Analytics - Page 4 of 19

Aging had long appeared to be a slow wear and tear of everything at once. As we previously mentioned, it is increasingly described today as a set of specific malfunctions that can be measured and partly corrected in animal experiments. This article looks at what can already be done about aging associated with such hallmarks as protein quality control, mitochondrial function (the cell’s power plants), and the accumulation of senescent cells – those that have stopped dividing and functioning for the benefit of the organism yet continue to damage the surrounding environment. These processes reinforce one another.

Have you ever heard a doctor say something like: “Didn’t this help you at all? Hmm. Ok, let’s try these pills instead”? How does it feel to be a lab rat? Of course it’s not human experimentation — but what if you could get the right therapy without all that trial and error? Imagine your doctor had an exact copy of you to test all their ideas on — not on you. Wouldn’t that be fantastic? Today, this isn’t entirely science fiction. You can give your doctor a digital twin to experiment on.

Robot-assisted surgery is still perceived as “the future is here,” a hallmark of high-tech medicine, and is on the verge of becoming routine practice. In eye microsurgery, where microscopic precision of movements is critical, robotic surgical assistants are often indispensable. But now Chinese medical researchers have developed and begun testing a robot capable of performing intraocular surgeries autonomously. Soon, we may face a situation where the human surgeon doesn’t control the robot-surgeon at all, but simply observes. Who will bear responsibility for the surgical outcome? Isn’t the risk too high?