Category Archives: California Stem Cells

For its promising investigational therapeutic approach to neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics is theBuzz of BIO 2020 winnerin the Public Therapeutic Biotech category.

The Buzz of BIO contest identifies U.S. companies with groundbreaking, early-stage potential to improve lives. The event also is anopportunity to make investor connections that could take products to the next phase.

Ten biotechnology companies are nominated in each of the three categories ofBuzz of BIO: Public Therapeutic Biotech, Private Therapeutic Biotech, and Diagnostics and Beyond. In the Public Therapeutic Biotech category that BrainStorm won, nominated companies must be actively developing a publicly traded human treatment intended for review by theU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

As a developer of autologous cellular therapies treatments that use a patients own cells and tissues for debilitating neurodegenerative diseases, BrainStorm is now testing its NurOwn therapy for safety and effectiveness. The treatment involves extracting, from human bone, marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are capable of differentiating into other cell types. The MSCs are then matured into a specific cell type that produces neurotrophic factors compounds that promote nervous tissue growth and survival. They are then reintroduced to the body via injection into muscles and/or the spinal canal.

Backed by a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine grant, Brainstorm has fully enrolledits randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT03280056) at six U.S. sites in California, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Some 200 ALS patients are participating. A secondary safety analysis by the trials independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) revealed no new concerns. Every two months, study subjects will be given three injections into the spinal canal of either NurOwn or placebo.

The trial is expected to conclude late this year. Results will be announced shortly afterward.

In a Phase 2 study (NCT02017912), which included individuals with rapidly progressing ALS, NurOwn demonstrated a positive safety profile as well as prospective efficacy.

The use of autologous MSC cells to potentially treat ALS was given orphan drug status by both the FDA and the European Medicines Agency.

Thanks to everyone who voted for BrainStorm during the Buzz of BIO competition,Chaim Lebovits, BrainStorm president and CEO, said in a press release. The entire management team at BrainStorm was very pleased with the results of this competition, and we look forward to presenting to an audience of accredited investors who may benefit from the companys story. We thank the BIO[Biotechnology Innovation Organization] team for singling out BrainStorms NurOwn as a key technology with the potential to improve lives.

As a contest winner, BrainStorm is invited to givea presentation at theBio CEO & Investor Conference, to be held Feb. 1011 in New York City, along with exposure to multiple industry elites and potential investors.

NurOwn cells also are being tested in a Phase 2 clinical study (NCT03799718) in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Mary M. Chapman began her professional career at United Press International, running both print and broadcast desks. She then became a Michigan correspondent for what is now Bloomberg BNA, where she mainly covered the automotive industry plus legal, tax and regulatory issues. A member of the Automotive Press Association and one of a relatively small number of women on the car beat, Chapman has discussed the automotive industry multiple times of National Public Radio, and in 2014 was selected as an honorary judge at the prestigious Cobble Beach Concours dElegance. She has written for numerous national outlets including Time, People, Al-Jazeera America, Fortune, Daily Beast, MSN.com, Newsweek, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. The winner of the Society of Professional Journalists award for outstanding reporting, Chapman has had dozens of articles in The New York Times, including two on the coveted front page. She has completed a manuscript about centenarian car enthusiast Margaret Dunning, titled Belle of the Concours.

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Ins holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, where she specialized in blood vessel biology, blood stem cells, and cancer. Before that, she studied Cell and Molecular Biology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa and worked as a research fellow at Faculdade de Cincias e Tecnologias and Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia. Ins currently works as a Managing Science Editor, striving to deliver the latest scientific advances to patient communities in a clear and accurate manner.

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BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Wins 2020 'Buzz of BIO' Award for ALS Investigational Therapy - ALS News Today

From zeroing in on different cancer cures to restoring vision and hearing to the blind and deaf2019 was a year filled with medical breakthroughs.

While some of these accomplishments may be varied in their stages of research, each notable study is just one more milestone towards treating some of humanitys most debilitating conditions.

So without any further ado, lets give it up for the top ten health and medical breakthroughs of 2019.

An exciting study that was published back in January found that exposure to blue light is an effective, non-pharmaceutical treatment for high blood pressure, which simultaneously reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

The researchers who conducted the study from the University of Surrey and Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf discovered that exposure to whole-body blue light significantly reduced the systolic blood pressure of participants by almost 8 mmHg, compared to the control light which had no impact.

Whats even more remarkable is that the reduction of blood pressure from blue light is similar to what is seen in clinical trials with blood pressure lowering drugs.

Rather than targeting the typical rogue proteins associated with dementia, scientists found earlier this month thatfor the very first timethey have reversed dementia in mice with a drug that reduces inflammation.

Up until now, most dementia treatments have targeted the amyloid plaques that are found in people with Alzheimers disease. However, experiments conducted at the University of California, Berkeley suggest targeting inflammation in the brain might stop it in its tracks.

If you didnt already have enough reason to eat your vegetables, this study published back in May says that broccoli contains an amazing ingredient which could be the Achilles heel of cancer.

Broccoli is part of the cruciferous vegetable family, which includes cauliflower, cabbage, kale and Brussels sproutsand though many people dont like their taste, these vegetables contain a tiny, but powerful molecule that deactivates the gene responsible for cancerous tumor growth, known as WWP1.

Millions of blind people could have their vision restored using stem cells taken from the eyes of non-living donors, according to Scottish research publish back in March.

