Longevity science

In a new study, scientists were able to restore partial hearing to deaf gerbils by implanting human embryonic stem cells in their ears.

Although the complex technology would not be possible in humans at this time, the breakthrough offers hope for future development.

Researchers have created a self-supporting scaffolding of nanowires and coated it with a biocompatible material. They grew heart and nerve cells within this scaffold, which developed into a single structure with embedded nanowires.

With this technology, researchers can work at the cellular scale much more effectively, without damaging the cells and with the capability to observe cells from anywhere within the tissue.

Will we one day be able to live forever?

According to inventor/author Ray Kurzweil, eternal life is now actually on the horizon -- the near horizon. He predicts that by 2029, biomedical technology will be extending longevity faster than we age.

>>Home-built "Bio Computer" runs Linux, grows wheatgrass:
PC case modder and hardware hacker Mike Schropp's latest project, the 'Bio Computer' sees a working PC put to use as a garden in which to grow wheatgrass.
http://www.gizmag.com/bio-computer-grows-wheatgrass/22550/

>>Dwarf plants could reduce demands for water, fertilizer, nutrients and pesticides:
Aside from arable land, most farm crops require significant amounts of water, fertilizer, nutrients and pesticides to grow. While specialized breeding is often used to help produce plants that require less of these inputs, Purdue University researcher Burkhard Schulz has found a way to create tiny versions of plants that suffer no reduction in yield through the addition of a cheap and widely available chemical.
http://www.gizmag.com/dwarf-plants/22561/

>>Maintaining genetic diversity in food supply

Could we be missing the point? Natural and wild may not mean the same in the future. Struggling to keep this stuff alive in a polluted and warming environment, increasingly encroached upon by human beings is a losing battle. But cultivating, preserving, building environments (semi-indoor) can save the plant and animal species that we struggle to maintain.
http://www.naturalnews.com/031144_food_security_biodiversity.html

'Rare' disease can mean a lot of things. When you add it all up, almost 10% of the population will be diagnosed with a rare disease.

"In the United States, a disease is defined as “rare” if it affects fewer than 200,000 individuals, or roughly one in 1500. Rare diseases are often poorly understood, with symptoms that can be difficult to diagnose, and can be life-threatening. Around 6,800 rare diseases have been identified and the large majority of them — up to 80% — are thought to have a genetic origin."

Already revolutionizing manufacturing, 3D printing technology also promises to revolutionize the field of biotechnology. While scientists have previously had success in 3D printing a range of human stem cell cultures developed from bone marrow or skin cells, a team from Scotland's Heriot-Watt University claims to be the first to print the more delicate, yet more flexible, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). As well as allowing the use of stem cells grown from established cell lines, the technology could enable the creation of improved human tissue models for drug testing and potentially even purpose-built replacement organs.

Tissue engineering is definitely an exciting field – the ability to create living biological tissue in a lab could allow scientists to do things such as testing new drugs without the need for human subjects, or even to create patient-specific replacement organs or other body parts.

While some previous efforts have yielded finished products that were very small, a microfluidic device being developed at the University of Toronto can reportedly produce sections of precisely-engineered tissue that measure within the centimeters.

"A succinct, yet powerful animation titled “Synthetic Biology Explained” shows the incredible potential of this emergent field and how engineering will transform the field of genetics to produce some truly amazing technology.

With the sequencing of the human genome and the increased understanding of genes that have followed..."

European researchers have created a robotic arm with precise control to pick up a diverse range of objects enabled by a novel string actuator that...

This 10,000-rpm, no-pulse artificial heart doesn't resemble an organic heart--and might be all the better for it...

"The newest artificial heart doesn’t imitate the cardiac muscle at all. Instead, it whirs like a little propeller, pushing blood through the body at a steady rate."