Singularity Hub
Redefining reproduction? Immature human eggs made from blood cells
We all know how babies are made: sperm meets egg, molecular magic happens, and an entire human comes to life ...
No more words? BrainNet enables ‘brain-to-brain’ communication, Tetris-like game play
What if we could do away with words altogether? What if, rather than relying on an intermediary, we could directly ...
Viewpoint: We need to push artificial intelligence beyond ‘spying, brainwashing, or killing’
We are facing a future with great uncertainty and tremendous promise, and the best we can do is to confront ...
‘Theory of mind’: Why artificial intelligence needs to understand how we think
What AI needs, [said Dr. Jun Wang at University College London] is a type of deep communication skill that stems from a critical human ...
What happens if we make AI more humanlike?
When people interact with each other face to face, emotional and intellectual engagement both heavily influence the interaction. What would ...
What good is eternal life if we can’t stay young?
Longer lives seem attractive, but as we age we become susceptible to a host of late-life diseases that can prevent ...
Urban food ecosystem: How vertical farms and 3D-printed food could feed world’s growing cities
In the next 30 years, virtually all net population growth will occur in urban regions of developing countries. At the same ...
Wearable robotic ‘exoskeletons’ merge humanity and machinery
Ever since the appearance of the power loader in the sci-fi classic Aliens, the idea that powered exoskeletons could let workers ...
Project Recode: Can we create synthetic ‘superhero’ human cells immune to viruses, cancer and aging?
Recently, roughly 200 eminent scientists assembled in Boston. Their agenda? Creating “superhero” human cells impervious to all viral attacks and ...
Brain-machine interfaces: Biology and body upgrades on the way. How will we handle them?
Upgrading our biology may sound like science fiction, but attempts to improve humanity actually date back thousands of years. Every ...
‘Animal uplift’: Could we—and should we—make animals smarter?
Advances in neural implants and genetic engineering suggest that in the not–too–distant future we may be able to boost human intelligence. If that’s ...
Nanofabrication: Technology to manufacture almost anything
James Burke has a vision for the future. He believes that by the middle of this century, perhaps as early as ...
Navigating the ‘promise and peril’ of bioengineering
We’re standing on the threshold of extraordinary capability in synthetic biology. CRISPR-Cas9, the genome editing technique discovered in 2014, is ...
Video: Here’s how CRISPR gene editing works
Gene editing is in the news a lot these days, but what is it exactly? Gene editing is the process ...
Artificial Intelligence may offer early Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Canadian researchers at McGill University believe they can predict Alzheimer’s disease up to two years before its onset using big ...
Leukemia treatment using lab-grown blood ‘tantalizingly close’
A bone marrow transplant is often the only chance for survival [for patients with leukemia and other blood disorders]...Unfortunately, like ...
Does gene editing change who we are as ‘humans’?
DNA-based technology’s entry into the mainstream has been picking up lately.... But rapid advances mean it is becoming increasingly feasible ...
‘Backlash’ against GMOs may be more about corporate power than science
Much of the backlash against GMOs is less about genetic engineering and more about the business practices of the corporations ...
Animal cyborgs: 6 nature-inspired robots that could revolutionize science, medicine and farming
1. Light-controlled dragonflies In January, R&D company Draper and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced a partnership aimed at turning ...
CRISPR gene editing could speed up photosynthesis and boost crop yields—But it will take time
Unlike previous approaches to GM crops that introduce foreign DNA into an organism, genome editing achieves much the same outcome ...
Homo Evolutis: Will modern humans evolve even further?
[Editor's Note: Juan Enriquez is a researcher, and entrepreneur who has been studying the widespread implications of genomics and other ...
Designer dogs? In pursuit of the perfect, healthy canine companion
Centuries of inbreeding have left many dog breeds with a severely limited gene pool, and this lack of genetic diversity ...
4 ways stem cells could change health and medicine
We are at the cusp of a stem cell revolution. Understanding and harnessing these unique cells may unlock breakthroughs in ...
Will DNA become new storage medium for digital data?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. To most of us, ...
Gene therapy successful in treating leukemia. Can it be used to fight other cancers as well?
A new cancer treatment pioneered at the University of Pennsylvania has generated a lot of excitement in the field and ...
Could doctors diagnose all types of cancer with one drop of blood?
Despite incredible diversity among cancer cells, researchers and startup companies are hoping to find a silver bullet test to diagnose ...
Doctors faced with rare or difficult cancers can just Google genetic treatments
Since DNA sequencing began in the 1990s, one of its greatest promises has been that doctors treating cancer could sequence ...
The genetic mystery of the woman who doesn’t grow
Twenty year old Brooke Greenberg hasn’t grown since age five. For the last 15 years mystified doctors have been unable to explain ...
