(I decided to reply to this comment with a post.) Been Lurkin’: “What exactly (i.e. which books, websites, etc.) have you been reading on these topics? I used to be somewhat into this kind of thing like five years ago – I read Kurzweil’s book and a lot of the transhumanist stuff on the web […]

Randall Parker has an interesting post on “$5000 DNA Sequencing By 2007”. The Haplotype Map shows SNP’s shared by many people. Whole genome sequencing will show SNP’s that are unique to individuals. The entire human population could be viewed as an experiment to understand how genes influence outcome in different environments. Gene function is often […]

New theory contends that long-lived, quiescent retroelements are a major driving force in human genome evolution “Alu elements are short, 300-nucleotide-long DNA sequences capable of copying themselves, mobilizing through an RNA intermediate, and inserting into another location in the genome. Over evolutionary time, this retrotransposition activity has led to the generation of over one million […]

Brain imaging study explains Williams syndrome language gifts: “Findings: A team of neuroscientists led by UCLA researchers used a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to create the first detailed images showing how Williams syndrome affects the cerebral cortex. The study finds sharply defined cortical thickening and complexity in the area of the brain important […]

Method shows how precisely gene expression signals are copied in DNA replication “A group of University of Washington researchers has devised a method that combines DNA sampling and mathematical modeling to find out how accurately methylation patterns are copied during DNA replication. That could pave the way for understanding the role methylation plays in normal […]

New study explains process leading to many proteins from one gene. “Alternative splicing appears to occur in 30 percent to 60 percent of human genes, so understanding the regulatory mechanisms guiding the process is fundamentally important to almost all biological issues,” “Using computers, the UT Southwestern researchers scanned the human genome and found that the […]

Article “A protein that’s key to determining the developing brain’s size and shape could be used to manipulate stem cells to rebuild the organ in adults.”…“Underscoring the protein’s impact, over-expressing it in rats gave them enlarged brains with grooves and furrows similar to those in evolved mammalian brains.” Posted by fly at 06:59 AM

Article “According to the new study, currently in press at the journal Cognitive Brain Research, electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings of 10 individuals with autism show a dysfunctional mirror neuron system: Their mirror neurons respond only to what they do and not to the doings of others.” Posted by fly at 06:56 AM

In Search of the Sixth Sense “In this expanded interview transcript, inventor Ray Kurzweil discusses birth, death, and the potential offered by non-biological thinking processes.” Posted by fly at 09:54 AM

Carnegie Mellon scientists develop tool that uses MRI to visualize gene expression in living animals “Ahrens’ new approach uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor gene expression in real-time. Because MRI images deep tissues non-invasively and at high resolution, investigators don’t need to sacrifice animals and perform laborious and costly analysis. To trigger living cells […]

Men and women: The differences are in the genes “This tells us that neighborhoods matter,” Carrel said. “Genes on the X chromosome evolved in five sequential segments or layers. The older segments have fewer genes that escape inactivation than those that developed later in the chromosome’s evolutionary path. This suggests that, as the human species […]

Mechanism of RNA recoding: New twists in Brain Protein Production “Robert Reenan, has uncovered new rules of RNA recoding–a genetic editing method cells use to expand the number of proteins assembled from a single DNA code. According to his work, the shape a particular RNA adopts solely determines how editing enzymes modify the information molecule […]

Interesting Edge essay by Armand Leroi. Posted by fly at 10:01 AM

Understanding biological foundation of human behavior critical to improving laws “”The legal system tends to assume that either people are purely rational actors or that their brains are blank slates on which culture and only culture is written. The reality is much more complicated and can only be appreciated with a deeper understanding of behavioral […]

Rikurzhen touched on a topic I find very interesting. Here’s information that I hope others will find informative. Here are a couple of sites for information on aging: SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) Flow Chart of Biochemical and Physiological Interactions in Human Aging Here’s my rough synopsis (you really should read the SENS site): […]

Randall has a post on creating mouse/human chimeras whose brains contain a significant percentage of human neurons. Randall focuses on the possibility that when introduced at an early development stage human cells could lead to human brain structures and more intelligent mice. I hope his post generates an interesting discussion. I want to consider a […]

As seen in this article, enhancement is getting more mainstream coverage. “In a decade, a quarterback might have muscle cells removed from his legs. Those cells would then be engineered in the lab to be stronger and reinserted, enabling a quarterback with the wisdom of a 35-year-old to run like he’s 20. The same technique […]

“An article published in this week’s issue of PLoS Biology (March 1, 2005) describes Chklovskii’s discovery of strongly preferred patterns of connectivity or scaffolds within the wiring diagram of the rat brain. The patterns are likely to correspond to modules that play an important role in brain function not only in rats, but also in […]

This article suggests that firing poor-performing employees may improve work quality. “A study publishing in the latest issue of Personnel Psychology finds that forced distribution ratings systems (FDRS), where a predetermined percentage of low-performing employees is fired every year, can be an effective way to improve a company’s workforce.” I’m amazed anyone could get funding […]