Optimal Functioning - positive psychology & physical health » Science

Creation of the First Artificial Life Form

Hans Rippel — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:49:24 +0000

A brand new living cell and the beginning of an era for artificial life forms! It’s official, J. Craig Venter and his team have created the first self-replicating synthetic cell with a completely man-made set of genetic instructions—a never before existing bacteria species has joined the ranks of the living.

Dr Craig Venter Announces First Synthetic Living Cell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqBSNmYJYI

*new* Step by Step: How scientists created the first artificial life

Videos

Dr Craig Venter Announces First Synthetic Living Cell [video]
Full Length Press Release: Craig Venter unveils “synthetic life” (TED Talks in the Field) [video]
The Journal Science Interviews J. Craig Venter About the first “Synthetic Cell” [video]
Interview on BBC – Are We Playing God? [video]
Interview on AlJazeera – Frost over the World (29.05.2010) [video]

Articles:

*new* ScienceMag – News of This Week [must read]
*new* Original Science Journal Article [study]
*new* Q&A on What Synthetic Life Actually Means
*new* EDGE: Brief Summary & Thought by Edge Reality Club Members
*new* Programming Life out of 4 Letters by Richard Dawkins

Other:

*new* Science PodCast with J. Craig Venter on the first “Synthetic Cell”

Step by Step:

How scientists created the first artificial life

1. Decode DNA from a bacterium (single-celled organism), in this case Mycoplasma mycoides

2. Synthetically create the DNA of the bacterium in the lab and add a “watermark” to distinguish it from real DNA

3. Transplant the artificial DNA into a living bacterium (in this case Mycoplasma capricolum) with its own authentic DNA

4. Allow the bacterium, which now contains artificial and authentic DNA, to divide and create “daughter” bacteria, some of which contain artifical DNA and others that contain authentic DNA

5. Add an antibiotic that kills the bacteria with authentic DNA, but not the bacteria with artificial DNA

6. Allow the artifical bacteria to produce proteins

RESULT: The artificial DNA produce proteins from the original bacterium, the Mycoplasma mycoides, qualifying as the world’s first artificial cell

(source: news.com.au)

Full Length Press Release: Craig Venter unveils “synthetic life”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIocNOHd7A

The Journal Science Interviews J. Craig Venter About the first “Synthetic Cell”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47rUrlzdK3k

Science PodCast with J. Craig Venter on the first “Synthetic Cell” [audio]

An interview with Craig Venter on the creation of a bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome.

Interview on BBC – Are We Playing God?

Interview on AlJazeera – Frost over the World (29.05.2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVczHSoDTbg

ScienceMag – News of This Week [free full text PDF or read online]
Synthetic Genome Brings New Life to Bacterium
Nice overview on Craig Venter’s work on “synthetic life”

Original Science Journal Article [free full text PDF & supporting material]
Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome.

ABSTRACT: We report the design, synthesis, and assembly of the 1.08-Mbp Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 genome starting from digitized genome sequence information and its transplantation into a Mycoplasma capricolum recipient cell to create new Mycoplasma mycoides cells that are controlled only by the synthetic chromosome. The only DNA in the cells is the designed synthetic DNA sequence, including “watermark” sequences and other designed gene deletions and polymorphisms, and mutations acquired during the building process. The new cells have expected phenotypic properties and are capable of continuous self-replication.

Q&A on What Synthetic Life Actually Means [at ScienceMag News]
Science reporter Elizabeth Pennisi, who wrote a news story about the discovery, and Mark Bedau, a philosopher and scientist at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and editor of the scientific journal Artificial Life, offer their answers and opinions.

