medical news from internet

Friday, February 3, 2023

  


World Cancer Day
Celebration
OverviewNewsVideos

Search Results

Main results

World Cancer Day/Date
Sat, Feb 4, 2023
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
International Mother Language Day
International Mother Languag...
World Day of Social Justice
World Day of Social Justice
International Women's Day
International Women's Day
World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day
World Radio Day
World Radio Day
Father's Day
Father's Day









IMMUNOTHERAPY






History

Immunotherapy, or the concept of boosting the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells, has been a goal of cancer treatment for over 100 years. However, limited success has been achieved with traditional immunotherapy, as cancer cells tend to evolve mechanisms that evade immune detection. A wide array of gene therapy techniques are being used to overcome this limitation.19

Currently gene therapy is being used to create recombinant cancer vaccines. Unlike vaccines for infectious agents, these vaccines are not meant to prevent disease, but to cure or contain it by training the patient’s immune system to recognize the cancer cells by presenting it with highly antigenic and immunostimulatory cellular debris. Initially cancer cells are harvested from the patient (autologous cells) or from established cancer cell lines (allogeneic) and then are grown in vitro. These cells are then engineered to be more recognizable to the immune system by the addition of one or more genes, which are often cytokine genes that produce pro-inflammatory immune stimulating molecules, or highly antigenic protein genes. These altered cells are grown in vitro and killed, and the cellular contents are incorporated into a vaccine (figure 1A▶).20 Immunotherapy is also being attempted through the delivery of immunostimulatory genes, mainly cytokines, to the tumor in vivo. The method of introducing a gene to the tumor varies and is discussed in more detail in the gene transfer section of this review. Once in the cancer cell, these genes will produce proteins that unmask the cells from immune evasion and encourage the development of antitumor antibodies (figure 1B▶).

other ways to defeat  cancer:-

Vaccines using engineered cells are showing great promise for the treatment of many cancers that respond poorly to conventional therapy.

The next generation of vaccines is already in clinical trials for several cancer types. Table 1▶ provides a list of the more advanced clinical trials in this field, including phase, the type of cell used and the gene used to create a better immune response. These trials were picked to illustrate the fact that there are wide ranges of trials in different stages of efficacy testing using a variety of vectors for many cancer types.

CancerStimulating genesClinicalTrials.gov47 identifier #DescriptionPhase
ProstateMurine α(1,3)- galactosyltranferaseNCT00105053Mouse protein-sugars are expressed on allogeneic prostate cells to induce a hyperacute rejection responseII
PancreaticCEA and MUC-1NCT00088660Replication incompetent vaccinia and fowlpox viruses engineered to produce CEA and MUC-1 given subcutaneously to produce an immune response to pancreatic cancerIII
ProstateGM-CSFNCT00122005Allogeneic prostate cells expressing the GM-CSF gene are used to induce immune response following chemotherapy and peripheral blood mononuclear cells infusionI/II
LymphomaGM-CSF and CD40LNCT00101101Autologous tumor cells are combined with allogeneic cells that express GM-CSF and CD40L and incorporated into a vaccine with low doses of IL-2II
MelanomaIL-2NCT00059163Autologous tumor cells engineered to express IL-2 are incorporated into a vaccine.II
KidneyCD-80NCT00040170A modified replication incompetent adenovirus containing the tumor antigen CD-80 is injected subcutaneously along with the cytokine IL-2 to produce an immune response to the prostate cancer

Future Directions

Because oncolytic virotherapy is not yet a mature technology, there is plenty of room for improved treatment vectors. In order for virotherapy to be successful, viral particle production rates in the infected cancer cells must outstrip the growth rate of the uninfected cancer cells. This may be difficult to achieve with large established tumors54 and may mean that virotherapy must be combined with an existing therapy, such as surgery, to decrease the number of cancer cells in the initial treatment. In addition, the most effective treatment delivery method is yet to be determined. In preliminary studies, systemic injection required 1000x the viral load necessary to achieve results than injection intratumorally.55

However, once these factors are overcome, there are many benefits to oncolytic therapy. The selective nature of the virotherapy ensures that healthy tissue will be minimally impacted. In addition, when combined with cytotoxic gene expression, this therapy can affect not only rapidly dividing cells, but those in the surrounding tissue making the microenvironment less favorable for cancer growth. The combination of the powerful killing nature of these vectors combined with the selectivity makes them an exciting avenue for lowering the number of cancer deaths.

