The Future Is Here Today...Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity

New Cancer Detector Chip Works in About 30 Minutes

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by Aaron Saenz on October 12th, 2009
When biomarkers (specific strands of RNA) interact with the biosensor, an electric current indicates the presence of cancer.

A new chip out of the University of Toronto detects RNA strands that indicate the presence of cancer.

So there’s this period of time during a visit to the doctor’s when you’re left alone in the office. You just saw the nurse or PA, and the doctor is playing golf somewhere, so you have to wait in your little paper dress. I was once stranded in that limbo for an hour. Wouldn’t it be nice if that time could be put to good use? Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a microchip that works with nano-materials to detect biomarkers associated with cancer. Bottom line, in about 30 minutes the new biosensor can determine if you’ve got the ‘Big C’. Having already been proven to work with prostate cancer, the device could one day even be adapted to detect HIV, or H1N1 swine flu. Now that’s a good use of my time.

Development of the cancer biosensor was published in ACS, and more recently in Nature Nanotechnology. Shana Kelley, team leader for the project, says that the cancer detection microchip is the size of a fingertip. It and related electronics could fit into a hand held device the size of a Blackberry™. That means the detection of cancer would not only be much quicker (30 minutes vs. days of lab work) but it could be portable and relatively cheap as well. Hand held detection of major diseases and illnesses would revolutionize medicine, making it more accessible and more informative.
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CDC Report: Americans Living Longer, But Not As Long as Everyone Else

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by Aaron Saenz on August 26th, 2009

With the ongoing health care debate raging across the US, it’s good to know that we lived slightly longer in 2007 than in 2006. According to a report released on August 19th by the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics, Americans reached a new peak in lifespan: 77.9 years. In fact, the last decade has given us a 1.4 year increase in our age at death. Yep, US citizens are living longer than they were just a few years ago, but they still aren’t living as long as almost any other developed country. How can we be getting better but still be lagging behind?

Why are Americans living longer? (Left) We aren't we living as long as everyone else? (Right)

Why are Americans living longer? (Left) Why aren't we living as long as everyone else? (Right)

Almost half of all deaths (48.5%) in this country are due to heart disease or cancer. The overall death rates for stroke, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer fell between 2006 and 2007, and lifespan rose as a result. It’s clear that those two culprits are what is keeping the US from the longevity it might otherwise have.

And longevity means a lot to us here at the hub. We’ve shown you surgical advances, and promising medical developments. We’ve given you a look at some of the oldest people in the world, and some of the healthiest places in the world. The one thing we’ve learned through it all is that the secret to a long life is really, really simple: lifestyle.

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MIT and Harvard Monitoring Cancer Tumors With an Implant

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by Aaron Saenz on August 21st, 2009

Worried about the government spying on you through implants? Well, I don’t know if your dental fillings are secret radios, but MIT and Harvard are definitely trying to keep tabs on your cancer. Their joint Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) has developed and tested a small cylindrical implant that monitors the growth of tumors. Dr. Michael J. Cima and his team believe the implant can help doctors monitor hormones, chemotherapy agents, acidity, and oxygen levels that are key indicators of cancerous growths. No longer will surgeons have to wonder if their excisions are successful.

This tiny implant is able to monitor important chemicals near a tumor.

This tiny implant is able to monitor important chemicals near a tumor.

The little implant works in a really cool way. Only five millimeters long, the cylinder contains magnetic nanoparticles coated with antibodies. These antibodies will bond to whichever chemical the implant is designed to monitor. A semi-permeable membrane keeps the nanoparticles in the implant while still allowing ambient particles in and out. When the antibodies bond to a chemical they form clumps. These clumps are then read using an MRI.

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Stem Cell Therapy Must Continue In Spite of Cancer Setback

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by Keith Kleiner on February 18th, 2009

stem_cellsThe first known report of a brain tumor resulting directly from neural stem cell therapy was published yesterday.  The report is a fresh reality check against worldwide hopes for life saving stem cell therapies that seem just on the horizon; a stark reminder that success will not be easy.  It is also an example of the dangers faced by patients when they venture off to countries all over the world to receive treatments that are untested, unproven, and unregulated.  In spite of this, stem cell therapy offers hope for major medical breakthroughs and research of the therapy must continue unabated.

The patient in question was a boy suffering from a rare genetic disorder, ataxia telangiectasia (AT), characterized by severe degeneration of the brain region that controls movement and speech.  Beginning in 2001, the boy went to Moscow for several treatments in which fetal neural stem cells were injected  into the brain and the fluid surrounding it.  The hope was that these neural stem cells would somehow help the boy to regenerate neurons that had been destroyed by AT.

In 2005, four years after the treatment, tumors were found in the boy’s brain and spine.  A biopsy of tumor cells from the boy’s spine confirmed that their origin was from the fetal neural stem cells from the treatment in Moscow.

Critics of stem cell therapy, especially embryonic based therapy, will be quick to point at this case as an example of the dangers posed by the therapy, but this sort of thinking is flawed.  Stem cell therapy offers the hope of treatment for several of today’s most debilitating diseases and it should be pursued with our greatest urgency and effort.  As this incident clearly demonstrates, however, the path toward success is not without risk and there is still much we have to learn.

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