From: Max M (maxmcorp@worldonline.dk)
Date: Wed Mar 05 2003 - 02:40:19 MST
http://www.futureport.dk/news - 2003-03-05 (49 articles)
Well, the flu and a deadline got me good this time. I hope There won't
be this long a gap in the news summaries again. Luckilly the good folks
at Transhumanity has been keeping up with the news while I havn't. Thus
the large list this time around.
[Aging]
Fight Infections with Supplements
=================================
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-03-04-5
Betterhumans - If you're one of the millions of people who take vitamin
and mineral supplements, you might be shocked to know that few studies
document their effectiveness. But you'll be pleased to hear about a new
study that shows they can significantly reduce infections.
[Aging]
Scientists Identify Genetic Marker for Longevity
================================================
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2219373
Reuters - Scientists for the first time have identified a common genetic
mutation in people over 100 years old, a finding they say could be a key
to discovering a way to avoid the ravages of aging. In a study conducted
at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California,
researchers found that centenarians were five times more likely than
others to have the same mutation in their mitochrondrial DNA...
[Health]
Colourful therapy targets cancer
================================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2757463.stm
BBC - Cancer cells can be destroyed using a colourful combination of
chemical ingredients, researchers have discovered. Using red light, blue
dye and a plant hormone, scientists have been able to kill around 99% of
cells in laboratory tests...
[Health]
Cream Clears Up Skin Tumors
===========================
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-03-04-3
Betterhumans - Imagine forgoing surgery, freezing and burning and
instead removing disfiguring and dangerous tumors with a dollop of
cream. Impossible? Not anymore. Clinical trials of a cream used to treat
genital warts have found it massively successful at clearing up
pre-cancerous skin lesions and common small skin tumors.<br /><br />
[Health]
Irradiated, GM-CSF-secreting tumor cells can engender lung cancer immunity
==========================================================================
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2003/02/14/professional/links/20030214drgd001.html
Reuters - A vaccine made up of irradiated autologous non-small-cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) cells, engineered to secrete granulocyte-macrophage
colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), elicits anti-tumor immunity in some
patients with metastatic NSCLC. Results of a phase I clinical trial of
this strategy are reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology for
February 15...
[Health]
New drug combo improves survival in aggressive bone cancer
==========================================================
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1075
Science Blog - Adding two experimental drugs to the standard four-drug
chemotherapy regimen has significantly improved survival in patients
with non-metastatic Ewing’s sarcoma, a highly malignant bone cancer of
children and young adults. The large multi-institutional trial showed
that the overall survival rate increased from 61 percent to 72 percent
for Ewing’s sarcoma patients with localized disease who underwent the
experimental six-drug chemotherapy...
[Health]
New potential sites for Alzheimers genes
========================================
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1020p±
Science Blog - Based on recent findings of 12 new potential sites for
Alzheimer's genes, a leading researcher estimates that within 50 years,
patients will be routinely screened for Alzheimer's Disease and receive
prescription drugs tailored to their genetic risk...
[Health]
Polymers promote nerve regeneration
===================================
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article997.html
Science Blog - Using microscale channels cut in an ultrathin
biodegradable polymer, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's
Ames Laboratory is working to regrow nerve cells. The technique, which
may one day allow the paralyzed to walk and the blind to see, has been
proven to work for peripheral nerve regeneration in laboratory rats...
[Health]
Scientists closer to anti-cancer vaccine
========================================
http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=030219019
Newsfox - If these experiments continue to be successful, a vaccine
against cancer could realistically become available in about ten
years... The vaccine created an immuno-reaction in mice that had cancer,
and had a preventative effect in healthy mice. The vaccine can therefore
be used for both cancer treatment and prevention...
[Health]
Scientists find stem cells in human breast cancer
=================================================
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1093˜¼
Science Blog - Of all the neoplastic cells in human breast cancers, only
a small minority - perhaps as few as one in 100 - appear to be capable
of forming new malignant tumors, according to just-published research by
scientists in the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The discovery could help researchers zero in on the most dangerous
cancer cells to develop new, more effective treatments...