GENE TRANSFER

History

One of the most exciting treatments to emerge from the concept of gene therapy is that of gene transfer or insertion. This is a radically new treatment paradigm involving the introduction of a foreign gene into the cancer cell or surrounding tissue. Genes with a number of different functions have been proposed for this type of therapy, including suicide genes (genes that cause cellular death when expressed), antiangiogenesis genes and cellular stasis genes (figure 3▶). A number of different viral vectors have been used in clinical trials to deliver these genes, but most commonly have used a replication incompetent adenovirus. Nonviral methods, including naked DNA transfer and oligodendromer DNA coatings, as well as electroporation are also viable modes of gene delivery.56 The type of delivery vehicle chosen depends on the desired specificity of the gene transfer therapy, as well as the length of time the gene must be expressed in order to be effective. For instance, a replication incompetent adenoviral vector containing the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk) gene needs only transient expression to accomplish cell death and is generally delivered via an adenoviral vector.57 However, antiangiogenesis genes, such as sFLT-1 and statin-AE, need continuous expression for therapeutic effect and have been delivered using plasmids that contain a transposon to insert the gene into the cellular DNA



CancerTransferred genesClinicalTrials.gov47 identifier #DescriptionPhase
PancreaticRexin-GNCT00121745A cytocidal cyclin G1 construct accumulates preferentially in the tumor cells to block the action of cyclin G1 and initiate cell deathI
GlioblastomaHSVtkNCT00001328The HSVtk gene is introduced into glioblastoma cells via a mouse retrovirus. Glioblastoma cells with the HSVtk gene are then sensitive to the drug glanciclovir which is administeredI
Head and neckp53NCT00041613Transfer of the p53 gene via a replication incompetent adenovirus to tumor cells to inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosisIII
MelanomaMDA-7NCT00116363MDA-7 a novel tumor suppressor molecule is introduced into the melanoma cells and overexpression inhibits cellular proliferation and induces apoptosisII
PancreaticTNF-αNCT00051467The TNF-α gene under the control of a radiation inducible promoter is introduced into tumor cells and in combination with the radiation therapy induces cell death

Another exciting gene therapy treatment agent is Rexin-G, the first injectable gene therapy agent to achieve orphan drug status from the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of pancreatic cancer.68 This gene therapy agent contains a gene designed to interfere with the cyclin G1 gene and is delivered via a retroviral vector. The gene integrates into the cancer cell’s DNA to disrupt the cyclin G1 gene and causes cell death or growth arrest. In a phase I trial, 3 of 3 patients experienced tumor growth arrest with 2 patients experiencing stable disease. These results have led to larger phase I and II trials.69 Rexin-G is also being evaluated for colon cancer that has metastasized to the liver.
Another exciting gene therapy treatment

A gene transfer technology that shows great promise is the replication incompetent adenovirus delivering the HSVtk gene to a tumor followed by ganciclovir treatment. Ganciclovir is not toxic unless metabolized by the HSVtk gene,70 and therefore only the cancer cells that are treated with the gene and the surrounding cells will be affected by treatment. In a large phase I study involving glioblastoma patients, the HSVtk-engineered viral treatment increased median survival from 39 weeks to 70.6 weeks and was the first glioblastoma gene therapy trial to show any measurable improvement in survival.71

Another exciting gene therapy treatment

Several agents that use a replication incompetent adenoviral vector to deliver the p53 gene to cancer cells are also currently in phase II and III trials. The p53 gene is an important cell cycle regulator that has been extensively studied and is mutated in 50% to 70% of human tumors.72 Mutations in this gene are often linked to aggressiveness. It has been shown that restoration of a functional p53 gene in cancer cells results in tumor cell stasis and often apoptosis.72 Using this information, INGN 201, an adenoviral vector containing p53 for gene transfer, is in current phase III testing for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, and has completed phase I studies on prostate, ovarian, glioma and bladder cancer.

Future Directions

Gene transfer, while a radical new type of treatment, is also the only gene therapy product to obtain regulatory approval in any global market, as demonstrated by China’s 2003 approval of Gendicine for clinical use.76 Gendicine is a modified adenovirus that delivers the p53 gene to cancer cells and is approved for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Since approval, thousands of patients have been treated in China; some with repeated injections. As yet, large-scale efficacy trial results have not been published; the results of which are eagerly awaited.

