the implications of self-driving cars will be staggering.

In this blog, I want to outline and explore those implications, and give you context on the dematerialization, demonetization and democratization of transportation.

The First Real Autonomous Car

During the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. Defense Department spent hundreds of millions of dollars on autonomous vehicles, but it wasnt until the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, a $2 million incentive prize, that the first truly autonomous vehicles (AVs) able to navigate long distances (a 150-mile route) at significant speeds (>30 mph) came into existence.

The Stanford University Racing Team, headed by Sebastian Thrun, won the competition with their car named Stanley. In addition to Stanley that year, four other driverless cars successfully completed the challenge.

Since Then

Soon thereafter, Sebastian Thrun joined Google to start a Self-Driving Car initiative, ultimately building a fleet of autonomous Prius vehicles that have logged nearly 700,000 autonomous miles.

In late May 2014, Google revealed a new prototype of its driverless car a cute 2-seat vehicle sporting NO steering wheel, NO gas pedal, and NO brakes. 100% autonomous.

And Google isnt the only player in the game.

See the original post here:
Self-driving Cars are Coming