Apr 4
seen from Romania
seen from United States
seen from Belgium
seen from Romania
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Germany
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from Yemen
seen from Algeria
seen from Latvia
seen from United States
seen from Egypt
seen from Latvia
seen from China
seen from United States
The philosophical conception of man is more fundamental than the biological or genetic one. A man is defined not by how many pairs of genes he has, but by his capacity and potential to be rational. This proof-of-concept experiment affirms it:
U.S. researchers have found a way to reverse Down syndrome in newborn lab mice by injecting an experimental compound that causes the brain to grow normally.
The study, published in the Science Translational Medicine journal, offers no direct link to a treatment for humans but scientists are hopeful it may offer a path towards future breakthroughs.
There is no cure for Down syndrome, which is caused by the presence of an additional chromosome and results in intellectual disabilities, distinctive facial features and other health problems.
The team at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, in Baltimore, used lab mice that were genetically engineered to have extra copies of about half the genes found on human chromosome 21, leading to Down syndrome-like conditions such as smaller brains and difficulty learning to navigate a maze.
On the day the mice were born, scientists injected them with a small molecule known as a sonic hedgehog pathway agonist. The compound, which has not been proven safe for use in humans, is designed to boost normal growth of the brain and body via a gene known as SHH. The gene provides instructions for making a protein called sonic hedgehog, which is essential for development.
"It worked beautifully," said Roger Reeves of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
"Most people with Down syndrome have a cerebellum that's about 60 per cent of the normal size," he said. "We were able to completely normalise growth of the cerebellum through adulthood with that single injection."
The injection also led to unexpected benefits in learning and memory, normally handled by a different part of the brain known as the hippocampus.
Researchers found that the treated mice did as well as normal mice on a test of locating a water platform while in a swimming maze.
On this philosophical basis, those with intellectual malfunctions are still human beings. And it is only a matter of scientific and technological progress that those malfunctions will be remedied. In the meantime, such individuals ought to be treated as wards of some other persons, like normal children.
This is one small step for a brain, one giant leap for neuroscience:
Miniature "human brains" have been grown in a lab in a feat scientists hope will transform the understanding of neurological disorders.
The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought.
The study, published in the journal Nature, has already been used to gain insight into rare diseases.
Neuroscientists have described the findings as astounding and fascinating.
Are we ever going to actualize the philosophical brain in vat scenario? No. That scenario presupposes a grown man's brain stolen overnight and then hooked up elsewhere. A brain that never experiences human perception is not anything but a lump of tissue.
I look forward to the day the brain can be coaxed to heal from damages.
It’s no secret that juvenile brains are more malleable and able to learn new things faster than adult ones – just ask any adult who has tried to learn a new language. That malleability also enables younger brains to recover more quickly from trauma. Researchers at Yale University have now found a way to effectively turn back the clock and make an old brain young again.
As we enter adulthood, our brains become more stable and rigid when compared to that of an adolescent. This is partially due to the triggering of a single gene that slows the rapid change in synaptic connections between neurons, thereby suppressing the high levels of plasticity of an adolescent brain. By monitoring the synapses of living mice for a period of months, the Yale researchers were able to identify the Nogo Receptor 1 gene as the key genetic switch responsible for brain maturation.
This is what good science should be about.
Earlier cloning techniques produced clones only for a few generations. Abnormalities eventually showed up. But now the techniques have been perfected, at least for cloning mice:
Japanese scientists have produced 26 generations of clones from a single mouse, the lead researcher said Friday, possibly paving the way for the mass replication of valuable livestock.
The team have so far produced 598 mice that are genetic copies of one original creature in an experiment that has so far been going for seven years, said Teruhiko Wakayama of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology.
...
Reliable methods for cloning over an extended number of generations could be a boon to farmers who have, for example, a cow that produces a lot of milk, or an animal that is expected to produce particularly high-quality meat.
Natural breeding does not guarantee that an animal's offspring will have the same qualities, but a clone is an exact copy.
...
"Our results show that repeated iterative recloning is possible," he said.
"I want to say we should be able to continue this forever. We will continue our study until we see the end of it," he said.
The study was published in the US-based journal Cell Stem Cell.
Wow!
Government regulators moved a big step closer on Friday to allowing the first genetically engineered animal — a fast-growing salmon — to enter the nation’s food supply. The Food and Drug Administration said it had concluded that the salmon would have “no significant impact” on the environment. The agency also said the salmon was “as safe as food from conventional Atlantic salmon.” While the agency’s draft environmental assessment will be open to public comment for 60 days, it seems likely that the salmon will be approved, though that could still be months away. The environmental assessment is dated May 4. It is unclear why it took until now for it to be released, but supporters of the salmon say they believe it is because the Obama administration was afraid of an unfavorable consumer reaction before the election in November. Environmental and consumer groups quickly criticized the federal agency’s conclusions.
It is actually possible to extend chromosomal telomeres inside the cells within a living organism through gene therapy. The extensions then lengthens the lifespan of the organism.
Mice the were given the telomerase gene therapy via an inert virus live up to 24% longer in lifespan. The study proves the feasibility of the idea.
When I first read this article, I thought of Gattaca.
It is just amazing -and quite scary- how our genes can tell so much about ourselves. Imagine being told it'll be harder for you than for others to quit smoking because drugs cannot help you doing it; moreover, being told it'd be almost impossible for you to succeed in stop smoking. Would you feel discriminated against?
Genetic Engineering is a big advance for humanity, but are we ready for it?