EDGE: Brief Summary & Thought by Edge Reality Club Members [read online]
Bringing woolly mammoths and Neanderthal to live. Some fun thought experiments and comments by Daniel C. Dennett and others

Programming Life out of 4 Letters by Richard Dawkins

Dolly was cloned from an entire diploid genome of an adult sheep’s udder cell, dropped into an enucleated ovum. The Venter equivalent of Ian Wilmut’s achievement would be to go to the library (or in this case the Internet), take down the book labelled ‘Sheep Genome Project’ (or rather download the data files), and synthesize a complete set of sheep chromosomes from four bottles of chemicals labelled A, T, C and G. The synthetic genome would then be dropped into an enucleated sheep cell, as per Dolly. [source: The Richard Dawkins Foundation]

J. Craig Venter Institute has an article with more details about this break through titled FIRST SELF-REPLICATING SYNTHETIC BACTERIAL CELL

References:

Gibson, D. G., Glass, J. I., Lartigue, C., Noskov, V. N., Chuang, R. Y., Algire, M. A., et al. (2010). Creation of a bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome. Science (New York, N.Y.). doi:10.1126/science.1190719 [free full text PDF]

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Search for Hidden Dimensions – Brian Greene

Hans Rippel — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:08:09 +0000

Hidden dimensions may be all around us but they are too small for us to notice—for now. On paper the math behind string theory is making a strong case for these extra dimension. The next step is to find some experimental evidence to support the claims and predictions made by string theory.

The Large Hadron Collider is right now the best chance for testing these predictions about extra dimensions. What is also fascinating is when Brian Greene talks (5:45) about the possibility that the big bang was not the beginning or rather only the beginning for our little speck somewhere within a much larger universe where our big bang is one of many. Unfortunately he isn’t very optimistic about us ever being able to explore them but that is really getting ahead of ourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB1B42HYvZg

TED Prize Winner 2009

Slingshot, the Portable Water Purifier by Dean Kamen

Hans Rippel — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:01:10 +0000

One of the latest inventions by Dean Kamen is the Slingshot, a portable water purifier. What makes it unique is not the age old water distillation method but packing all the complexity of such a filtration system into something relatively portable.

By portable I mean it can easily transported, deployed, and maintained, which is something that cannot be said of traditional water distillation systems. At the size of a small fridge and the fact that it require a minimal amount of electricity make it a portable but stationary device. While another water purifier, the Lifesaver, is targeted for individuals and families, the Slingshot is more suitable as a clean water source for larger groups or small villages in need. Unfortunately it is not yet in production but if they can keep their target price of under $2000, this could even be an option for middle class families in the developed world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuQEvcFUyJg

You can read more how it works over at How Stuff Works – Slingshot Water Purifier

It is to be seen if this can match the reversed osmosis (RO) filtration system’s ability to filter out anything larger than 0.1nm. How’s that possible you might ask, well RO filtering systems use a membrane as one of the steps in the filtration process. This “hyperfiltration” is more suitable for home usage than any other water filtering system on the market.

TED Talks – Make filthy water drinkable by Michael Pritchard

Hans Rippel — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:21:18 +0000

Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it — inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. It can filter up to 6000 liters of water completely free of all viruses, bacteria, and heavy metals.

This makes it very well suited for saving lives in poor countries and providing clean water for disaster stricken areas. Plus it is a nice portable way to get some fresh clean water when camping, hiking, or for outdoor sports like long distance running and biking.

“For $20 billion everyone can have access to safe drinking water. So the 3.5 billion people that suffer every year… and the 2 million kids that die every year will live.” -Michael Pritchard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXepkIWPhFQ

You can read more about the Lifesaver and order it over at www.lifesaversystems.com

At the same time it is no match to the reversed osmosis (RO) filtration system’s ability to filter out anything larger than 0.1nm. How’s that possible you might ask, well RO filtering systems use a membrane as one of the steps in the filtration process. This “hyperfiltration” is more suitable for home usage for two reasons: (1) It produces the cleanest water (2) the convenience of not having to pump manually to get water clean.

TED Talks – Formula for Changing Math Education by Arthur Benjamin

Hans Rippel — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:44:58 +0000

We should teach more statistics & probability and earlier while we should teach less calculus and later.