Thanks to the pioneering tissue transplant, eight patients with a common condition that destroys vision had the affected area repairedand two patients were even able to read again after having severe macular degeneration.

Back in April, Canadian researchers developed a new treatment for mobility-impaired Parkinsons disease patientsand the results were beyond their wildest dreams.

Scientists from Western University in Ontario published the results of a pilot study in which they used spinal implants to improve motor function in several patients with advanced Parkinsons.

Prior to the study, the patients were barely able to stand on their own without falling over or they were forced to depend entirely on wheelchairs for mobility. After getting the spinal implant, however, the patients are now capable of walking unassisted for the first time in years.

According to a report from May, people who experience anxiety symptoms might be helped by taking steps to regulate the microorganisms in their gut using probiotic and non-probiotic food and supplements.

Anxiety symptoms are common in people with mental diseases and a variety of physical disorders, especially in disorders that are related to stress. Previous studies have shown that as many as a third of people will be affected by anxiety symptoms during their lifetime.

Increasingly, research has indicated that gut microbiotathe trillions of microorganisms in the gut which perform important functions in the immune system and metabolism by providing essential inflammatory mediators, nutrients and vitaminscan help regulate brain function through something called the gut-brain axis.

In August, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine may have found the key to restoring hearing in people with irreversible deafness.

Using genetic tools in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they identified a pair of proteins that precisely control when sound-detecting cells, known as hair cells, are born in the mammalian inner ear.

Scientists in our field have long been looking for the molecular signals that trigger the formation of the hair cells that sense and transmit sound, says Dr. Angelika Doetzlhofer, associate professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. These hair cells are a major player in hearing loss, and knowing more about how they develop will help us figure out ways to replace hair cells that are damaged.

As MDMA is now being recognized as a groundbreaking cure for emotional trauma, a new clinic in Pennsylvania could become one of the first legally-sanctioned facilities for using the psychoactive drug on treatment-resistant PTSD in the United States.

Now that it has reportedly opened its doors in Wyndmoore, The Landing medical facility will specialize in using several psychoactive drugs to treat a variety of mental health disorders.

Particularly, it has been pushing to receive FDA approval on using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for patients whose Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has been untreatable.

Dental fillings may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to this breakthrough from Chinese scientists.

Enamel is the mineralized substance that protects the surface of teeth. Though it is one of the toughest tissues in our bodies, it is prone to degradation over time particularly as a result of consistent exposure to certain acids that are found in food and drinks.

We currently use resins and ceramics to fill in deteriorated enamel, but these fillings can often become loose within just a few years of their placementand with tooth decay being one of the most prevalent chronic diseases amongst humans, scientists have puzzled over how they can recreate enamel.

Until now, we have not been able to reproduce the toughened tissue because of its complex cellular structurebut back in September, a team of researchers from Zhejiang University School of Medicine developed a gel that makes enamel repair itself.

With pancreatic cancer ranking as one of the most deadly forms of cancer, researchers were excited to report on a promising new breakthrough for a treatment.

Pancreatic cancer, which maintains a 95% mortality rate, is resistant to all current treatments. Patients have extremely poor chances of surviving for five years after being diagnosedand since the disease does not show symptoms until the advanced stages, it is notoriously hard to diagnose.

However, this Tel Aviv University study published earlier this month finds that a small molecule has the ability to induce the self-destruction of pancreatic cancer cells. The research was conducted with xenograftstransplantations of human pancreatic cancer into immunocompromised mice. The treatment reduced the number of cancer cells by 90% in the developed tumors a month after being administered.

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Healing Dose of Optimism: The Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2019 Will Have You Cheering - Good News Network

Fibrosis, or scarring, is central to a number of diseases, including cirrhosis of the liver, chronic kidney disease and several lung diseases. Generally, any organ in the body can repair itself after injury. Normally, scarring occurs and then recedes, making room for normal tissue as healing occurs. But sometimes the healing goes awry and the cells that make up scar tissue continue dividing and spreading until the scar tissue itself strangles the organ it was healing. This can cause organ failure.

Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles Health Sciences have developed a scar-in-a-dish model derived from stem cells that can mimic fibrosis. They then identified a drug that could stop the fibrotic progression and, in further animal models, actually reverse fibrosis. They published their research in the journal Cell Reports.

Millions of people living with fibrosis have very limited treatment options, said Brigitte Gomperts, a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. Once scarring gets out of control, we dont have any treatments that can stop it, except for whole-organ transplant.

The scar-in-a-dish model utilized several different types of cells derived from human stem cells. It used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).

Fibrosis likely occurs as the result of interactions between multiple different cell types, so we didnt think it made sense to use just one cell type to generate a scarring model, said Preethi Vijayaraj, the reports first author and an assistant adjunct professor of pediatric hematology/oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a member of the UCLA Johnsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The mixture of cells they grew had many types that are believed to participate in fibrosis, including mesenchymal cells, epithelial cells and immune cells. All of them maintained some plasticity, allowing them to change cells types. This is the first known model to recreate that plasticity, which is associated with progressive fibrosis.

They then placed the cells in a rigid hydrogel that was similar to the stiffness of a scarred organ. The cells behaved the same way they would to injury, producing damage signals and activating transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), which typically stimulates fibrosis.

The use of the gel, as opposed to tissue, meant it couldnt heal itself. This allowed the researchers to test molecules on the scarring in a way that isolated the drug and scarring tissues. They tested more than 17,000 small molecules. They identified one that stopped progressive scarring and healed the damage. They believe the compound activates the cells innate wound healing processes.

