Brave New World: CRISPR Babies
Live DNA editing using CRISPR technology has been mostly confined to laboratory animals, insects, and in some cases livestock. Now China is using it on humans.
Using CRISPR to Store Data in DNA
Some scientists at Harvard have demonstrated the ability to edit the DNA E. coli bacteria to store the data in an animated GIF file.
This is just scratching the surface of the possibilities of using biological systems to store data as a means of preservation for long-term storage.
After you read the article below, imagine combining this technology with blockchain to preserve very large data sets across a biological ecosystem.
AI Masters the Game of Go... Again
In the 1990s, IBM’s Deep Blue AI was able to beat the reigning world champion in a game of chess. An astounding achievement, but scientists quickly set eyes on the ancient Chinese game of Go, a game with a much greater quantity of possible outcomes. Go is estimated to have around 10^170 possible move sets, more than the 10^80 atoms that make up the known universe. AI had begun playing amateurs in Go in recent years, but it was predicted in 2014 that it would be at least a decade before an AI would be among the elite Go players in the world. Three years later, Google’s DeepMind AlphaGo is the world’s best GO player.
While AI has bested human players in games in the past, AlphaGo is an entirely different beast. Past AIs leveraged algorithms that would continuously search every possible move that could be made, and select the most advantageous one for the current layout. AlphaGo does something entirely different, it uses a technique known as the Monte-Carlo tree search, a search algorithm in which it plays out the reminder of the game over thousands of times, and picks the best move based on the simulation. AlphaGo combines the tree search algorithm with two deep neural networks, the policy network and value network, both of which are made up of millions of neuron-mimicking connections. The policy network predicts the next move and considers the best move that will lead to a win. The value network reduces the depth of the search by estimating the winning move in each position all the way to the end of the game.
The original AlphaGo was trained on 30 million move sets against human players, until it could predict a human’s move 57% of the time. In order to beat human players, AlphaGo developed new techniques. By playing thousands of games against itself, AlphaGo showed tremendous improvements through reinforcement learning, a-trial and-error process
Jumping ahead to late 2015, Google’s DeepMind had invited a three-time European Champion Fan Hui to play against the AI. AlphaGo defeated Hui 5 games to 0, the first time ever a computer program had beaten a professional Go player and shattering predictions that it be a least a decade before this could happen. In 2016, DeedMind had invited Go legend and world champion Lee Sedol to take on AlphaGo, and again Google’s computer Go system surpassed predictions, beating the world champion in 4 out of 5 games.
Now in late 2017, DeepMind has just introduced AlphaGo Zero, the latest version of the AI. Recently this new iteration of AlphaGo played against the older version that had beaten the world champion Lee Sedol. AlpahGo Zero beat the older version of itself 100 games to 0. Just as AlphaGo took a revolutionary approach to AI game computing, AlphaGo Zero leverages an entirely new approach of its own. It learns completely from scratch, using only one neural network. The system competes against itself to improve, and has no prior experience playing the game other than basic rules. In just 40 days of learning, AlphaGo Zero mastered a 2,500-year-old game and surpassed all previous iterations of itself to become the greatest Go player in history.
Tracking Medication Usage
Hitting the market in 2018, the FDA has approved a sensory embedded pill with the ability to track if patients have ingested the medication. Known as Abilify MyCite, which will be used to treat those suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, doctors will know immediately if in fact patients are taking their medicine. As the pill is taken and begins to be digested, stomach acids activate the sensors and electrical signals are then sent to a patch worn by the patient.
The patch records the time and date that the pill was consumed, and the data is sent to an app which doctors and family members have can access. Concerns over this new form of smart pharmaceutical brings in questions of ethics, privacy, and personal rights. Some have questioned if developing a tracking system in a pill for those who suffer from mental disorders with symptoms that include delusions and hallucinations was the best place to start.
As we enter a new era of smart pharmaceuticals and medical surveillance, reports have shown that the FDA anticipates a large wave of digital pills in the coming years. Such advanced methods of data-surveillance bring to question whether or not this level of surveillance is taking it too far. It will be interesting to see the reactions of the public as more information about Abilify MyCite and other forms of digital pills begins to be published.
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The Imagination Age
Although, there are many schools of thought on how the economic future will ultimately take shape with the rapid rise of automation and advancing technologies, one interesting theory suggests we are beginning to transition from the information age into the imagination age. This evolution can be described as a movement towards an economy where intuitive and creative thinking are the primary drivers of economic value. This concept makes a lot of sense, especially when considering the activities most immune to inevitable automation and technological advancements are those involving a complex expertise in decision-making, planning, human interaction, imagination, or creative work.
However, with this transition occurring at an ever-increasing rate the need for educational reform to prepare future generations has never been more crucial. In fact, a report by the World Economic Forum reveals that almost 65 percent of the jobs elementary school students will be doing in the future do not even exist yet. A major reason for this is that the current traditional education system is still stuck in the industrial age and has largely failed to place greater emphasis on developing skills required by students for the future economy. A future where the stress on grades and content retention shifts to promote imagination, creativity, and problem solving. This shift can only occur if students are taught to not just be passive consumers of information but rather taught to engage in multi-disciplinary thinking, where they can make cross-curricular links and solve problems from many different angles and contexts. The question we need to ask is whether our current slow adapting educational system will ever be able to make this important transition quick enough.
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Brain Implant Improves Memory
At the University of Southern California, a professor has unveiled a brain implant that can improve human memory and speculation has already begun on the major impact it could have. Professor Dong Song presented his findings to the Society of Neuroscience, and the data he presented showed the effectiveness of the device so far.
Song enlisted 20 volunteers who have been receiving treatment for epilepsy. The devices collected data on the individuals who underwent several tests, and results showed that a 15% increase to short-term memory and a 25% increase to working memory. Professor Song and company understand what this device can mean for the medical world. With 20% of the United States population to be over the age 65 by 2030 and our increasing lifespan, more people will be affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia. More testing and research needs to be done before this device can be approved, but this is a step in the right direction in being a life-changing solution. RUMJog continues to stay engaged with evolving news in the life extension space and will provide future updates.