Arthur Benjamin is a mathematician and in his pithy TED Talk, Formula for Changing Math Education (2009), he calls for this re-emphasis of math education. He argues that we as a society would greatly benefit from a better understanding of statistics and probabilities which would help us make better decisions about risks, rewards, randomness, and understanding and evaluating data in our everyday lives.

Take for example, few of us would use calculus on a daily bases but most of us are faced with making decisions about car insurance plans, student loans, mortgage rates, credit card interest rates, payment plan options, interpreting polls, planning our income investments and expenses, making decisions about bank loans and interest rates, stock market investments, interpreting results from scientific studies, analyzing trends, predicting the future, gambling, and so forth. This is just a short list I came up in the three minutes I watched Arthur’s presentation and I think it is fairly obvious that some of these are be very serious decisions that can have long lasting effects on our lives. They can mean the difference between unmanageable dept and a financially healthy lifestyle. And since education is supposed to prepare us for making the best possible decisions about our own lives, I think it only makes sense to include more of such important foundations for sound reasoning such as those that come with understanding statistics and probabilities.

I don’t know about the education you had but mine has not covered statistics or probabilities in any applicable way to the everyday life, nor do I know of any that does (please let me know if you do). The closest it got was in college and that was more geared towards understanding and conducting research, which isn’t necessarily everyday stuff. I think statistics and probabilities are one of the big missing ingredients of both primary and secondary education systems and should be a required educational component. And teaching these shouldn’t be too difficult since the very same reasons that make it so relevant can also make it easy and fun to teach to children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhMKmovNjvc

Here is Arthur Benjamin’s other TED Talk appearance but this time as a Mathemagician titled Lightning calculation and other “Mathemagic”

Reference:

Benjamin, A. (Speaker). (2009, February). Arthur Benjamin’s formula for changing math education [Video]. TED Conferences. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhMKmovNjvc

Benjamin, A. (Speaker). (2010, February). Lightning calculation and other “Mathemagic” [Video]. TED Conferences. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4vqr3_ROIk

TED Talks – Sam Harris on How Science can Answer Moral Questions

Hans Rippel — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:19:09 +0000

Sam Harris talks about the relationship between science, human values and how the seperation between the two is an illusion. There are truths to be known about how human communities flourish and how morality relates to these truths. Moral values are also a certain kind of fact that talk about the well-being of conscious creatures. In other words Sam Harris is saying that science is not only descriptive (by helping us get what we value) but can also be prescriptive (by telling us what we should value).

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj9oB4zpHww

Reference:

Harris, S. (Speaker). (2010, February). Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions [Video]. TED Conferences. Retrieved March 26, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj9oB4zpHww

TEDMED – Anthony Atala on Growing New Organs

Hans Rippel — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:11:57 +0000

Mind-blowing advances in bio-engineering and medicine presented by Anthony Atala at TEDMED. Repairing, reconstructing, and growing functioning organs with your own cell. The future of solving organ damage and organ donor shortages is arriving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQP3HrU8fdM

It’s great how much headway science has made in this area. The technological side of science is advancing just like electronic gadgets have. This is what we need to help people once they have acute problems beyond what the body is able to repair given a healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, for prevention we need to implement healthy eating habits and an overall healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately these cheaper and more cost effective methods of lifestyle changes find much more resistance. Cultural norms of what we eat, the difficulty of changing habits, and powerful interest groups have made simple changes to combat obesity, smoking, and unhealthy eating habits less successful.

Presentation Highlights – keep in mind that some of these technologies took over 700 researchers over 20 years to develop.

The first organ transplant was conducted in 1954. Unfortunately, in the last decade patients waiting for transplants has doubled while donors have stayed about the same.

“Every 30 seconds, a patient dies from diseases that could be treated with tissue replacement” or tissue regeneration.

“First use of natural biomaterial in humans for tissue regeneration, 1996.”