This drug candidate seems to be able to stop and reverse progressive scarring in a dish by actually breaking down the scar tissue, said Gomperts. We tested it in animal models of fibrosis of the lungs and eyes and found that it has promise to treat both of those diseases.

The next steps are to determine how the drug candidate works and also screen more molecules. The drug has not been tested in humans. The therapeutic strategy is covered by a patent application the UCLA Technology Development Group filed on behalf of the Regents of the University of California, with Gomperts and Vijayaraj listed as co-inventors. Gomperts is also a co-founder and stock owner of a biotech company, InSpira, which is focused on developing the molecule and strategy for fibrosis.

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Researchers ID Molecule that Appears to Halt and Reverse Scarring in Fibrotic Diseases - BioSpace

The idea of a cell therapy for Parkinsons disease starts out simple: Symptoms of the progressive disease are largely driven by the deaths of dopamine-producing neurons found deep within the brain. With lower levels of the neurotransmitter come the characteristic tremors, rigidity and slow movements.

By replacing those lost nerve cells with new dopamine producers, researchers hope to renew the brains connection to the bodys muscles and improve a persons overall motor function.

But in the brain, everything becomes more complicated. On top of the risk of immune system rejection that comes with any kind of living tissue transplant, its important to make sure the implanted cells function correctly and do not pick up any dangerous genetic mutations as they grow.

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Now, a new company, Aspen Neuroscience, aims to tackle both obstacles at once.

First, the startup hopes to avoid any harmful immune reactions by using a patients own cells as a starting point. Then, Aspen plans to implement a rigorous quality control program employing whole genome sequencing and artificial intelligence to make sure the cells stay in line as theyre processed and readied for the procedure.

And to do it, the San Diego-based company is starting out with $6.5 million in seed money plus an impressive roster of names.

They are led by neurology researcher Howard Federoff, previously vice chancellor for health affairs and CEO of the University of California, Irvine health system as well as the executive dean of medicine at Georgetown University. Hes joined by Aspen co-founder and stem cell scientist Jeanne Loring, founding director and professor emeritus of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute.

Meanwhile, the seed round was led by Domain Associates and Axon Ventures with additional backing from Alexandria Venture Investments, Arch Venture Partners, OrbiMed and Section 32.

Aspen looks to combine its expertise in stem cell biology, genomics and neurology to offer the first autologous cell therapy for Parkinsons diseasewhile others in the space have pursued allogeneic routes, or therapies derived from donors other than the patient.

The process starts with a culture of the patients skin cells, which are then genetically induced to become pluripotent stem cellsor cells capable of differentiating into any other cell type in the body. These are then chemically nudged further to transform into precursor versions of the dopamine-producing neurons, which are typically found in the midbrain and regions responsible for the movement of limbs.

We can say without any equivocation that we can produce the population of cells necessary to transplant, and in a short enough period of time to have a potential beneficial impact on the evolution of the disease, said Federoff, who has also served as chair of the NIHs Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee and helped lead the U.S. Parkinsons Disease Gene Therapy Study Group.

We envisage that this will set back the clock on patients who have Parkinsons, unlike any other therapy that we know of, he told FierceMedTech in an interview.

The number of cells needed would be much smaller compared to other cell therapies and cancer treatments. The healthy human brain contains only about 200,000 dopamine-producing nerve cells, split between its two hemispheres, while patients with Parkinsons disease have lost about 50% or more of those neurons.

Aspen aims to evaluate two doses: one that aims to replace about 60% to 65% of a persons normal cell complement and another larger treatment, Federoff said.

Those smaller doses, as well as starting with a patients donor cells, help make the treatment safer to produce by requiring fewer steps. Each cycle of cell division and multiplication to increase their numbers carries the risk of introducing genetic mutations.

As the cells are grown, they are consistently evaluated with data-driven techniques pioneered by Lorings laboratory. Using whole genome RNA sequencing, Aspen will match the cells up at every stage with a genetic barcode taken from each patient at the start. This will allow them to look for changes, duplications or deletions in the pluripotent stem cell genome.

If the cells harbor mutations that are cancer drivers, we don't want to put those into people, Loring said. The only way is to check the sequencing before we transplant them.

The cells used in the transplant procedure arent fully grown; as neuron progenitors, they mimic the development steps seen in the brain of a growing fetus after theyre placed in the body as they wire themselves up to other neural structures and begin to form new networks of their own.

We anticipate that they will manufacture and release dopamine in a manner that is consistent with synaptic neurotransmission and the process of communicating from cell-to-cell, said Federoff. They will take up dopamine from synapses when it has done its business, bring it back into the cell, and prepare it for another synaptic release.

These are not just dopamine pumps, theyre real neurons, added Loring. They will genuinely replace the cells that have been lost in every way.

Aspen plans to pursue two courses of therapy, for the two major types of Parkinsons disease. Their lead candidate is for idiopathic, or sporadic Parkinsons, while their second is a CRISPR-edited version of the therapy designed to address one of the diseases most common genetic mutations, linked to about 5% of cases.

This would not only aim to restart dopamine production in this orphan indication, but also restore the damaged enzyme GBA, which is seen as an underlying cause. Federoff and Loring expect their sequencing-based quality check system will also help catch any off-target edits linked to the use of CRISPR-Cas9.

