Biotech
Human history has been all but defined by death and disease, plague and pandemic. Advancements in 20th century medicine changed all of that. Now advancements in 21st century medicine promise to go even further. Could we bring about an end to disease? Reverse aging? Give hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind? The answer may be yes. And soon.
Featured
How consensus can undermine science
The main objective of consensus statements appears to be to reduce doubt, which may stifle scientific inquiry.
Three founders look to the future at Freethink’s inaugural Great Progression event
The tech community came together for the launch of the Great Progression event series, curated by Peter Leyden and produced by Freethink.
Pac-Man turned 45 today. The surgeon general once warned that playing it could make kids violent.
Officials’ warnings about the impact of video games on kids were never proven true. They may be making the same mistake with social media.
Psychedelics & Mental Health
Flexible brain implant takes major leap forward
The FDA’s clearance of Precision Neuroscience’s flexible electrode array pushes the startup ahead in the race to BCI commercialization.
The next era of psychedelics may be precision-designed states of consciousness
A look inside Mindstate Design Labs’ effort to design drugs that reliably produce specific states of consciousness.
How Neuralink’s chief competitor is tapping into the brain without surgery
Synchron’s brain-computer interfaces do not require brain surgery, but travel to the brain through the jugular.
Biohacking
We’re able to create new creatures through gene editing. What’s stopping us?
The question isn’t whether we can sculpt new life. The question is what comes next.
Boosted Breeding and beyond: 3 tech trends that could end world hunger
A world without hunger is possible, and the development and deployment of new farming technologies could be one key to manifesting it.
New AI generates CRISPR proteins unlike any seen in nature
An AI that generates CRISPR proteins is opening the door to gene editors with capabilities beyond what we’ve found in nature.
Ray Kurzweil explains how AI makes radical life extension possible
Life expectancy gains in developed countries have slowed in recent decades, but AI may be poised to transform medicine as we know it.
Vaccines
Personalized cancer vaccines are having a moment
Personalized cancer vaccines were a recurring theme at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in 2024.
The threat of avian flu — and what we can do to stop it
Avian flu is infecting cows on US dairy farms, and now a person has caught it — but new research could help us avoid a bird flu pandemic.
One shot recreates younger immune systems, in mice
An antibody treatment designed to revitalize an aging immune system delivers “surprising” results in elderly mice.
More
Why do women live longer than men?
Women tend to live longer than men around the world – but the gap life expectancy is not a constant. These stats tell the story.
Experimental implant could end the need for insulin injections
An arm implant containing islet cells could one day make it far easier for people with type 1 diabetes to manage their disease.
Researchers engineer insulin-releasing cells that respond to sound waves
New research in mice attempts to eventually replace insulin injections with the sounds waves of rock music.
Tiny biobots surprise their creators by healing wound
Tiny “biobots” made from human windpipe cells, amazingly, helped damaged neural tissue to repair itself in a new study.
These 2 types of exercise can improve brain health in your 80s, new study finds
Older people who regularly engage in aerobics and strength training perform better on cognitive tests.
This startup is solving the biggest problem to creating drugs that work
Lab-grown human tissues could revolutionize drug development. This AI-powered robot can create and test 10,000 of them at once.
Study: chronic pain’s root cause could be a process in the brain
Understanding that chronic back pain originates from within the brain could lead to quicker recovery, a new study finds.
Neurosoft CEO says new brain implant is “basically 1,000 times softer” than anything on the market
Swiss startup Neurosoft’s flexible brain implant could give us a better way to analyze and stimulate the brain.
Bad sleep worsens pain. Researchers may have discovered why.
Inadequate sleep worsens pain, which makes it difficult to sleep. This cycle may stem from disruptions to the body’s endocannabinoid system.
A new hydrogel offers the hope of ending daily injections for diabetes
Type-2 diabetes often involves an intense and exhausting treatment burden, with many injections over many days. That might be set to change.
Zapping injured brains can improve cognition and memory
The lasting symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be treated with deep brain stimulation, according to a first-of-its kind trial.
Move over, agony aunt: study finds ChatGPT gives better advice than professional columnists
Researcher found that people preferred the AI-generated responses over those given by a professional advice columnist, and couldn’t tell which was which.
Lidocaine makes cancer cells self-destruct, study finds
Lidocaine, a common local anesthetic, activates proteins that cause certain types of cancer cells to self-destruct.
Stem cell injections could be the key to curing MS
From promising stem cell therapies to EBV vaccines, researchers are closer than ever to finding a cure for MS.
How language and social status change the developing brain
Research shows that a child’s early environment and socioeconomic status (SES) impact their language development and processing skills.
Cholesterol drug suggests new way to treat Alzheimer’s
A cholesterol drug that reduced brain damage in mice could reveal a new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease in people.
Search algorithm reveals nearly 200 new kinds of CRISPR systems
Researchers have discovered rare new CRISPR systems that have a range of functions and could enable gene editing, diagnostics, and more.
A new study reveals we can no longer tell AI-generated faces from real human faces
Looking at a face without a life.
Biggest science prize in history aims to extend human healthspan by a decade
Do humans have an ethical obligation to “die young”? Maybe not in the way you think, says bioethicist Raiany Romanni.
Grinding scientists: Mechanochemistry could revolutionize the creation of new materials
Like a kitchen mortar and pestle, mechanochemistry harnesses ball milling to create chemical compounds, simpler, and faster than traditional methods.
Special Collection
Collection
The Science of Death
Explore the journey from life to death and beyond. Near-death experiences, death doulas, digital immortality, and more – join us for a thoughtful exploration of one life’s most intriguing and inevitable phenomena with stories from the frontlines of death.
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