How Networked Monkey Brains Could Help Disabled Humans. New research proves that two heads are indeed better than one, at least at performing certain simple computational tasks.
The work demonstrates for the first time that multiple animal brains can be networked and harnessed to perform a specific behavior, says Miguel Nicolelis, a professor of neurobiology and biomedical engineering at Duke University and an expert in brain-machine interfaces. He says this type of “shared brain-machine interface” could potentially be useful for patients with brain damage, in addition to shedding light on how animal brains work together to perform collective behaviors. Nicolelis and his colleagues published two separate studies today, one involving rats and the other involving monkeys, that describe experiments on networks of brains and illustrate how such “brainets” could be used to combine electrical outputs from the neurons of multiple animals to perform tasks.
The researchers tested the ability of rat brain networks to perform basic computing tasks. Paralyzed Rats Walk Again with Flexible Spinal Implant. BrainGate Develops a Wireless Brain-Computer Interface. A few paralyzed patients could soon be using a wireless brain-computer interface able to stream their thought commands as quickly as a home Internet connection.
After more than a decade of engineering work, researchers at Brown University and a Utah company, Blackrock Microsystems, have commercialized a wireless device that can be attached to a person’s skull and transmit via radio thought commands collected from a brain implant. Blackrock says it will seek clearance for the system from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, so that the mental remote control can be tested in volunteers, possibly as soon as this year. Soviet Doctors Cured Infections With Viruses, and Soon Yours Might Too. Gene therapy trial 'cures children' 11 July 2013Last updated at 14:04 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Errors in the genetic code can have deadly consequences A disease which robs children of the ability to walk and talk has been cured by pioneering gene therapy to correct errors in their DNA, say doctors.
The study, in the journal Science, showed the three patients were now going to school. A second study published at the same time has shown a similar therapy reversing a severe genetic disease affecting the immune system. Stem cell 'major discovery' claimed. 29 January 2014Last updated at 06:52 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Stem cell researchers are heralding a "major scientific discovery", with the potential to start a new age of personalised medicine.
Scientists in Japan showed stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid. Stem cells can transform into any tissue and are already being trialled for healing the eye, heart and brain. The latest development, published in the journal Nature, could make the technology cheaper, faster and safer. The human body is built of cells with a specific role - nerve cells, liver cells, muscle cells - and that role is fixed. However, stem cells can become any other type of cell, and they have become a major field of research in medicine for their potential to regenerate the body.
Embryos are one, ethically charged, source of stem cells. Acid bath. How a Supercomputer May Have Finally Unlocked a Way to Beat HIV. HIV Vaccine Developed. Scientists genetically modify T cells derived from pluripotent stem cells to attack lymphatic tumors for unlimited number of tumor killing cells. Scientists have combined the ability to reprogram stem cells into T cells with a recently developed strategy for genetically modifying patients’ own T cells to seek and destroy tumors.
The result is the capacity to mass-produce in the laboratory an unlimited quantity of cancer-fighting cells that resemble natural T cells, a type of white blood cell that fights cancer and viruses. This could provide an unlimited number of tumor killing cells. Nature Biotechnology - Generation of tumor-targeted human T lymphocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells for cancer therapy Progress in adoptive T-cell therapy for cancer and infectious diseases is hampered by the lack of readily available, antigen-specific, human T lymphocytes. Pluripotent stem cells could provide an unlimited source of T lymphocytes, but the therapeutic potential of human pluripotent stem cell–derived lymphoid cells generated to date remains uncertain.
Antibiotic resistance: The last resort. Young Blood. In a 2005 experiment that would make anyone with the least sensitivity to animal welfare cringe, Irina and Michael Conboy of UC Berkeley surgically joined pairs of mice so that they shared a common blood supply.
Future - Health - The mystery of the stopped clock illusion. The Disease of More Drives the War on Drugs. The new psychiatrists' desk reference, the DSM-5, is missing the number one mental disorder plaguing our country—The Need for More.
As we continue to live with our focus on the desired goal—as opposed to living in the moment—we become more used to believing the constant bombardment of messages hurled our way. They say, "Get more done, get what the other person has, lose more fat, gain more muscle, get that girl or guy. " Scientists create first 3D digital brain. 20 June 2013Last updated at 14:15 ET By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News Pallab Ghosh explains how researchers can use Big Brain.
Mouse cloned from drop of blood. 27 June 2013Last updated at 02:02 GMT By Helen Briggs BBC News The mouse was cloned from a blood cell.
Nerve cells 're-grown' in rats after spinal injury. 25 June 2013Last updated at 21:46 ET By Helen Briggs BBC News.
06 Ypsilanti - weirdexperiments.com. The unlikely encounter took place on 1 July 1959 on Ward D-23 at the State Psychiatric Clinic at Ypsilanti near Detroit (picture), Michigan. Humans may soon regenerate damaged body parts like salamanders. Australian researchers have isolated an immune system cell in salamanders which helps it regenerate missing limbs and damaged organs — and they suspect the same thing could work in humans, too. Salamanders, or axolotls, are unique among vertebrates in that they’ve got remarkable regenerative powers.
Adults can literally regrow and restore function to any part of the body, including the spinal cord and heart — even parts of the brain. Moreover, the regenerated tissue is scar free; once repaired, the new tissue looks almost the same as it was before. Ingestible, Implantable, Or Intimate Contact: How Will You Take Your Microscale Body Sensors? Halting Thymic Involution. As we get older, the white blood cells that protect our bodies from cancer and infection become less effective. Washington University researchers use bee venom to destroy HIV - St. Louis Business Journal. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Scientists Cure Diabetes With Gene Therapy In Dogs – Will It Work On Humans? AutoDesk and Organovo Team Up To Bring Printable Human Organs Closer. 3D printing technology is hot and getting hotter.
Whereas once 3D printers were limited to a few select materials, these days inputs include metal, plastic, glass, wood, and—human cells? An Artificial Ear Built By a 3D Printer and Living Cartilage Cells.