The company has yet to secure permission from the FDA to officially launch clinical trials, but the agency has signed off on Aspens plans to prepare a trial-ready cohort of Parkinsons disease patients in the meantime. This would include the initial stages of recruitment and testing, including the selection of patients capable of having their skin cells made into pluripotent stem cells.

After it receives its go-ahead from the FDA, Aspen plans to hit the ground running,enrolling at least 176 participants in a phase 1/2 study that includes a randomized stage to determine clinical benefits.

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By turning stem cells into brain cells, Aspen Neuroscience hopes to rewind the progress of Parkinson's disease - FierceBiotech

The Big Game of 2010, didnt start off well for Cal fullback Eric Stevens. The Bears lost to Stanford,4814.

But on his way back to his apartment he ran into Amanda Glass. They stopped and started talking. And talking. And they discovered they had a lot in common, including sports. She was a defender on the womens soccer team, and, like Eric, she had a reputation as a toughcompetitor.

He invited me to a party that night, she remembers. And the rest ishistory.

It was easily the best day of our lives. Everything was perfect. We had everyone we both loved all in oneplace.

He was absolutely head over heels from the beginning, says Erics roommate, quarterback Beau Sweeney. He talked about her all thetime.

Amanda felt the same way. Right away, it was his good looks. And then I got to know him a little more, and he is very caring and selfless. He puts everyone else beforehim.

They were married on July 27, 2019 in San Luis Obispo. Beau performed the ceremony, having downloaded a certificate of ordination from the Internet the night before, and a huge coterie of Erics friends from the football team were there, as were a lot of Amandas friends from the soccerteam.

It was easily the best day of our lives, she says. Everything was perfect. We had everyone we both loved all in oneplace.

Then, exactly one month later to the day, Eric was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou GehrigsDisease.

Beau was in a meeting with his boss when a text from Amanda arrived with the bad news. I just lost it. I put my head down and bawled. Then I called my parents, who knew Eric, and my fiance. Through tears I told her, If theres anyone Ive come across in my entire life who was not scared of a fight, its thatkid.

The next day, Vince Tomich, one of Erics oldest friends, went to see him. Amanda stepped outside for a few minutes, leaving them alone, and Eric confided to him, Im just worried aboutAmanda.

This from somebody who has just gotten diagnosed with the worst thing on the planet, marvels Vince. But thats who heis.

On the field he was one of the toughest players Ive ever coached in my life. He played the game the way the game is supposed to beplayed.

Athleticism runs in the Stevens family. His oldest brother Craig played tight end for Cal, followed by eight years in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans, and his cousin Andrew was a standout pole vaulter at Cal. (Theyre both four or five inches taller than Eric, who is only six feettall.)

But Eric was definitely no runt, says his brother Brett. You dont hear this often, but I always looked up to my youngerbrother.

At Cal, Eric made the football team as a walk-on. His running backs coach Ron Gould remembers, On the field he was one of the toughest players Ive ever coached in my life. He played the game the way the game is supposed to be played, with violence and physicality. But off the field he was fun loving and very caring, with a soft side that most people playing a violent sport like football donthave.

His teammates elected him team captain in his senior year, and the coaches awarded him the football squads highest honor, the Joe Roth Award, named for the beloved late quarterback and given to the player who best demonstrates courage, attitude, andsportsmanship.

Even players on opposing teams liked him. Hes a humble guy, not arrogant like better players typically are, says Cameron Sentence who played tight end for UC Davis. He always led byexample.

After Cal he played briefly in the NFL with the Rams, then he embarked on the career of his dreams:firefighting.

Hes the guy that everybody would love to have, says Capt. John Jacobsen, his commander in South Central L.A. Hes young, strong, smart, and very much a team player, which is hugely important in our job. And he did that job better than anyone. He was always the first guy to extend his hand to rookies to assist them in preparation for their proficiency exercises, quick to share his knowledge and experience. Now hes on modified duty, but we miss him dearly every day. It was an honor to be hiscaptain.

Now hes in the toughest fight of his life. ALS is a cruel disease that affects about 30,000 people in this country. The numbers stay low because every time someone gets diagnosed, someone else dies, saysCraig.

Its not evil pharmaceutical people making these decisions, says Dr. Veronica Miller. It really is about the endresult.

The good news is that theres a new drug on the horizon called NurOwn that uses stem cells to treat ALS. Its still in the testing stage, but preliminary results have been encouraging. And under an FDA program called Compassionate Use, which was created in 1987 during the AIDS crisis, people who are terminally ill can get fast-tracked to the head of the line to receive an experimental drug while its still indevelopment.

But only one pharmaceutical firm is currently making and testing NurOwn, a small company named Brainstorm, and so far it has only tapped one patient for CompassionateUse.

Thats no surprise to Dr. Veronica Miller, who teaches a course on the FDA and drug development at the UC Berkeley School of PublicHealth.

Its not evil pharmaceutical people making these decisions, she says. It really is about the end result. For the company, theres quite a bit of work to prepare the material; theres a lot of paperwork involved. So they have to stop working on their drug development program and suddenly start preparing individual patient packages for compassionate use. When youre a small company, that can be a huge burden. And if your mission is to produce a drug that be approved and be on the market, then everyone can have the drug. But if the company is being asked to focus primarily on providing the drug for Compassionate Use, they will never be able to develop the drug and bring it to market. And that is a real ethicalissue.