Gene transfer technology allows an incredible diversity of treatment possibilities. This diversity can be used to complement traditional therapies, as well as provide radically new frontiers for treatment. Gene transfer therapy can rely on the current information known about the genetics of cancer formation, bringing a more sophisticated and personalized approach to therapy. Current gene transfer trials have demonstrated statistically significant survival improvements for cancers such as glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer, as discussed previously. These studies have provided very encouraging signs that current research is on the right path.

ONCOLYTIC AGENTS

History

Another growing area of gene therapy treatment for cancer is the use of oncolytic vectors for cancer destruction. Like immunotherapy, this is a concept that has been around for almost a century and, like immunotherapy, it is undergoing a renaissance due to gene therapy.38 Oncolytic gene therapy vectors are generally viruses that have been genetically engineered to target and destroy cancer cells while remaining innocuous to the rest of the body. Oncolytic vectors are designed to infect cancer cells and induce cell death through the propagation of the virus, expression of cytotoxic proteins and cell lysis (figure 2▶).39 A number of different viruses have been used for this purpose, including vaccinia, adenovirus, herpes simplex virus type I, reovirus and Newcastle disease virus.38 These viruses have been chosen, in many cases, for their natural ability to target cancers, as well as the ease at which they can be manipulated genetically.






Initial trials of oncolytic therapies have highlighted both its incredible power, as well as unique obstacles to treatment implementation. Mammalian models of oncolytic gene therapy have worked remarkably well. In murine models, both colon and bladder cancer have shown survival benefits and reduced metastasis using oncolytic viral agents.40,41 In a canine model, using an oncolytic virus designed to destroy osteosarcoma, survival was prolonged even in immunocompetent dogs with syngenic osteosarcoma.42 However, there are several unique stumbling blocks for oncolytic virotherapy in humans. Most people have antibodies to the common viruses used for therapy development which often leads to an immune response that clears the viral agent before it has had time to infect cells. In addition, the use of replication competent viral particles often calls for increased safety precautions, making clinical trials more expensive and cumbersome.43 In a trial using a modified vaccinia virus to treat breast and prostate cancer, patients were required to be isolated in a specialized hospital facility for a week to ensure that the virus had completely cleared before being allowed back into the general population.18 Because of these limitations, there have been relatively few trials with oncolytic therapy. However, new vectors are being created and past experience is being incorporated into current trials to enhance results so that they mimic those in animal studies.

Current Clinical Trials

Even in this early stage, oncolytic viral therapy has demonstrated some success. Both adenovirus and herpes virus agents have ongoing clinical trials for intractable cancers. The most notable adenoviral therapy is the ONYX-015 viral therapy. ONYX-015 is an adenovirus that has been engineered to lack the viral E1B protein.44 Without this protein, the virus is unable to replicate in cells with a normal p53 pathway. In addition, the E1B protein is essential for RNA export during viral replication.45 Cancer cells often have deficiencies in the p53 pathway due to mutations and thus, allow ONYX-015 to replicate and lyse the cells.44 Cancer cells also exhibit altered RNA export mechanisms that allow for the export of viral RNA even in the absence of the E1B protein.45 ONYX-015 has been tested in phase I and II trials on squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that resulted in tumor regression which correlated to the p53 status of the tumor. Tumors with an inactive pathway demonstrated a better response.46 Phase II trials of ONYX-015, in combination with chemotherapy, demonstrated even better tumor response and have led to a phase III study.47 In addition to squamous cell carcinoma, ONYX-015 is currently being tested as a preventative treatment for precancerous oral tissue, the theory being that even in the precancerous state, there are p53 pathway inactivating mutations that will allow the oncolytic adenovirus to replicate and eliminate the cells before they become cancerous.48

The second type of oncolytic virotherapy undergoing clinical trials uses herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Two vectors, G207 and NV1020, are currently in phase I and phase II trials for treatment of intractable cancers. Mutations in several genes of these herpes viruses ensure that they replicate efficiently only in cancerous cells. G207 is mutated so that it has attenuated neurovirulence and cannot replicate in nondividing cells.41 NV1020, a derivative originally used for vaccine studies, has multiple mutations, including a deletion in the thymidine kinase region and a deletion across the long and short components of the genome, and an insertion of the thymidine kinase gene under the control of the α4 promoter.41 These viral vectors have two distinct cell killing mechanisms. The lytic portion of the life cycle directly kills cells and the thymidine kinase that is expressed from the viral genes sensitizes cells to ganciclovir. These viral therapy vectors have been used with great success in vitro and in model animals against a wide number of solid cancers.49–51 Clinical trials using these vectors include a phase I trial of G207 for treatment of malignant glioma52 and a phase I/II trial of NV1020 for treatment of colorectal cancer metastases to the liver.53 In addition, NV1020 has also been tested for treatment of glioblastoma.53

