Synthetic Genetic Polymers Capable of Heredity and Evolution is the title of a journal article appearing in the April 2012 issue of Science. The researchers reported the findings of a project in which they created synthetic DNA, called XNA. The X stands for “Xeno,” a term meaning “alien.”The XNA created exhibits all the characteristics of
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The expression “in a heartbeat” may not have the same meaning in the future if technology under development has a say. Conventional thinking on replacing the heart with a device that works the same way as the heart is being turned on its head by devices that don’t beat at all. These new artificial hearts
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When I was a younger man working in the world of information technology I was an avid reader of James Martin’s books on computers and telecommunications. Recently I came across one of his books of which a part is published online. Entitled, “The Meaning of the 21st Century,” it outlines 16 challenges that humanity faces
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In this blog we look at potential 21st century cures for two diseases that have plagued humanity each creating an unwarranted burden on society – one more economic than deadly, the other more frightening in its potential to take human life. Both derive from viral infections. The former disease is the common cold. The latter
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Is drug addiction a disease? It may start with a voluntary sampling of a cigarette, an amphetamine, a stimulant, a depressant….but what eventually happens is in fact a dependency driven by our brains. We continue to use the drug for its effect even though it adversely affects our lives. Addictive substances impact the brain’s frontal
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Our image of wellness and health has changed in the last two centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th century the healthy and wealthy looked like the men who appear in the picture below. By today’s standards we would consider these men fat or even obese. From left to right, J.P. Morgan, Edward VII
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Of all the topics I have written about to-date, this one strikes closest to home. My daughter was born with congenital heart disease 27 years ago. At the time the odds in favour of her survival to adulthood were low but she made it. Today, children born with her form of congenital heart disease are
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Not too many people realize that many forms of diabetes are caused by our immune system going haywire. Normally, the immune system is our first line of defence against invasive bacterium. But what happens when our system cannot tell friend from foe? In this blog we identify some of the leading autoimmune diseases and the
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Some Basic Facts About Cancer When the genes in normal (somatic) cells mutate cell behaviour may change over time leading to cancer. Mutations are a normal part of the life of a cell. That’s because when cells divide they replicate their DNA but imperfectly. In a previous blog we talked about telomeres, the ends of
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In this last series of blogs we look at curing what ails humanity using 21st century technology. We’ll tackle this in several articles. Many of our 21st century technology solutions may prove effective in treating a range of disease types. What diseases are on our immediate radar? HIV and AIDS Mosquito-spread Diseases – Malaria, Dengue
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