But Eric and Amanda arent taking no for an answer. As of this writing, the Facebook group, Team Stevens Nation, has more than 11,500 members. We knew we were going to have to get a lot of people involved in this fight, so we put team in front because anyone can be a part of this team and help us fight. Once this went out, friends and friends of friends and friends of friends found out, and it spread like wildfire. Soccer star Alex Morgan posted about Eric, as did Cal grads and NFL players Jared Goff, Keenan Allen, and MarvinJones.

And, of course, the firefighters were the ones spreading it most, at fire stations around the world, Amanda says. Theyre all there on Facebook holding banners that say#AxeALS.

Soccer teams have gotten into the act, too, as have canine rescue groups, in honor of Eric and Amandas beloved chocolate Labrador retriever, Duke. Erics brothers started a GoFundMe page, a website, and an Instagram account. And last month in November, Eric and Amanda appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to tell theirstory.

I never thought it would get this big, says Eric. The support has been super overwhelming from everyone in the community and all across the world. But this is a lot larger than me. As ALS patients we dont have the time to wait because were dying. People are dying everyday.

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It Was the Best Day of His Life. Then Everything Changed. - CALIFORNIA

By Michael Le Page

Tang Hai

Pig-primate chimeras have been born live for the first time but died within a week. The two piglets, created by a team in China, looked normal although a small proportion of their cells were derived from cynomolgus monkeys.

This is the first report of full-term pig-monkey chimeras, says Tang Hai at the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology in Beijing.

The ultimate aim of the work is to grow human organs in animals for transplantation. But the results show there is still a long way to go to achieve this, the team says.

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Hai and his colleagues genetically modified cynomolgus monkey cells growing in culture so they produced a fluorescent protein called GFP. This enabled the researchers to track the cells and their descendents. They then derived embryonic stem cells from the modified cells and injected them into pig embryos five days after fertilisation.

More than 4000 embryos were implanted in sows. Ten piglets were born as a result, of which two were chimeras. All died within a week. In the chimeric piglets, multiple tissues including in the heart, liver, spleen, lung and skin partly consisted of monkey cells, but the proportion was low: between one in 1000 and one in 10,000.

It is unclear why the piglets died, says Hai, but because the non-chimeric pigs died as well, the team suspects it is to do with the IVF process rather than the chimerism. IVF doesnt work nearly as well in pigs as it does in humans and some other animals.

The team is now trying to create healthy animals with a higher proportion of monkey cells, says Hai. If that is successful, the next step would be to try to create pigs in which one organ is composed almost entirely of primate cells.

Something like this has already been achieved in rodents. In 2010, Hiromitsu Nakauchi, now at Stanford University in California, created mice with rat pancreases by genetically modifying the mice so their own cells couldnt develop into a pancreas.

In 2017, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmontes team at the Salk Institute in California created pig-human chimeras, but only around one in 100,000 cells were human and, for ethical reasons, the embryos were only allowed to develop for a month. The concern is that a chimeras brain could be partly human.

This is why Hai and his team used monkey rather than human cells. But while the proportion of monkey cells in their chimeras is higher than the proportion of human cells in Belmontes chimeras, it is still very low.

Given the extremely low chimeric efficiency and the deaths of all the animals, I actually see this as fairly discouraging, says stem cell biologist Paul Knoepfler at the University of California, Davis.

He isnt convinced that it will ever be possible to grow organs suitable for transplantation by creating animal-human chimeras. However, it makes sense to continue researching this approach along with others such as tissue engineering, he says.

According to a July report in the Spanish newspaper El Pas, Belmontes team has now created human-monkey chimeras, in work carried out in China. The results have not yet been published.

While interspecies chimerism doesnt occur naturally, the bodies of animals including people can consist of a mix of cells. Mothers have cells from their children growing in many of their organs, for instance, a phenomenon called microchimerism.

Journal reference: Protein & Cell, DOI: 10.1007/s13238-019-00676-8

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Exclusive: Two pigs engineered to have monkey cells born in China - New Scientist News

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Jasper Therapeutics, Inc., a new biotechnology company focused on enabling safer conditioning and therapeutic agents that expand the application of curative hematopoietic stem cell transplants and gene therapies, today announced the launch of the company with a $35 million total Series A financing. Abingworth LLP and Qiming Venture Partners USA served as lead investors, with further investment from Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) and participation from Alexandria Venture Investments, LLC. The proceeds will be used to advance the clinical development of the companys lead product candidate, JSP191, which is designed to replace or reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy and radiation therapy as a conditioning regimen to prepare patients for hematopoietic cell transplant.

Jaspers development of JSP191 is also supported by a collaboration with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which has been funding the program and is committed to providing a total of $23 million in grant support. As part of the Series A financing, Amgen, which discovered JSP191 (formerly AMG191), has licensed worldwide rights to Jasper that also include translational science and materials from Stanford University.

Jasper was co-founded by Judith Shizuru, M.D., Ph.D., a hematopoietic stem cell transplant expert at Stanford University, and Susan Prohaska, Ph.D., a Stanford University-trained immunologist, stem cell biologist and early-stage drug development professional. Dr Shizurus CIRM-funded lab advanced the understanding of the ability of anti-CD117 to impact hematopoietic stem cells and, together with the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) pediatric transplant teams, was the first to study an anti-CD117 antibody in the clinic as a conditioning agent. That humanized antibody, now called JSP191, was first studied for conditioning for transplant in immune-deficient patients in collaboration with Amgen, UCSF and CIRM.