Our bodies can regenerate but only for limited distances. The maximum distance for regeneration is about 1 cm, unlike salamanders who can grow back entire limbs. Ideally smart balm materials that regenerate your tissue are the goal and right now the challenge is to increase the distances they can regenerate beyond the 1 cm. For injuries on larger scales and larger organs you need to get a small sample of cells from the injured or diseased organ. Let those cells multiply in a conducive lab environment. Once enough cells are available it is possible to use scaffolds that are coated with those cells to recreate the original organs or parts of it. The scaffolds with the cells on them are then placed under optimal conditions of 37 degrees Celsius and 95% oxygen. Once the cells have grown onto the scaffold it can be implanted. The scaffolds are designed so that they will attract new tissue cells that will replace the scaffold, which will disintegrate after a while. This method has been successfully used with muscles, carotid arteries, and heart valves. And interestingly they had to exercise them while growing them in the lab.

The first engineered organ was the bladder. And it took only 6-8 weeks to grow until it was ready to be implanted in a patient. Among the solid organs that have been created are ears and fingers. The most complex organs to engineer are those that are highly vascularized such as the heart, the liver, and the kidneys.

One strategy used is to print organs. This has been done with a heart chamber that was printed with a regular printer that instead of ink prints cells one layer at a time. Another strategy is to use de-cellularized organs. Take donor organs, take out all the cells, which takes about two weeks and what is left is the structure of the organ that is made up of collagen. This method even keeps the vascular tree intact. And then this skeleton structure will be infused with the organ recipients own cells. This way organs will not be rejected. At the moment this is only experimental but liver functions have already been reproduced in experiments. At the moment these kidneys are small and the work ahead is to increase them to regular size. Kidneys with livers, and hearts are by far the most complex organs inpart because they are highly vascularized.

Reference:

Atala, A. (Speaker). (2009, October). Anthony Atala on Growing New Organs [Video]. TEDMED Conferences. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQP3HrU8fdM

Learn how to Speed Read

Helge Bjorland — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:41:50 +0000

IMPORTANT NOTICE: with increased speed of reading (skim reading) your accuracy of reading comprehension decreases! (Carroll, 2003; Carvers, 1987) read more at http://www.skepdic.com/speedreading.html)

This is something I definitely will try to master!

[boingboing via Lifehacker]

References:

Carroll, R. T. (2003). The skeptic’s dictionary: A collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions. New York: Wiley. Retrieved March 31, 2010, from the The Skeptic’s Dictionary database, http://www.skepdic.com/speedreading.html

Carver, R. P. (1987). Teaching rapid reading in the intermediate grades: Helpful or harmful?. Reading Research and Instruction, 26(2), 65-76.

ABSTRACT: Bergquist (1984) has contended that children can be trained to increase their reading rate without any loss of comprehension. He cites 11 studies that supposedly provide a wealth of supporting research. These 11 studies, plus other more recent research on reading rate, have been closely examined. It was concluded that rapid reading results in a decrease in the accuracy of comprehension. This makes rapid reading training potentially harmful unless it is presented as a skimming skill.

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TEDMED – where medicine & healthcare intersect

Hans Rippel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:14:19 +0000

TEDMED focuses on the intersection of medicine and healthcare. It was created by Marc Hodosh (President) in partnership with TED founder Richard Saul Wurman. “TEDMED celebrates conversations that demonstrate the intersection and connections between all things medical and healthcare related: from personal health to public health, devices to design and Hollywood to the hospital.”

I’m very excited about a TED conference solely dedicated to health, medicine, and similar topics.

TEDMED on the web:

First Human Tissue Printer

Helge Bjorland — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:08:36 +0000

Invetech has invented the “World`s first production model 3D bio-printer” which it will be used by Organovo. This is quite amazing, and hopefully they will soon be able to create organs!

Organovo writes that: “The 3D bio-printers include an intuitive software interface that allows engineers to build a model of the tissue construct before the printer commences the physical constructions of the organs cell-by-cell using automated, laser-calibrated print heads.”

[Organovo via Gizmodo]

TEDMED – Anthony Atala on Growing New Organs