[Health]
Spiders web implants could be on their way
==========================================
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_749301.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery
Ananova - European scientists claim doctors could be implanting
artificial tendons made from spiders webs into injured humans within
five years. Researchers believe the unusual lightness and durability of
spiders webs makes them the perfect material to replace damaged
ligaments and tendons...
[Health]
Stem Cells From Blood; May Revolutionize Medical Research And
Transplantation
=============================================================================
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030225065929.htm
Science Daily - The particularly powerful - and very scarce - flexible
forms of stem cells needed for medical research and treatment may now be
both plentiful and simple to produce, with a new technology developed at
the U.S. Department of EnergyÂ’s Argonne National Laboratory - and the
source is as close as your own bloodstream...
[Health]
The gene that maketh man?
=========================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2772241.stm
BBC - US scientists have identified a gene which they say could explain
why humans are unique. It seems to have arisen between 21 and 33 million
years ago, when primates were becoming more human-like. The gene emerged
about the time the path that led to humans, chimps, orangutans and
gorillas was splitting off from that of old and new world monkeys...
[Health]
VIRxSYS to begin phase I study of genetic treatment for HIV
===========================================================
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2003/02/14/business/links/20030214drgd003.html
Reuters - Privately held biotech firm VIRxSYS Corp. said on Friday that
it is set to begin in the next 90 days a phase I study of the first HIV
treatment that uses a genetically modified version of HIV to get the
virus to attack itself. According to VIRxSYS, the drug is made by
removing the components of HIV that foster its replication and replacing
them with an antisense "payload" that shuts down the virus' ability to
replicate...
[Nanotech]
Argonne, NASA-Ames build new biological machines
================================================
http://www.anl.gov/OPA/news03/news030214.htm
Argonne - Building on tiny organisms, researchers at the U.S. Department
of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are helping to create a new
generation of tiny machines for electronic and photonic devices. Working
with colleagues from NASA and the SETI Institute, the researchers built
bioengineered nanoscale arrays, using genetically engineered proteins as
templates to create honeycomb-like patterns of gold and a semiconducting
material...
[Nanotech]
Biology to make mini machines
=============================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2003/denver_2003/2765077.stm
BBC - Computers of the future will be built not by factory machines, but
by living cells such as bacteria... They have described how wires can
now be made by yeast organisms, and how solar panels could be built
using substances produced by sea sponges. Researchers believe these kind
of technologies will be essential if we are to continue to shrink the
size of electronic devices...
[Nanotech]
CORDIS offers more concrete results on nanotechnology research
==============================================================
http://news.nanoapex.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3120
NanoApex - CORDIS, the European Commission's Research and Development
Information Service, is hosting new nanotechnology project descriptions
which highlight concrete project results. The nanotechnology thematic
service offers direct and central access to information on funding
opportunities, both at European and national level, project
descriptions, publications and surveys, as well as network details. The
section dedicated to press offers media briefings and a regularly
updated showcase of projects...
[Nanotech]
Computer Made from DNA and Enzymes
==================================
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0224_030224_DNAcomputer.html
National Geographic - Israeli scientists have devised a computer that
can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times
the speed of the fastest PC. The secret: It runs on DNA...
[Nanotech]
Nanomedicine and the Future of Life
===================================
http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=03/02/22/1011235
Nanodot - Ralph Merkle, vice president of technology assessment for the
Foresight Institute, heralded the great promise of nanotechnology in
medicine - the development, for example, of tiny molecular computers
that could work inside the body - but threw cold water on the idea of
any quick profits from such innovations because we are still many years
from being turned into a practical reality...
[Nanotech]
Nanotech Research Center to Start
=================================
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/5184966.htm
Siliconvalley.com - The California NanoSystems Institute at the
University of California, Los Angeles will explore the power and
potential of manipulating atoms to engineer new materials and devices...
[Nanotech]
Nanotech may spark fierce ethical row
=====================================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2758191.stm
BBC - A confrontation over nanotechnology could be as bitter as the
current debate over biotechnology, researchers fear. They say the
emerging knowledge has the power to revolutionise society. But its power
to exploit the potential of extremely small-scale systems is outrunning
our capacity to digest its implications...