Stem cell transplantation is a potential curative therapy for people with hematologic cancers, autoimmune diseases, and debilitating genetic diseases. However, the pre-transplant conditioning required to prepare patients for transplant involves highly toxic chemotherapy, which can be life-threatening and limits the number of people who are able to benefit, said Dr. Shizuru, co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of Jasper Therapeutics. JSP191 is the only anti-CD117 antibody to demonstrate safety and efficacy in severely ill patients receiving stem cell transplant in the clinic. We plan to expand clinical development to patients receiving transplants for acute myeloid leukemia/ myelodysplastic syndrome or autoimmune diseases and to patients receiving stem cell-directed gene therapies.

Dr. Shizuru added, With an experienced executive team of biotech veterans and a strong syndicate of healthcare-focused investors, Jasper Therapeutics is well positioned to achieve our vision of building a leading biotech company starting with JSP191 and expanding to other novel therapies for immune modulation, graft engineering and cell and gene therapies.

JSP191 is currently being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial as a conditioning agent to enable stem cell transplantation in patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) who received a prior stem cell transplant that failed. This severe genetic immune disorder leaves patients without a functioning immune system. Interim results of the study will be presented in an oral presentation (abstract #800) on Monday, December 9, at the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, Fla. Clinical studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of JSP191 as a conditioning agent in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell therapy for hematologic cancers are planned for 2020.

Founding Management Team

Dr. Shizuru and Mr. Lis are joined on the Jasper Therapeutics Board of Directors by Kurt von Emster, Managing Partner of Abingworth LLP, and Anna French, Ph.D., Principal at Qiming Venture Partners USA. Dr. Prohaska is a Board observer.

With our investment in this program, were able to realize our mission of fast-tracking stem cell treatments by helping academic researchers rapidly advance the most promising discoveries in the lab into the clinics and to drug development with commercialization partners, said Maria T. Millan, M.D., President and CEO of CIRM. Jaspers two co-founders took a novel antibody with unique properties and moved it from the bench to the bedside relatively quickly, and were thrilled to partner with this talented team to potentially impact a broad group of people who could benefit from stem cell therapy.

About Stem Cell Transplantation

Blood-forming, or hematopoietic, stem cells are cells that reside in the bone marrow and are responsible for the generation and maintenance of all blood and immune cells. These stem cells can harbor inherited or acquired abnormalities that lead to a variety of disease states, including immune deficiencies, blood disorders or hematologic cancers. Successful transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells is the only cure for most of these life-threatening conditions. Replacement of the defective or malignant hematopoietic stem cells in the patients bone marrow is currently achieved by subjecting patients to toxic doses of radiation and/or chemotherapy that cause DNA damage and lead to short- and long-term toxicities, including immune suppression and prolonged hospitalization. As a result, many patients who could benefit from a stem cell transplant are not eligible. New approaches that are effective but have minimal to no toxicity are urgently needed so more patients who could benefit from a curative stem cell transplant could receive the procedure.

Safer and more effective hematopoietic cell transplantation regimens could overcome these limitations and enable the broader application of hematopoietic cell transplants in the cure of many disorders. These disorders include hematologic cancers (e.g., myelodysplastic syndrome [MDS] and acute myeloid leukemia [AML]), autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Type 1 diabetes), and genetic diseases that could be cured with genetically-corrected autologous stem cells (e.g., severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome [SCID], sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, Fanconi anemia and other monogenic diseases).

About JSP191

JSP191 (formerly AMG191) is a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody in clinical development as a conditioning agent that clears hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow. JSP191 binds to human CD117, a receptor for stem cell factor (SCF) that is expressed on the surface of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. The interaction of SCF and CD117 is required for stem cells to survive. JSP191 blocks SCF from binding to CD117 and disrupts critical survival signals, causing the stem cells to undergo cell death and creating an empty space in the bone marrow for donor or gene-corrected transplanted cells to engraft.

Preclinical studies have shown that JSP191 as a single agent safely depletes normal and diseased hematopoietic stem cells, including in an animal model of MDS. This creates the space needed for transplanted normal donor or gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells to successfully engraft in the host bone marrow. To date, JSP191 has been evaluated in more than 80 healthy volunteers and patients. It is currently being evaluated as a sole conditioning agent in a Phase 1 dose-escalation trial to achieve donor stem cell engraftment in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplant for SCID, which is curable only by this type of treatment. For more information about the design of the clinical trial, visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02963064). Clinical development of JSP191 will be expanded to also study patients with AML or MDS who are receiving hematopoietic cell transplant.

About Jasper Therapeutics

Jasper Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on enabling safer conditioning and therapeutic agents that expand the application of curative hematopoietic stem cell transplants and gene therapies. Jasper Therapeutics lead compound, JSP191, is in clinical development as a conditioning antibody that clears hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow in patients undergoing a stem cell transplant. For more information, please visit us at http://www.jaspertherapeutics.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191206005456/en/

Original post:
Jasper Therapeutics Launches with $35 Million Series A Financing to Develop and Commercialize Innovative Conditioning Agents and Therapies to...

THE worlds first monkey-pig hybrids have been born, which could pave the way for human organs grown by animals.

A groundbreaking experiment produced creatures with hearts, livers, spleens, lungs and skin which contained pig and primate cells.

1

Stem cells from macaque monkeys were grown in a lab and then injected into pig embryos five days after fertilisation.

Of more than 4,000 implanted in sows, ten piglets were born. But only two were chimeras and both died in a week.

However the Chinese scientists reckon that may be due to IVF procedure.