Future Directions

Because oncolytic virotherapy is not yet a mature technology, there is plenty of room for improved treatment vectors. In order for virotherapy to be successful, viral particle production rates in the infected cancer cells must outstrip the growth rate of the uninfected cancer cells. This may be difficult to achieve with large established tumors54 and may mean that virotherapy must be combined with an existing therapy, such as surgery, to decrease the number of cancer cells in the initial treatment. In addition, the most effective treatment delivery method is yet to be determined. In preliminary studies, systemic injection required 1000x the viral load necessary to achieve results than injection intratumorally.55

However, once these factors are overcome, there are many benefits to oncolytic therapy. The selective nature of the virotherapy ensures that healthy tissue will be minimally impacted. In addition, when combined with cytotoxic gene expression, this therapy can affect not only rapidly dividing cells, but those in the surrounding tissue making the microenvironment less favorable for cancer growth. The combination of the powerful killing nature of these vectors combined with the selectivity makes them an exciting avenue for lowering the number of cancer deaths.

 New delivery methods and more sophisticated gene expression cassettes will create better therapeutic alternatives to make the goal of cancer treatment and eradication achievable.












Posted by Bamr Mann bombaymann@gmail.com at 11:16 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

Saturday, January 21, 2023

armys spinal cord injury center in pune has got its soldiers back

 


Army's Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Pune has got its soldiers ...

https://epaper.timesgroup.com › timesspecial › army-s-s...
12 hours ago — Army's Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Pune has got its soldiers' backs. Army's Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Pune has got its soldiers' backs.

Paraplegic soldiers from Pune's Spinal Cord Injury

https://indianexpress.com › Cities › Pune
16-Nov-2022 — Soldiers with spinal cord injuries are nursed back to health and rehabilitated at the Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Pune.

Paraplegic patient at Military Hosp Kirkee shines at national ...

https://www.hindustantimes.com › cities › pune-news
17-Nov-2022 — Soldiers admitted at the Spinal Cord injury centre, Military Hospital Kirkee epitomised the grit and determination with their performance at ...
Missing: armys ‎| Must include: armys

Paraplegic patients at military hospital, Kirkee shine at ...

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com › others › articleshow
16-Nov-2022 — Soldiers with spinal cord injuries are nursed back to health and rehabilitated at the Spinal Cord Injury Centre at Military Hospital Kirkee in ...

MH Kirkee celebrates Spinal Cord Injury Day by ... - PIB

https://pib.gov.in › PressReleaseIframePage
05-Sept-2022 — Pune, 5 September 2022. Spinal Cord Injury Centre, Military Hospital Kirkee celebrated International Spinal Cord Injury Day 2022 with pomp ...
Missing: armys ‎| Must include: armys
Posted by Bamr Mann bombaymann@gmail.com at 11:13 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

gene and cell therapy will lead the way to new age of medicine

 


Gene and cell therapies will lead the way to new age of ...

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com › home › articleshow
1 hour ago — Sunday Times News: The famous statement that all disease is cellular disease is masterfully unpacked in Siddhartha Mukherjee's latest book ...

The Future of Gene Therapy - PMC - NCBI

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC3564347
by J McCAIN · 2005 · Cited by 20 — “Gene therapy will become a component of 21st century medicine. There's no reason it can't work. But huge questions remain to be resolved. The history of ...

  • The Role of Gene and Cell Therapy in the Era of Health Care ...

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC6463979
    by WH Ettinger · 2011 · Cited by 5 — The full realization of the impact of gene and cell therapies on human diseases will take place in a health-care payment environment that is not particularly ...

Cell and Gene Therapy: Rewriting the Future of Medicine

https://www.technologynetworks.com › ... › Articles
30-Sept-2022 — These game-changing medicines are reshaping how we address previously untreatable illnesses – transforming people's lives.