[Nanotech]
New Molecular Self-Assembly Technique May Mimic How Cells Assemble
Themselves
=============================================================================
http://news.nanoapex.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3122
NanoApex - Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the
University of Sheffield report in the Feb. 21 issue of Science that they
have created tree-like molecules that assemble themselves into precisely
structured building blocks of a quarter-million atoms...
[Nanotech]
Prions get wired
================
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030210/030210-21.html
Nature - Nanotech circuits could bud from brain's bane. Rogue proteins
blamed for mad cow disease could yet find a use in tiny electrical
wires, scientists revealed this week in Denver...<br />
[Nanotech]
The marriage of microchips and drugs is creating new opportunities for
medical treatment.
=========================================================================================
http://www.herring.com/mag/issue122/6028.html
Red Herring - What's driving this remarkable new generation of high-tech
devices is the convergence of drugs, microchip technology like
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and advances in fields like
nanotechnology and molecular diagnostics. Together they are providing
the foundation for implantable biomedical devices that can diagnose,
monitor, and treat diseases...
[Nanotech]
There's a wide variety of biosensors coming down the commercial pipeline.
==============================================================================
http://www.herring.com/mag/issue122/6035.html
Red Herring - A new class of biosensors--devices that can monitor health
conditions and then respond by delivering drugs - no bigger than a jelly
bean should be available in five to seven years. Thanks to advances in
nanotechnology, microelectromechanical systems, molecular diagnostics,
and several other technologies, biosensors are now being developed to
detect everything from the first chemical signature of cancer to the
presence of anthrax...
[Politics]
Scientist fears 'genetic apartheid'
=============================================
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_756753.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery
Ananova - A leading British scientist says he fears a future genetic
apartheid, with people having low-grade DNA stigmatised by society.
Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of Cancer Research
UK, predicted that in 20 years' time children could be given genetic
identity cards at birth. Within two decades, it will be technically
possible to sequence the genome of each new baby, said Sir Paul. The
genetic ID card would provide a rundown of all a child's genes and the
associated risk of developing certain diseases. On the plus side, this
would enable people to seek preventative measures and adopt healthier
lifestyles.
[Politics]
Support rational stem cell legislation
======================================
http://www.herring.com/mag/issue122/5926.html
Red Herring - The worldwide market for drugs based on stem cell
therapies is expected to be huge, reaching $25 billion in the next three
to five years. The debate over the use of cell-cloning techniques and
embryonic material looms equally large. We at Red Herring think that
such research is ethically sound and, apparently, so do a growing number
of state legislatures...
[Politics]
United States trails Europe in dependence on renewable energy
=============================================================
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-02/aaft-lfa021203.php
EurekAlert - As the world's only remaining superpower, the United States
is often at the cutting edge of science and technology, but according to
researchers at the AAAS meeting today, the Europeans have far outdone
the Americans in developing new sources of renewable energy and a sound
environmental policy. "Europe has made a major commitment to renewable
energy and is leading the United States in deploying it," said Allan
Hoffman, a renewable energy expert and senior advisor to Winrock
International's Clean Energy Group...
[Science]
China's cloned goat has twins
==================================
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/02/10/offbeat.goat.clone.reut/index.html
CNN - China's first cloned goat has given birth to twins just days into
the lunar new year named after the same animal, state media reported...
[Science]
Dolly the sheep clone dies young
================================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2764039.stm
BBC - Dolly the sheep, who became famous as the first mammal to be
cloned from an adult cell, has died. The news was confirmed on Friday by
the Roslin Institute, the Scottish research centre which created her. A
decision was taken to "euthanase" six-year-old Dolly after a veterinary
examination showed that she had a progressive lung disease, the
institute said in a statement...
