Tiny brains created from SKIN could lead to cures for disorders like schizophrenia and autism. Scientists used stem cells to grow 3D tissue that mimics a brainThe cells displayed an organisation similar to that seen in the early stages of the developing human brain's cerebral cortex - also known as grey matterThe miniature brains helped the researchers identify a defect that affects normal brain development in microcephaly leading to a smaller brainThe findings could eventually lead to treatments for other neurological disorders By Emma Innes Published: 18:19 GMT, 28 August 2013 | Updated: 00:00 GMT, 29 August 2013 A ‘brain in a bottle’ has been grown by stem cell scientists who hope it will lead to treatments for neurological and mental diseases.
The ‘organoids’, three to four millimetres across, have a structure similar to that of an immature human brain. But the scientists insist that they are still far from creating an artificial brain – or even parts for damaged brains. ‘We are satisfied - or we hope - we will be able to model some of these defects as well.’ Russian tycoon wants to move mind to machine. NEW YORK (AP) — Can the City That Never Sleeps become the City That Never Dies? A Russian multimillionaire thinks so. Dmitry Itskov gathered some of humanity's best brains — and a few robots — in New York City on Saturday to discuss how humans can get their minds to outlive their bodies. Itskov, who looks younger than his 32 years, has an aggressive timetable in which he'd like to see milestones toward that goal met: — By 2020, robots we can control remotely with our brains. — By 2025, a scenario familiar to watchers of sci-fi cartoon show "Futurama:" the capability to transplant the brain into a life-support system, which could be a robot body.
. — By 2035, the ability to move the mind into a computer, eliminating the need for the robot bodies to carry around wet, messy brains. — By 2045, technology nirvana in the form of artificial brains controlling insubstantial, hologram bodies. View gallery Is immortality desirable, and if so, what's the best way to get there? Dr. Dr. Dr. Nanotechnology News. Biotechnology News. Easy and effective therapy to restore sight: Engineered virus will improve gene therapy for blinding eye diseases. Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed an easier and more effective method for inserting genes into eye cells that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases ranging from inherited defects like retinitis pigmentosa to degenerative illnesses of old age, such as macular degeneration.
Unlike current treatments, the new procedure is quick and surgically non-invasive, and it delivers normal genes to hard-to-reach cells throughout the entire retina. Over the last six years, several groups have successfully treated people with a rare inherited eye disease by injecting a virus with a normal gene directly into the retina of an eye with a defective gene. Despite the invasive process, the virus with the normal gene was not capable of reaching all the retinal cells that needed fixing. Harnessing a benign virus for gene therapy Coauthors include graduate students Deniz Dalkara and Leah C. DNA brings materials to life: DNA-coated colloids help create novel self-assembling materials. A colloid is a substance spread out evenly inside another substance. Everyday examples include milk, styrofoam, hair sprays, paints, shaving foam, gels and even dust, mud and fog.
One of the most interesting properties of colloids is their ability to self-assemble -- to aggregate spontaneously into well-defined structures, driven by nothing but local interactions between the colloid's particles. Self-assembly has been of major interest in industry, since controlling it would open up a whole host of new technologies, such as smart drug-delivery patches or novel paints that change with light. In a recent Nature Communications publication, scientists from EPFL and the University of Cambridge have discovered a technique to control and direct the self-assembly of two different colloids. Contrary to solutions that are made up of discrete molecules, colloidal solutions are made up of large particles, dispersed in a liquid solvent. Nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology ("nanotech") is the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology[1][2] referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.
A more generalized description of nanotechnology was subsequently established by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which defines nanotechnology as the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers. This definition reflects the fact that quantum mechanical effects are important at this quantum-realm scale, and so the definition shifted from a particular technological goal to a research category inclusive of all types of research and technologies that deal with the special properties of matter that occur below the given size threshold. Origins[edit] Comparison of Nanomaterials Sizes. Biotechnology. "Bioscience" redirects here. For the scientific journal, see BioScience. For life sciences generally, see life science. Biotechnology is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Art. 2).[1] Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the (related) fields of bioengineering, biomedical engineering, etc.
For thousands of years, humankind has used biotechnology in agriculture, food production, and medicine.[2] The term is largely believed to have been coined in 1919 by Hungarian engineer Károly Ereky. In the late 20th and early 21st century, biotechnology has expanded to include new and diverse sciences such as genomics, recombinant gene techniques, applied immunology, and development of pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic tests.[2]