Lifeboat Foundation

One of the best defenses we have against viral infections is the vaccine.

Vaccines prime the body’s immune system to fight an incoming infection; they’ve been credited with the widespread eradication of smallpox and the near-eradication of polio.

There have been many major advances to vaccines since their inception in the 1700s, but there are still many diseases for which no vaccine exists.

Continue reading “9 Dangerous Diseases That Could be Prevented” »

This brisk cadence of celestial surprises might make it seem that we’re on the cusp of proving the existence of extraterrestrials. But just because the crow’s nest announces clouds on the horizon doesn’t mean you’re close to land.

These three claims purporting to show the existence of aliens haven’t panned out. But what happens if some future claim does? What preparations are in place to deal with the discovery of a radio signal or a laser flash that would prove beyond doubt that we have cosmic compeers? Does the government have a plan? Does anyone?

A lot of people think there is a plan. A secret one. A recent survey indicated that 55 percent of the population figure that the discovery of extraterrestrials would be squelched — deep-sixed to prevent widespread panic. Only 19 percent believe the feds would fess up to E.T.’s existence.

Continue reading “What happens next if we find proof of space aliens?” »

https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/agemeter-biomarker-scan/#reward_13

This is one of the great rewards on offer for supporting AgeMeter, a functional age biomarker system, a project endorsed by Professor Church.

US government scientists work hard to protect the public.

Some study infectious diseases and effective treatments. Others ensure that drugs, food, vehicles, or consumer products live up to their claims and don’t harm anyone.

But the concerns at NASA’s headquarters are, quite literally, extraterrestrial — which is why the space agency now has a job opening for “planetary protection officer.”

Continue reading “NASA has a job opening for someone to defend Earth from aliens — and it pays a six-figure salary” »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qFZr2LTTNS8

Ray Kurzweil predicts a revolution in health & medicine due to biotechnology breakthroughs.

James Bedsol interviewed Ray Kurzweil, one of the world’s leading minds on artificial intelligence, technology and futurism, in his Google office in Mountain View, CA, February 15, 2017.

Scientists in Portland, Ore., just succeeded in creating the first genetically modified human embryo in the United States, according to Technology Review. A team led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University is reported to “have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating that it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases.”

The U.S. team’s results follow two trials—one last year and one in April—by researchers in China who injected genetically modified cells into cancer patients. The research teams used CRISPR, a new gene-editing system derived from bacteria that enables scientists to edit the DNA of living organisms.

The era of human gene editing has begun.

Continue reading “The Era of Human Gene Editing Is Here—What Happens Next Is Critical” »

It’s been 55 years since satellite communications became the first commercial space frontier, and space tourism is looming as the next frontier. But what comes after that? Would you believe in-space mining and manufacturing?

Those are the opportunities that came to the fore on Saturday when members of the Association of Professional Futurists gathered at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

Continue reading “Why asteroids loom as a future space frontier for mining and manufacturing” »

Many of you will likely already know who Professor George Church is and that he is an important and senior member of the research community engaged in treating the aging processes to prevent or reverse age-related diseases, not to mention all kinds of other applications for genetic engineering. For those who are not familiar with him a short bio follows.

George Church is a professor at Harvard & MIT, the co-author of over 425 papers, 95 patent publications and the book Regenesis. He developed the methods used for the first genome sequence back in 1994 and he was instrumental in reducing the costs since then using next generation sequencing and nanopores plus barcoding, DNA assembly from chips, genome editing, writing and re-coding.

He co-initiated the Genome projects in 1984 and 2005 to create and interpret the world’s only open-access personal precision medicine datasets. He was also involved in launching the BRAIN Initiative in 2011.