[Science]
Gene silencing technique gets patent
====================================
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=995
Science Blog - An important discovery in modern molecular biology is
that double-stranded RNA can quash the activity of specific genes in
plants, animals, and fungi... by specially designing RNA with two
strands they could silence targeted genes. Their discovery, called RNA
interference (RNAi) was recently patented (US Patent 6,506,559 B1), and
it has been widely licensed in the U.S., Europe, and Japan...
[Science]
Live from the Future of Life
============================
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,421972,00.html
TIME kicks off its celebration of the 50th anniversary of the discovery
of DNA. Plus, predictions for medicine in 2010... a galaxy of
scientists, academics, artists and business innovators gathered here
Wednesday for the start of a three-day summit, hosted by TIME, to sip
chardonnay and mull over the future of life. As one might expect from
such a powerhouse crowd pondering so cosmic a theme, there were
fireworks from the outset as participants debated stem cell research,
discussed the upswing in anti-evolutionary fervor, examined the promise
of nanotechnology in medicine and considered whether anyone would ever
really make a big payday from the genomics revolution...
[Science]
NEC takes step forward in quantum computing
===========================================
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters02-19-110122.asp?t=resci
MSNBC - NEC Corp and Japanese government-funded research group RIKEN
said on Thursday they had made a technological breakthrough that brought
ultra-fast quantum computers a step closer by successfully creating a
state of quantum entanglement between two solid-state qubits for the
first time in the world...
[Science]
New Santa Fe Institute newsletter
=================================
http://boingboing.net/#90346277
Boingboing - The new newsletter from the Santa Fe Institute (which has
been studying evolutionary behaviour for years) is out, filled with good
stuff about social nets...
[Science]
Scientists one step closer to the unimaginable powers of quantum computing
==========================================================================
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030224-423540,00.html
Time - Though nothing in the laws of physics rules out quantum
computers, qubits are maddeningly delicate. Experiments must be done at
temperatures near absolute zero, and the slightest disturbance can cause
the teetering quantum states to collapse. Given such obstacles, quantum
computing's accomplishments have so far been rather modest: using a
short string of atoms to find the factors of the number 15 or to search
a "database" of eight items...
[Science]
Synthetic trees could purify air
================================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2784227.stm
BBC - Synthetic trees could help clean up an atmosphere grown heavy with
carbon dioxide, the most abundant gas produced by humans and implicated
in climate warming. He predicts that one synthetic tree could remove
90,000 tonnes of CO2 in a year - the emissions equivalent of 15,000 cars...
[Science]
The Secret of Life
==================
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030217/story.html
Time - Cracking the DNA code has changed how we live, heal, eat and
imagine the future... This issue of Time Magazine celebrates the 50
years of the discovery of the structure of DNA. Contains many
interesting articles.<br />
[Self transformation]
Long-term Wrinkle Remover Close to Approval in US
=================================================
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-03-03-4
Betterhumans - If you're American and comfortable injecting microscopic
plastic beads in your face, say hello to a wrinkle remover that lasts 10
years. An advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration has
recommended approval of Artecoll, a product containing collagen and
plastic microspheres that fills in facial lines.
[Space]
Europe targets the Moon
=======================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2818551.stm
BBC - Scientists and engineers working on the Smart 1 spacecraft are
hoping to fly around the 15th of that month - but it all depends on the
status of the launcher. Currently, Europe's rockets are grounded
following the high-profile failure of a vehicle in December last year.
But it seems the rocket's operators, Arianespace, are confident enough
about the outcome of a post-accident review of systems to give Smart 1 a
provisional launch date.
[Space]
Melting Snow May Support Life on Mars
=====================================
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_gullies_030219.html
Space.com - "This snow would make an unbelievably attractive abode for
life," Christensen told SPACE.com in an exclusive interview. "You've got
sunlight for photosynthesis. You've got temperatures above freezing. And
you've got liquid water all within a few inches of the surface at
mid-latitudes on Mars over huge areas. "I would think life, if it exists
on Mars, would migrate toward exactly these environments"...
