The Fountain of Youth, AI processing and Cancer detecting Skin Patches

January 26

This week we discover a potential Fountain of Youth. A team at Harvard have been able to reverse aging in mice. Next step is to make us all young again. We investigate a Brain-like Information Processing system that may improve AI considerably. We examine a cancer detecting skin patch and finally we look at the next big telescope being planned by NASA. The search for Habitable Worlds.

Brain-like Information Processing

A team from the Tokyo University of Science has developed an AI device that uses the “edge-of-chaos” process which occurs naturally in the brain. The human brain is far more energy efficient at processing information than current computers used for processing AI. It is thought that the “edge-of-chaos” may be one reason for this efficiency.

In mid 2022 a team from the Cambridge University used brain imaging techniques to measure changes in the synchronization of activity between regions of the human brain. They found that the brain can spontaneously organize itself at a point on the edge of chaos between order and randomness. This point allows neurons to jump quickly between different states which enables the neurons to change behavior as necessary. As a result we can respond quickly to the environment around us.

A similar process is used in fighter jets. They are designed to be aerodynamically unstable (i.e., on the edge of chaos). Computers control the plane using the instability to allow the plane to quickly respond to commands.

The team in Tokyo used ion-electron-coupled dynamics at a solid electrolyte/diamond interface. The device operates in the same manner as an electric double layer transistor. The advantage of this structure is the change in electrical resistance with the changing charge/discharge state of the electrical double layer. This induces an edge-of-chaos state that allows it to produce electrical responses similar to the spike and relaxation patterns of synaptic responses in the brain.

This structure allows the device to convert waveform input signals into signals in a different wave form, 6 times more accurately that other similar AI devices. The device is only a few nanometers thick.

The structure is likely to be used in energy efficient AI devices that could be combined with sensors to create better smart watches, surveillance cameras and voice recognition systems. It may also be useful for a range of early detection medical applications.

The Fountain of Youth

Over the past 100 years we have made massive strides in the field of medicine and as a result human longevity, has increased significantly. We now keep many adults alive long past their health span. This increase in lifespan however has not seen a corresponding increase in health span.

There are several examples in the animal kingdom of healthy living for much longer than we live. Bowhead whales can make it to 200 years old and Greenland sharks can make it to 500 and still give birth at 200 years of age (to put that in perspective, a shark born today could have a grandma born whilst Shakespeare was writing his plays).

Ray Kerzweil has said that science will soon be able to extend your life for more than a year for every year that you are alive. The concept is called Longevity Escape Velocity and he believes it will be achieved by 2033. With current medical knowledge, we add 1 year of life for every 4 years that we live. To go further we will need age reversal advances.

Dr David Sinclair from Harvard Medical School has made a significant step in age reversal technologies. He has discovered that the main driver of aging is miscues in the epigenetic instructions that are sent to our cells. Epigenetic instructions lead to cells with different physical structures and functions. We start with stem cells that are all the same type of cell, Epigenetic Instructions turn the stem cells into specific types of cells e.g. muscle cells or bone etc. This process is called differentiation. Sinclair proposed that aging is due to lost information in the cells, not just an accumulation of damage over time.

In a similar way, software programs operate off hardware. Sometimes the software becomes corrupt (sometimes the hardware is damaged). Many times we can reboot our computers and the software once again functions as intended. If aging was purely due to cells being full of mutations (hardware damage), age reversing would not be possible. We need to find a way to reboot our cells.

Sinclair and his team has shown in mice, a way to reboot cells and restart the backup copy of epigenetic instructions. This essentially erased the corrupted signals that put the mice’s cells on the path to aging. Initially the team mimicked the effects of aging by introducing breaks in the DNA of young mice. Once aged in this way the mice showed signs of old age within weeks. Grey fur, lower body weight despite a consistent diet, reduced activity and increased frailty (also I have no doubt that the mice were grumpier, more resistant to change, complaining about the young mice of today and always talking about the good old days).

The team them rebooted the cells with a gene therapy involving three of the four genes that instruct cells to reprogram themselves. These are from the Yamanaka stem cell factors (named after Nobel scientist Shinya Yamanaka who in 2006 discovered the four genes that can turn back the clock on human cells to their embryonic or stem cell state). The team did not want to fully erase the epigenetic history of the cells, just reboot it enough to reset the epigenetic instructions. Using three factors turned back the clock about 57% (of the way to stem cells) and was enough to make the mice youthful again.

The team was able to turn back the clock in all types of cells. They have not yet found a cell type for which the process does not work. The team is already testing the process in non human primates. They are attaching a biological switch that would allow them to turn the aging clock on and off by tying the activation of the reprogramming genes to an antibiotic, doxycycline. Giving the animals the drug would start the reversing process and stopping the drug would halt the process.

In 2020, Sinclair reported that in mice the process restored vision in older animals. The current results show that the process can be applied to the whole animal. It is expected that the first human applications are likely the reversal of eye diseases. Other likely early applications may be chronic conditions such as heart disease and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's.

To paraphrase the title of Ray Kersweil’s book, “we need to live long enough so that we can live forever”. That day may now be within our sights.

Cancer Detecting Skin Patch

A team at the University of California, San Diego have developed an electronic patch capable of monitoring biomolecules in deep tissue. The patch can be used to detect life threatening conditions such as organ dysfunction and malignant cancers.

In 2018 the team developed a patch that was able to use ultrasound waves to continuously measure the thickness of pulsing blood vessels to give a real time reading on blood pressure. The new version of the patch monitors blood perfusion (the flow of blood through a vessel to an organ). This bodily function is important to healthily tissue function. The hampering of the transport of oxygen and nutrients can be indicative of conditions such as organ dysfunction and heart attacks. Abnormal accumulation of blood can be indicative of haemorrhaging or malignant tumors.

Other technologies such as MRI’s and x-rays computed tomography (CT Scans) can detect biomolecules such as hemoglobin however on a periodic basis. Other wearable monitors only detect issues closer to the skin.

The patch is flexible and adheres comfortably to the skin. It is composed of an array of laser diodes and piezoelectric transducers within a soft silicone-polymer. The patch sends pulsated lasers into the tissues below. Biomolecules in the deep tissues absorb the optical energy and cause sound waves to radiate through their surroundings. the piezoelectric transducers receive the sound waves which are then reconstructed to show a spatial mapping of the biomolecules. A range of different molecule can be detected by varying the wavelength of the lasers.

Continuous monitoring enables early intervention to prevent life-threatening conditions. The team hopes to one day monitor conditions ranging from stress to glucose levels to cardiovascular activity.

Habitable World Observatory

The James Webb Space Telescope has provided us with an enormous amount of information about the universe in the short time that it has been operating. Given the time that it takes to plan, build and launch this type of project, NASA is now in the planning stages of their next big telescope.

The Habitable World Observatory (HWO) will search for earth like planets as soon as the early 2040’s. The observatory will be built to be maintained completely by robots. This will allow future spacecraft to visit and upgrade or repair the observatory. The observatory will orbit the sun at the L2 La Grange point (one of the points in space where the gravity of the earth and sun keep the observatory in orbit around both) also used by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The HWO will need to be an extremely stable telescope equipped with a powerful coronograph. A coronograph is designed to block out the light of the sun. This allows the telescope to study extremely faint objects such as rocky planets. The plan is to use folded segmented mirrors that are similar to the JWST mirrors. The coronograph to be used was also used on the Roman Space Telescope. NASA will seek assistance from the commercial space sector in building the launch vehicle.

Paying it Forward

If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.

If you have any questions or comments please comment below.

I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.

Till next week.