Science of the Future
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Learning to fix a body’s broken genes
It sounds like science fiction, and for years it seemed as though it was just that: fiction. But the idea ...
Searching for invulnerability to cancer
In June 2013, I described how sequencing the highly abnormal genomes of cancer cells can identify some of the mutations ...
Spell-checking the genome to remove burden of bad genetic mutations
Eliminating mutational load might offer a shortcut to the Singularity. A person’s mutational load is the total burden of his ...
This may be the kickoff year for genetically-altered humans
By the middle of 2014, the possibility of altering DNA to produce a genetically-modified human could move from science fiction ...
Building a better baby
In 2014, BGI, a Chinese company, is hoping that it will soon be able to offer parents a similar option—choosing ...
First hint that lifestyle changes may reverse cellular aging
A study with a tiny sample size shows that exercise, diet, and meditation can actually increase telomere length in prostate ...
Inheriting an intellectual edge
Shouldn’t you be able to study hard and get smart? Yes and no. IQ is about 50 percent heritable -- ...
Genetic manipulation extends mouse lifespan by 20%
Suppressing specific gene expression improved mouse longevity, but we're a long way from using the technique to control human aging ...
Literal gene-ius: The search for a genetic basis of intelligence
Barely out of his teens, Chinese prodigy Zhao Bowen is leading a multimillion-dollar research effort to solve a genetic mystery: ...
Curing the disease known as aging
Is aging a process that we simply have to accept as a fact of life or is it something we ...
Should we control sex to protect humanity’s future?
The more we know about the nature of reproduction, the more we can control it -- and our own future ...
DNA screening is part of the new eugenics—and that’s okay
Modern genetic screening is not driven by a draconian desire to “improve” the species. This "new eugenics" is driven by ...
Far-fetched ethical questions that are about to get real
Science fiction's favorite moral quandaries are suddenly pressing concerns ...
No, this is not how the human face might look in 100,000 years
One artist’s vision of what humanity will look like in 100,000 years includes huge eyes and foreheads. Apparently, we’re all ...
Centenarian genetics: The search for longevity-enhancing biotech
People who live past age 100 develop diseases at much later ages than the rest of us. Scientists are working ...
The genetic fountain of youth?
Nir Barzilai at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has spent more than twenty years trying to pinpoint the genes ...
What does it mean to be posthuman?
The following is an excerpt of a longer story. How would you like to be a posthuman? You know, a ...
“World’s first GM babies born” — 12-year-old article continues to cause confusion
The following is an excerpt. An undated Daily Mail article that is actually over a decade old continues to spread misinformation about ...
How to genetically engineer humans, safely
In a post for Project Syndicate, biomedical ethics professor Maxwell Mehlman outlines the challenges of safely genetically engineering humans. Among ...
Will animal-machine hybrids fight our next war?
The U.S. government is looking to animal-machine hybrids to safeguard the country and its citizens. The same advances that have ...
Pathway to transhumanism differs for political right and left
Transhumanist thought has been no exception, evident across the political spectrum - but tending to differ in line with the ...
Using stem cells to regenerate cartilage
A team of Malaysian doctors achieved success and gained international attention by being innovative, passionate – and a little bit ...
Myriad Genetics patent dispute: Genes are patentable, and that’s OK, says author
The recent Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Geneticspatent dispute involving two genes for breast and ovarian cancer, BRCA 1 ...
Controversial horse cloning alters Summer Olympics equestrian outlook
For fans of equestrian sports, the very existence of clones holds out the possibility of a game-changer. It won’t be ...