[Space]
Missing Matter Found, Partially Squaring Cosmic Accounting Sheets
=================================================================
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/missing_matter_030212.html
Space.com - A vast fog of hot gas infusing the space between galaxies
has been firmly detected, apparently filling in an important blank in
the cosmic ledger involving up to 80 percent of normal matter. The work
builds on and confirms preliminary results, by four separate groups,
that were announced last summer...
[Technology]
Crisis fuels search for alternatives
====================================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/921754.stm
BBC - Advocates for electric cars assert that advances in battery
technology, thanks to work on mobile phones and laptops, mean batteries
can be recharged in minutes...
[Technology]
Genetically engineered plants that recognize bio attack
=======================================================
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2003/february/5371.htm
SeedQuest - Plants that lose their color, when sensing chemical signals
is what biologists from the Colorado State University are developing for
multiple future uses. Dr. Reddy and Dr. June Medford, both professors of
biology at Colorado State University, have teamed up to investigate the
possibility of producing plants that would lose their green color, when
they come into contact with specific chemical signals...
[Technology]
Nuclear-powered drone aircraft on drawing board
===============================================
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993406
New Scientist - The AFRL now is focusing on a type of power generator
called a quantum nucleonic reactor. The military interest was triggered
by research published in 1999 by Carl Collins and colleagues at the
University of Texas at Dallas. They found that by shining X-rays onto
certain types of hafnium they could get it to release 60 times as much
energy as they put in...
[Technology]
US in fusion rethink
====================
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1777470.stm
BBC - The United States may rejoin Iter, the international consortium to
build an experimental fusion reactor. It is just three years since the
Americans walked away from the project, complaining about excessive
costs and technical issues...
[Transhumanity]
Reeve: Reduce Limitations on Stem Cell Research
===============================================
http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20893.html
Newsfactor - Reeve faulted Bush for having "no consistent moral view" of
stem cell research, and expressed his frustration with the president's
2001 bioethics panel, which he said was "stacked" with theologians at
the expense of scientists."Superman" star Christopher Reeve yesterday
urged scientific elites at Harvard and MIT to exercise some political
muscle and protect their ability to conduct embryonic stem cell research
in the face of increasing federal restrictions. A guest of the MIT and
Harvard Hippocratic Societies' joint 2003 Conference on Neuroscience,
Reeve, who was paralyzed in a 1995 equestrian event, addressed a crowd
of about 150 students and faculty in Cambridge.
[Transhumanity]
Scientists Developing Drugs To Extend Life
==========================================
http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20884.html
Newsfactor - "We definitely are not trying to find a miracle drug that
you start taking when you're 20 and you live longer," said McGill
University geneticist Siegfried Hekimi. Instead, the drugs he envisions
would be used to prevent or cure age-dependent diseases. Scientists
reported new research Wednesday showing that limiting caloric intake and
certain genetic mutations can extend the lifespan of animals and could
lead the way to drugs that mimic this effect in humans. Such techniques
could extend the human lifespan by 20 years or more, they said.
[Transhumanity]
Study links Smart Start, child-care quality and children's outcomes
========================================================================
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-03/uonc-sls030403.php
EurekAlert - North Carolina preschoolers participating in high-quality
child-care programs are ahead of their peers who attend low-quality
programs, according to a new study of the state program known as Smart
Start. Researchers at the FPG Child Development Institute at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released their results today
at a news conference in Raleigh.
[Transhumanity]
Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer
==============================================
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993451
New Scientist - Fifty years to the day from the discovery of the
structure of DNA, one of its co-discoverers has caused a storm by
suggesting that stupidity is a genetic disease that should be cured. On
28 February 1953 biologists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered
the structure of DNA - the chemical code for all life. The breakthrough
revealed how genetic information is passed from one generation to the
next and revolutionised biology and medicine. But in a documentary
series to be screened in the UK on Channel 4, Watson says that low
intelligence is an inherited disorder and that molecular biologists have
a duty to devise gene therapies or screening tests to tackle stupidity.
Made in cooperation with Transhumanity at:
http://transhumanism.com/news.shtml
-- hilsen/regards Max M Rasmussen, Denmark http://www.futureport.dk/ Fremtiden, videnskab, skeptiscisme og transhumanisme
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