Gene Therapy: Genes As Medicine | Pfizer

https://www.pfizer.com › science › innovation › genes-...
by HD are Made — Gene therapy is a new generation of medicine where a functioning gene is delivered to a targeted tissue in the body to produce a missing or nonfunctioning ...

McKinsey insights on cell and gene therapy | Life Sciences

https://www.mckinsey.com › life-sciences › our-insights
May 17, 2021 – Viral-vector gene therapies show great promise, but the full extent of their clinical impact in the long term is not yet certain. Success depends ...

What is gene therapy?: MedlinePlus Genetics

https://medlineplus.gov › genetics › understanding › ge...
28-Feb-2022 — Gene therapy is a medical approach that treats or prevents disease by correcting the underlying genetic problem instead of using drugs or ...

Cell and gene therapy: The next milestone in fighting diseases |

https://www.bayer.com › ... › Innovation
09-Dec-2022 — Scientists are on the cusp of huge breakthroughs in a new field of medicine that would create a new paradigm for healthcare – one that could ...

How gene therapy is emerging from its 'dark age' - Nature

https://www.nature.com › nature index
14-Dec-2022 — But they cautioned that it should remain off-limits until the field gained a firmer grasp of genetic processes in cells, their relationship to ...

Posted by Bamr Mann bombaymann@gmail.com at 11:13 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

Thursday, November 17, 2022

“Decades to centuries is still my guess.”

 

  • Technology

We’ve Got News for You About Supercharging Your Brain

Today’s brain-computer interfaces perform medical miracles. Beyond the clinic is another story.

  • By Sidney Perkowitz
  • October 19, 2022
  • Share
normal_thumb

In 2019, Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, opened the skull of a 36-year-old man, nicknamed “Pancho,” and placed a thin sheet of electrodes on the surface of his brain.1 The electrodes gather electrical signals from the motor neurons that control the movement of the mouth, larynx, and other body parts to produce speech. A small port, implanted on top of Pancho’s head, relayed the brain signals to a computer. This “brain-computer interface,” or BCI, solved an intractable medical problem.

In 2003, Pancho, a field worker in California’s vineyards, was involved in a car crash. Days after undergoing surgery, he suffered a brainstem stroke, reported the New York Times Magazine.2 The stroke robbed Poncho of the power of speech. He could communicate only by laboriously spelling out words one letter at a time with a pointing device. After training with the computer outfitted with deep-learning algorithms that interpreted his brain activity, Pancho could think the words that he wanted to say, and they would appear on the computer screen. Scientists called the results “groundbreaking”; Pancho called them “life-changing.”

The path from helping stroke victims to giving people superpowers is neither direct nor inevitable.

The clinical success of BCIs (there are other stories to go along with Pancho’s) appear to vindicate the futurists who claim that BCIs may soon enhance the brains of healthy people. Most famously, Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity Is Near, has asserted that exponentially rapid developments in neuroscience, bioscience, nanotechnology, and computation will coalesce and allow us to transcend the limitations of our bodies and brains. A major part of this huge shift will be the rise of artificial intelligences that are far more capable than human brains. It is an inevitability of human evolution, Kurzweil thinks, that the two kinds of intelligence will merge to form powerful hybrid brains, which will define the future of humanity. This, he predicted, would happen by 2045.

While futuristic scenarios like Kurzweil’s are exciting to ponder, they are brought back down to Earth by the technological capabilities of brain-computer hybrids as they exist today. BCIs are impressive, but the path from helping stroke victims to giving people superpowers is neither direct nor inevitable.

One of the first great steps in BCIs came in 1998, when neuroscientist Phil Kennedy inserted a single electrode into the brain of Johnny Ray, a paralyzed stroke survivor, and produced the first example of human mind control of an external device via an implant. This enabled the “locked-in” Ray to communicate by mentally moving a cursor to select letters on a computer screen and earned Kennedy international acclaim.

Implanted BCIs can also work oppositely, directing external electrical signals to trigger specific neurons. In 2021, a team at the University of Pittsburgh put electrodes into the motor cortex of a paralyzed man to allow him to control a robotic arm, and into his somatosensory cortex, where incoming sensory impulses activate neurons.3 As he grasped an object with the arm, he felt that he was contacting and holding the object through signals sent by sensors in the robotic hand. This substantially improved control of the artificial limb.

In another example, Columbia University biomedical engineer Ken Shepard has used advanced nanotechnology to construct a tiny chip a half-inch square with 65,000 microelectrodes.4 The idea is to place the chip on the surface of the brain’s visual cortex and wirelessly send in data from a camera to restore sight to the blind. If this device passes human trials, it will represent a big advance over an earlier effort with fewer electrodes, which limited the quality of the image a camera could send to the brain.

THE SINGULARITY IS NOT NEAR: We are still a long way, “decades to centuries,” says Princeton University neuroscientist Michael Graziano, from augmenting the whole brain, or achieving that science-fiction dream of uploading its contents to a computer. Image by lassedesignen / Shutterstock.

Along with triggering sensory responses, electrical or other input to the brain can alter its functions in a process known as neuromodulation. In deep brain stimulation (DBS), a small “brain pacemaker” is embedded under the skin in the upper chest and sends electrical impulses to electrodes placed in specific brain regions. DBS was approved by the FDA to treat Parkinson’s disease and manage epileptic seizures, and has been used to treat other conditions such as chronic pain.

Some neuromodulation methods work without invasive surgery. In transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), electrodes placed on the scalp and connected to a battery produce a weak electric current that influences brain activity. Any electronics hobbyist can build this simple device, and commercial models can be found for as little as $125. tDCS is not FDA-approved and there are concerns about its unregulated use, but tests show promise to relieve certain conditions and improve brain function. In 2020 and 2022 the FDA approved full clinical trials to test the efficacy of tDCS to treat depression.

These examples show how the capability to record and influence brain activity can benefit body and mind for those who have lost function in either. The new pathways to the brain also suggest ways to enhance the bodies of healthy people; for instance, through a neurally controlled exoskeleton that provides greater-than-human power or speed. But can these technologies augment human cognition? Can human and machine intelligences merge into a greater whole?

In 2011, Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and founder of an institute to study the brain, and AI expert Mark Greaves, declared the singularity was not near, and called Kurzweil’s prediction of a major realignment in 2045 “far-fetched,” notably because it is unlikely we will understand the human brain so soon. In 2022, we remain at the beginning of knowing the brain.

We have, though, made incredible progress knowing the brain—progress that highlights how much is left to do. Kurzweil projected that swarms of nanobots would explore the human brain in unprecedented detail. We’re nowhere near that technology. Rather, the National Institute of Health’s Brain Initiative has mounted $500 million to bring together hundreds of scientists to map and catalog the brain’s 86 billion neurons with existing methods such as staining them to reveal their shapes. Instead of having software models of human intelligence as Kurzweil predicted, a €1 billion European project to simulate the brain on a supercomputer has after 10 years only simulated the mouse brain, a thousand times smaller.

The state of BCIs today presents another stumbling block in the road to singularity. Surgically implanted electrodes and non-invasive methods like tCDS have serious drawbacks. Inserting wires and silicon chips requires skilled brain surgery and risks infection or collateral damage. Implants can deteriorate within the brain’s wet environment, and the recipient is awkwardly tied to a computer by the connecting wires. Electrodes are implanted only in clinically monitored patients like Pancho. They are not implanted for human experimentation, nor is their use in healthy people likely to earn regulatory approval anytime soon.

The technological imperative should not be our sole guide to how humanity can help itself evolve.

Technology companies have announced the invention of improved and less invasive surgically implanted BCIs. Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, redolent of his grand ambitions, promises that its BCIs will help clinicians treat people with paralysis and “could expand our abilities, our community, and our world.” After several years of development, though, Neuralink has yet to begin human trials. Synchron, another start-up, dedicated to the treatment of people with neurological diseases, has passed human trials abroad and has just started an FDA-approved trial of its method, which puts electrodes inside the brain’s natural blood vessels without major surgery. Both efforts would use Bluetooth technology to eliminate wires from the brain and increase portability.

The other option is to augment brains with non-invasive methods. Electroencephalography and tDCS can record and stimulate brains with electrodes placed on the scalp, and other contactless means use magnetic fields, light, or ultrasound. They too, however, present problems. Compared to electrode implants, some non-invasive approaches display lower spatial resolution and noisier data. And although they offer fewer risks than brain surgery, their side effects, such as long-term unanticipated changes in brains, need further scrutiny.

A 2019 summary review by Davide Valeriani at Harvard Medical School, and Caterina Cinel and Riccardo Poli at the Brain Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering Laboratory at the University of Essex in England, looks at the ongoing research into BCIs designed not only for people with severe disabilities but for human cognitive augmentation in general.5 The authors show that researchers and clinicians today can choose from among 10 different methods to record or affect brain activity and enhance it.

