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Future Medicine Part II

This is a PAST event. See "Meeting Notes" section for audio, video, documents and other information.

Original event date/time: Friday July 27th, 2007, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

At our last meeting, we spent most of our time talking about heart transplant surgery, and didn't have time to talk about the more "futuristic" topics: Stem cells, gene chips, and so on.

Abstract:

Last month, Sarah Kellnhofer was generous enough to share her personal story of heart transplantation.

This month, we're going to talk about futuristic medicine -- and whether we can afford it (health insurance!).

Possible discussion candidates include:

Gene Chips:

New chips on the block
DNA chips have revolutionised biological research. With the help of a microarray, researchers can query the whole genome at once, rather than just a few genes at a time. Experiments that used to be impossible are now being performed in days or hours. "By being able to see the big picture, all the genes, all the genetic variation, we can readily pick out answers, we can make discoveries that we could never make before," explains Eric Lander, one of the leaders of the human-genome project.

Brain's voluntary chain-of-command ruled by not one but two captains
A probe of the upper echelons of the human brain''s chain-of-command has found strong evidence that there are not one but two complementary commanders in charge of the brain. It' as if Captains James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard were both on the bridge and in command of the same starship Enterprise. In reality, these two captains are networks of brain regions that do not consult each other but still work toward a common purpose -- control of voluntary, goal-oriented behavior. "This was a big surprise. We knew several brain regions contribute to top-down control, but most of us thought we'd eventually show all those regions linking together in one system, one little guy up top telling everyone else what to do."

(Thank you to Mike Korns at the Las Vegas future salon for this article)

Stem Cells:

Researchers Create Genetically Matched Embryonic Stem Cells For Transplantation
Researchers report a new and efficient strategy, using eggs alone, for creating mouse embryonic stem cells that can be transplanted without the risk of rejection because the cells are compatible with the recipient's immune system. Though done in mice, the work establishes the principle of using unfertilized eggs as a source of customized embryonic stem cells that are genetically matched to the egg donor at the genes that control recognition of cells by the immune system, making them potentially useful for transplantation therapies.

This is a past event.

Meeting Notes: