Singularity Hub
Common form of inherited blindness shows ‘massive improvements’ with experimental gene therapy
This month, K.L. became one of the first patients to receive a new experimental gene therapy for children with a ...
We’re better at fighting epidemics because of advances in genetic sequencing, synthetic biology and a willingness to collaborate
It’s impossible not to draw parallels between SARS and the new coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19, that’s been ravaging China and spreading ...
Targeting super bacteria with artificial intelligence yields ‘powerful’ discovery
We’re now facing the emergence of strains of super bacteria resistant to one or more antibiotics and an aging arsenal ...
Smartphone as a ‘mood predictor’? This study wants to know if phone-captured data can predict depression
With digital health, anyone with a wrist wearable or smartphone could potentially contribute in the largest studies ever attempted by ...
‘Serious trouble’ for the natural world. Can synthetic biology protect it by redesigning insects and saving threatened species?
A paper in the journal PLOS Pathogens described how they synthetically engineered mosquitoes to stop the spread of dengue fever, a viral tropical disease ...
‘It takes a world’: Initiative urges global collaboration to help us understand the human brain
First envisioned in 2016 through a series of discussions on the “grand challenges” in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, the International ...
‘Mini-computers’ found in our neurons could be key to developing more powerful AI networks
With just their input cables, human neurons can perform difficult logic calculations previously only seen in entire neural networks. To ...
Forecasting: 2020 could bring major advances in gene therapies and pig-to-human organ transplants
Here are two stories in biotech we’re keeping our eyes on. Although successes likely won’t come to fruition this year ...
Neuroscience had a ‘transformative’ decade, giving us brain-computer interfaces, new research tools
I rarely use the words transformative or breakthrough for neuroscience findings. The brain is complex, noisy, chaotic, and often unpredictable ...
Why it’s so difficult for human embryos to survive CRISPR gene editing
CRISPR may one day wipe out devastating genetic diseases throughout entire family lines, or even the human race. But to ...
Does AI represent our best bet for extending human lives?
Co-founder and CEO [of Insilico Medicine] Alex Zhavoronkov said he believes there is no greater goal in healthcare today—or, really, ...
Computer simulation suggests we aren’t even close to designing better babies
It’s difficult to talk about genetic selection without the umbrella of morality or ethics. Yet like all scientific advancements, it ...
Virtual reality gets more realistic: Vibrating synthetic skin simulates touch
While they’re still struggling to gain commercial traction, the latest VR headsets are able to transport people to impressive virtual ...
Can you hack your sleep cycle for a better night’s rest?
Sleep has become the latest frontier in the life-hackers’ battle for self-improvement. But how easy is to to rewire how you ...
Artificial lungs grown in ‘hijacked’ mouse embryo could pave way for human transplants
Vaping aside, as dangerous air quality becomes increasingly prevalent in cities around the globe, the risk of serious lung disease ...
Trio of gene therapies seeks to reverse age-related diseases to make us ‘healthy, youthful later in life’
The legendary synthetic biologist Dr. George Church and team at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University took a first step towards ...
AI ethics can’t come from human medicine: Principles that guide doctors would ‘make no sense’ to a machine
The four core principles of medical ethics are respect for autonomy (patients should have control over how they are treated), ...
How synthetic biology will allow us to redesign humans ‘from the ground up’
Just as physics and chemistry have given humans power over the world of the inanimate, biology is giving us the ...
If we find alien life, how will we protect it from our own ‘microbial stowaways’?
When we venture beyond the moon, we’ll be bringing trillions of microbial stowaways with us. Which complicates things. If we ...
‘Scientific fight of the century’: Two theories of consciousness are going head-to-head
Here’s something you don’t hear every day: two theories of consciousness are about to face off in the scientific fight ...
4 innovations—including stronger gene-editing skills—that would allow us to rewrite genomes from the ground up
The ability to read genomes has transformed our understanding of biology. Being able to write them would give us unprecedented ...
Astonishing efficiency, unlimited storage: What makes the human brain so powerful?
[A] team from Washington University in St. Louis combined neural recordings from rats with computer modeling to uncover one of the ...
Artificial intelligence can determine your ‘brain age’ by analyzing MRI scans
Delaying “brain age” may sound like the latest quick-fix gimmick on a late-night infomercial, but the science underlying the concept ...
Are undiscovered antibiotics ‘silently waiting’ in our own bodies? Researchers scour microbiome for helpful genes
[A] study led by Dr. Mohamed Donia from Princeton University pushed the dark microbiome world into the light by targeting the ...
AI has a problem with generalization. Human brains may offer a solution.
Unconstrained by evolution, AI has the potential to churn through vast amounts of data to surpass our puny, fatty central ...
Viewpoint: There’s reason for optimism about AI’s ability to diagnose illnesses—but there’s also a lot of hype
Medicine is one of the hottest fields when it comes to applying AI to real-world problems, in particular using deep learning systems to ...
Merging man and machine: Tiny DNA nanomachines control biology, fight cancer
Chemistry isn’t king when it comes to governing our bodies; physical forces are similarly powerful. The problem is how to ...
Robots gain ‘sense of tactile touch’ through light-based nervous system
This month, a team led by Dr. Rob Shepard at Cornell University [gave robots an artificial nervous system], with a seriously ...