One such brain function is perception. Non-invasive BCIs have improved performance in discriminating among different shapes, tracking multiple objects, and in a more complex task, viewing a video clip and determining if a possible threat is present. Decision-making, another important brain function, draws on several mental abilities and has been extensively studied. But using non-invasive BCIs to improve decision-making has been unimpressive; the data they yield is too noisy unless it is averaged over measurements or from several users.

Augmentation of memory and learning is important as the population ages, with accompanying memory loss. Studies show that sessions of non-invasive stimulation can temporarily improve spatial memory and the working memory that briefly holds information. One set of experiments gives clues to a memory prosthesis, although it would require invasive surgery. Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the University of Southern California, and elsewhere, showed that electrical stimulation of electrodes placed in the part of the brain called the hippocampus enhanced memory in animals, and human subjects, who showed an average improvement of 36 percent in short- and long-term memory.6 This work met ethical standards because the subjects were epileptics who already had implants that controlled their seizures.

Valeriani, Cinel, and Poli predict that by 2040, most forms of non-invasive brain augmentation will be in field-testing for general use, or perhaps even as wearable neurotechnology.

These achievements by 2040 would represent astonishing technological progress but are less grandiose than the vision of human brains merging with AIs by 2045 to reach unprecedented capability. Instead of an imagined total meshing of brain and machine, current methods affect only portions of the brain and enhance only aspects of cognitive ability such as perception, not the entire brain. We are still a long way from augmenting the whole brain, or even achieving that science-fiction dream of uploading its contents to a computer.

In 2019, Princeton University neuroscientist Michael Graziano explained why.7 He believes mind uploading will happen, but only after we simulate the 86 billion neurons in our brains and reproduce how they are connected through 100 trillion synapses, the “connectome” that shapes whole-brain functions. “The most wildly optimistic predictions place mind uploading within a few decades, but I would not be surprised if it took centuries,” Graziano wrote. Since neuroscience is rapidly developing, I recently asked Graziano if, three years later, he had seen any progress that would alter his original assessment. His response: “Decades to centuries is still my guess.”

Neurotechnology is evolving, but not explosively enough to bring humanity to a new stage by 2045. Future projections of technology often depend on two assumptions: the technological imperative—new technology will always come, and once available, people will develop and exploit it to the fullest; and exponential growth, exemplified by Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles roughly every two years.

Neither assumption is inviolate nor appropriate for neurotechnology. Exponential growth can reach a plateau: We may already be at a limit of chip technology where Moore’s Law no longer applies. And the technological imperative should not be our sole guide to how humanity can help itself evolve beyond its biological heritage. Unlike chip technology, neurotechnology inherently affects people, from the ill, injured, and disabled, to citizens who may or may not want their brains to be accessed. Here the technological imperative needs to be tempered by an ethical imperative, worked out by society, which would, and should, slow the evolution of brain and machine until we know it benefits humanity.

Sidney Perkowitz is the Candler Professor of Physics Emeritus at Emory University. His latest books are Physics: a Very Short Introduction (2019, audiobook forthcoming 2022) and Science Sketches: the Universe from Different Angles (2022).

Posted by Bamr Mann bombaymann@gmail.com at 10:03 AM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Newer Posts Older Posts Home
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2025 (23)
    • ▼  June (2)
      • cancer breakthrough sees woman's brain tumor almos...
      • FUTURE CARDIO KIT -with miniaturised ventillator/m...
    • ►  May (15)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2024 (30)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (3)
    • ►  May (9)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2023 (16)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (7)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2022 (9)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2021 (28)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2020 (330)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (14)
    • ►  June (60)
    • ►  May (134)
    • ►  April (81)
    • ►  March (24)
    • ►  February (3)
    • ►  January (8)
  • ►  2019 (45)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  May (9)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (7)
  • ►  2018 (58)
    • ►  December (16)
    • ►  November (15)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2017 (63)
    • ►  December (8)
    • ►  October (8)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  April (9)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (11)
    • ►  January (12)
  • ►  2016 (83)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (8)
    • ►  October (7)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (8)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (11)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (9)
  • ►  2015 (50)
    • ►  December (13)
    • ►  November (9)
    • ►  October (22)
    • ►  September (6)
Simple theme. Powered by Blogger.