Beijing-based Tang Hai said: This is the first report of full-term pig-monkey chimeras.

Pictured

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The piglets, known as moinkeys, had organs with monkey cells in a very low ratio. A similar US experiment in 2017 used pig and human DNA.

Embryos were developed for only a month amid fears the brain may be partly human.

University of California stem cell biologist Paul Knoepfler said: Given the extremely low chimeric efficiency and the deaths of all the animals, I see this as fairly discouraging.

Rocket Mice

GENETICALLY enhanced supermice have been launched into space.

The eight rodents, which are twice as muscly as normal, are part of a three-ton cargo heading for the International Space Station.

The load also includes a robot sensitive to emotions, a miniature brewerys malt house plus holiday goodies for the six station residents.

The Falcon rocket, Space Xs 19th supply run for Nasa, blasted off late from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a day late because of winds.

Read more from the original source:
Worlds first ever pig-monkey hybrids have been created by Chinese scientists - The Sun

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2019--

The Brenner and Rectors The Kidney, 2-Volume Set. Edition No. 11 book has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.coms offering.

Put the worlds most well-known kidney reference to work in your practice with the 11th Edition of Brenner & Rectors The Kidney. This two-volume masterwork provides expert, well-illustrated information on everything from basic science and pathophysiology to clinical best practices. Addressing current issues such as new therapies for cardiorenal syndrome, the increased importance of supportive or palliative care in advanced chronic kidney disease, increasing live kidney donation in transplants, and emerging discoveries in stem cell and kidney regeneration, this revised edition prepares you for any clinical challenge you may encounter.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Embryology of the Kidney

2. Anatomy of the Kidney

3. The Renal Circulations and Glomerular Ultrafiltration

4. Glomerular Cell Biology

5. Metabolic Basis of Solute Transport

6. Transport of Sodium, Chloride, and Potassium

7. The Regulation of Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphate Excretion by the Kidney

8. Renal Handling of Organic Solutes

9. Renal Acidification Mechanisms

10. Urine Concentration and Dilution and The Cell Biology of Vasopressin Action

11. Vasoactive Molecules and the Kidney

12. Aldosterone and Mineralocorticoid Receptors: Renal and Extrarenal Roles

13. Arachidonic Acid Metabolites and the Kidney

14. Disorders of Sodium Balance

15. Disorders of Water Balance

16. Disorders of Acid-Base Balance

17. Disorders of Potassium Balance

18. Disorders of Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphate Balance

19. Epidemiology of Kidney Disease

20. Risk Prediction in Chronic Kidney Disease

21. Developmental Programming of Blood Pressure and Renal Function

22. Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Aging Kidney

23. Clinical Approach and Laboratory Assessment of the patient with kidney disease

24. Interpretation of Electrolyte and Acid-Base Parameters in Blood and Urine

25. Diagnostic Kidney Imaging

26. The Kidney Biopsy

27. Biomarkers in Acute and Chronic Kidney Diseases

28. Pathophysiology of Acute Kidney Injury

29. Prevention and Management of Acute Kidney Injury

30. Pathophysiology of Proteinuria

31. Primary Glomerular Disease

32. Secondary Glomerular Disease

33. Overview of Therapy for Glomerular Disease

34. Thrombotic Microangiopathy and Microvascular Disease

35. Tubulointerstitial Diseases

36. Urinary Tract Infection in Adults

37. Urinary Tract Obstruction

38. Urinary Stone Disease

39. Diabetic Nephropathy

40. Cardiorenal Syndromes

41. Kidney Cancer

42. Onco-Nephrology: Kidney Disease in Patients with Cancer

43. Inherited Disorders of the Glomerulus

44. Inherited Disorders of the Renal Tubule

45. Cystic Diseases of the Kidney

46. Primary and Secondary Hypertension

47. Renovascular Hypertension and Ischemic Nephropathy

48. Pregnancy and Kidney Disease

49. Antihypertensive Therapy

50. Diuretics

51. Mechanisms of Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease

52. The Pathophysiology of Uremia

53. Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral Bone Disorder

54. Cardiovascular Aspects of Kidney Disease

55. Hematologic Aspects of Kidney Disease

56. Endocrine Aspects of Chronic Kidney Disease

57. Neurologic Aspects of Kidney Disease

58. Dermatologic Conditions in Kidney Disease

59. Staging and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease

60. Dietary Approaches to Kidney Diseases

61. Drug Dosing Considerations in Patients with Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease

62. Supportive Care in Advanced Kidney Disease

63. Hemodialysis

64. Peritoneal Dialysis

65. Critical Care Nephrology

66. Plasmapheresis

67. Elimination Enhancement of Poisons

68. Interventional Nephrology

69. Transplantation Immunobiology

70. Clinical Management of the Adult Kidney Transplant Recipient

71. Considerations in Live Kidney Donation

72. Diseases of the Kidney and Urinary Tract in Children

73. Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Disorders in Children

74. Renal Replacement Therapy (Dialysis and Transplantation) in Pediatric End-Stage Kidney Disease

75. Global Challenges and Initiatives in Kidney Health

76. Latin America

77. Africa

78. Near and Middle East

79. Indian Subcontinent

80. Far East

81. Oceania Region

82. Ethical Dilemmas Facing Nephrology: Past, Present, and Future

83. Health Disparities in Nephrology

84. Care of the Older Adult with Chronic Kidney Disease

85. Stem Cells, Kidney Regeneration, Gene and Cell Therapy in Nephrology

Authors

Yu, Alan S. L. Harry Statland and Solon Summerfield Professor of Medicine, Director, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and the Kidney Institute, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.

