Companies are developing embryo selection algorithms aimed at boosting the success of IVF
After two years of grueling attempts at in vitro fertilization (IVF) — in which eggs and sperm are combined outside the body, and the resulting embryos are transferred to the womb — Australian couple Lorraine and James Coriakula finally got pregnant and gave birth to a son, Ebenezer, in October. A machine-learning algorithm might have helped.
In early 2020, the Coriakulas visited a Melbourne clinic that’s using new artificial intelligence software to select embryos for IVF. While the embryo selection process is usually done by humans, the software developed by startup Life Whisperer of Adelaide, Australia, scans images of embryos and judges which look healthy. The company claims Ebenezer is the first successful birth from an embryo selected by its A.I. …
Reengineering Life
Research in mice shows promise for treating progeria, a disease that causes rapid aging and early death
Reengineering Life is a column from Future Human about the ways humans are using biology to reprogram our bodies and the world around us.
Children who are born with a rare genetic disease called progeria tragically live, on average, only until their mid-teens, though they look much older. Their bodies age so rapidly — up to 10 times faster than normal — that they usually die prematurely from heart attacks or strokes before they can finish high school. The culprit is a single-letter misspelling in their DNA.
Now, scientists have successfully corrected this misspelling in mice that have the disease by using a new kind of gene editing called base editing, raising hopes that a cure for children with progeria may be possible. …
Here’s how they actually work
The false claim that coronavirus vaccines will alter a person’s genetic code has spread on social media platforms in recent months as companies like Pfizer and Moderna sprinted to develop vaccines against the highly contagious virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic.
The notion even led to a Wisconsin pharmacist to intentionally remove 57 vials of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the fridge at the hospital where he was working and leave them out at room temperature, hoping they would spoil. …
Reengineering Life
United Therapeutics reveals its plans to perform the transplants in an exclusive interview with Future Human
Reengineering Life is a column from Future Human about the ways humans are using biology to reprogram our bodies and the world around us.
Every day in the United States, 17 people die waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. To address this crisis, one biotech company is turning to an unlikely source: pigs. Maryland-based United Therapeutics says it plans to begin transplanting organs from genetically modified pigs into people as soon as this year.
“We’re right on that cusp. We’re looking to get into humans within the next year or two,” said David Ayares, PhD, in an exclusive interview with Future Human. Ayares is the chief scientific officer of Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics that’s developing the pigs. …
Scientists moved closer to linking the human brain to computers
For decades, scientists have been trying to forge a direct connection from the human brain to external devices to allow people to control machines with their minds. And over the years, there’s been incremental success. Known as brain-computer interfaces, these devices have allowed paralyzed people to control robotic arms and a mouse on a computer screen just by thinking about it. But these interfaces require clunky setups and trained engineers to supervise their use. They can’t yet be used at home to help people in their everyday lives.
This year, neuroscientists got closer to that reality. Here are some of the notable advancements in brain implants we saw in 2020. …
Genealogy databases are leading police to mothers who killed their babies
On May 15, 1988, two children were playing near a creek in Northern California’s sunny Castro Valley when they made a disturbing discovery. At the top of an embankment along the creek, they found a bag containing the body of a newborn baby boy. He was swaddled in a light blue, adult-sized Garfield T-shirt. An autopsy later determined that the baby died by homicide. The mother, who investigators considered a suspect, could not be found.
The investigation turned up no viable leads. No one seemed to have any information about who the mother could be. In July 1988, a local church organized a funeral for the nameless infant, and 200 members of the community attended. Church leaders named the baby Richard Jayson Terrance Rein, while police referred to him as Baby John Doe. …
Scientists took huge strides toward using the gene-editing tool for medical treatments
Amid a raging global pandemic, the field of gene editing made major strides in 2020. For years, scientists have been breathlessly hopeful about the potential of the gene-editing tool CRISPR to transform medicine. In 2020, some of CRISPR’s first real achievements finally came to light — and two of CRISPR’s inventors won the Nobel Prize.
The idea behind CRISPR-based medicine sounds simple: By tweaking a disease-causing gene, a disease could be treated at its source — and possibly even cured. The other allure of gene editing for medical reasons is its permanence. …
Glimpse of the Future
The drone could be used in dangerous places where people can’t go
Every week, Future Human’s Glimpse of the Future brings you an image of the science being deployed to solve the world’s pressing problems.
Meet the Smellicopter, an autonomous drone designed to sniff out odors and follow them to the source while avoiding obstacles. The drone, developed by mechanical engineers at the University of Washington, marries robotics and biology in a surprising way: by using a living antenna, plucked from a moth, as the odor sensor.
The researchers used an antenna from nature instead of building an electronic one because the cells in a moth’s antennae amplify scent signals quickly and efficiently. …
REENGINEERING LIFE
Emerging technologies like CRISPR raise new possibilities for militaries
Reengineering Life is a series from Future Human about the astonishing ways genetic technology is changing humanity and the world around us.
China has reportedly conducted tests on members of its armed forces in hopes of developing soldiers with “biologically enhanced capabilities,” according to John Ratcliffe, the United States’ top intelligence official.
“China poses the greatest threat to America today,” warned Ratcliffe, who’s been President Trump’s director of national intelligence since May, in a Wall Street Journal commentary published last week that outlined the claims.
Radcliffe didn’t elaborate on what kind of biological enhancements the Chinese government is testing on military members, but NBC speculated that the experiments could involve the gene-editing technique CRISPR. NBC cited a 2019 policy paper written by two U.S. …
Glimpse of the Future
A skin-like device listens for coughs to catch early signs of Covid-19
Every week, Future Human’s Glimpse of the Future brings you an image of the science being deployed to solve the world’s pressing problems.
This flexible wireless sensor is designed to be worn just below the suprasternal notch — the dent at the base of the throat — to track symptoms of Covid-19. Developed by researchers at Northwestern University and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, it continuously measures and interprets body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory activity, including coughing.
Many conventional wearable devices, like the Fitbit or Oura smart ring, also measure body temperature and heart rate but do so from the wrist or finger. The Northwestern team, led by bioelectronics expert John Rogers, PhD, wanted to design something that could better monitor breathing and respiratory sounds closer to the source. …
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