Chertow, Glenn M. Norman S. Coplon/ Satellite Healthcare, Professor of Medicine, Chief, Division of Nephrology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Palo Alto, California, USA.

Luyckx, Valerie Affiliate Lecturer, Renal Division, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Institute of Biomedical Ethics and the History of Medicine

University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Marsden, Philip A. Professor of Medicine, Elisabeth Hofmann Chair in Translational Research, Oreopoulos-Baxter Division Director of Nephrology; Vice Chair Research, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Skorecki, Karl Annie Chutick Professor and Chair in Medicine (Nephrology), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Director of Medical and Research Development, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.

Taal, Maarten W. Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine, University of Nottingham; Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, Department of Renal Medicine, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby, United Kingdom.

For more information about this book visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/klnzw8

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191206005135/en/

CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com

Read more here:
Brenner and Rector's The Kidney, 2-Volume Set. Edition No. 11 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Associated Press

I have a four-foot-tall robot in my house that plays with my kids. Its name is Jethro.

Both my daughters, aged 5 and 9, are so enamored with Jethro that they have each asked to marry it. For fun, my wife and I put on mock weddings. Despite the robot being mainly for entertainment, its very basic artificial intelligence can perform thousands of functions, including dance and teach karate, which my kids love.

The most important thing Jethro has taught my kids is that its totally normal to have a walking, talking machine around the house that you can hang out with whenever you want to.

Given my daughters semi-regular use of smartphones and tablets, I have to wonder how this will affect them in the future. Will they have any fear of technologies like driverless cars? Will they take it for granted that machine intelligences and avatars on computers can be their best friends, or even their bosses?

Will marrying a super-intelligent robot in 20 years be a natural decision? Even though I love technology, Im not sure how I would feel about having a robot-in-law. But my kids might think nothing of it.

This is my story of transhumanism.

Courtesy of Zoltan Istvan

My transhumanism journey began in 2003 when I was reporting a story for National Geographic in Vietnams demilitarized zone and I almost stepped on a landmine.

I remember my guide roughly shoving me aside and pointing to the metal object half sticking out of the ground in front of me.

I stared at the device that would have completely blown my legs off had my boot tripped the mine. I had just turned 30. The experience left me shaken. And it kept haunting me.

That night as I lay tense and awake in my hotel room, I had the epiphany that has helped define the rest of my life: I decided that the most important thing in my existence was to fight for survival. To put it another way: My goal was to never die.

Because I was not religious, I immediately turned to the thing that gave meaning to my world: science and technology. I took a leap of faith and made a wager that day. I later called this (and even later, dedicated a book to it) the transhumanist wager.

The life extension business of transhumanism will be a $600 billion industry by 2025.

My idea for an immortality wager came from Pascals Wager, the famous bet that caught on in the 17th century that loosely argued it was better to believe in God than not to, because you would be granted an afterlife if there was indeed a God. My transhumanist wager was based in my belief that its better to dedicate our resources to science and technology to overcome death while were still aliveso we dont ever have to find out whether there is an afterlife or not. It turns out I wasnt alone in my passion to live indefinitely through science. A small social movement, mostly of academics and researchers, were tackling similar issues, starting organizations, and funding research.

Some of them called themselves transhumanists.

Fast-forward 16 years from my landmine incident, and transhumanism has grown way beyond its main mission of just overcoming death with science.

Now the movement is the de facto philosophy (maybe even the religion) of Silicon Valley. It encapsulates numerous futurist fields: singularitarianism, cyborgism, cryonics, genetic editing, robotics, AI, biohacking, and others.

Biohacking in particular has taken offthe practice of physically hacking ones body with science, changing and augmenting our physiology the same way computer hackers would infiltrate a mainframe.

Its pretty obvious why it has emerged as such a big trend: It attracts the youth.

Not surprisingly, worrying about death is something that older people usually do (and, apparently, those younger people who almost step on landmines). Most young people feel invincible. But tell young people they can take brain drugs called nootropics that make them super smart, or give them special eye drops that let them see in the dark, or give them a chip implant that enhances human ability (like the one I have), and a lot of young people will go for it.

In 2016, I ran for the US presidency as the Transhumanist Party nominee. To get support from younger biohackers, my team and I journeyed on the Immortality Busmy 38-foot coffin-shaped campaign busto Grindfest, the major annual biohacking meet-up in Tehachapi, California. In an old dentists chair in a garage, biohackers injected me with a horse syringe containing a small radio-frequency-identification implant that uses near-field communication technologythe same wireless frequency used in most smartphones. The tiny deviceits about the size of a grain of ricewas placed just under the skin in my hand. With my chip, I could start a car, pay with bitcoin, and open my front door with a lock reader.

Four years later, I still have the implant and use it almost every day. For surfers or joggers like myself, for example, its great because I dont have to carry keys around.

One thing I do have to navigate is how some religious people view me once they understand I have one. Evangelical Christians have told me that an implant is the mark of the beast, as in from the Bibles Book of Revelations.

Even though Im tagged by conspiracy theorists as a potential contender for the Antichrist, I cant think of any negatives in my own experiences to having a chip implant. But as my work in transhumanism has reached from the US Military to the World Bank to many of the worlds most well-known universities, my chip implant only exasperates this conspiracy.

While people often want to know what other things Ive done to my body, in reality becoming a cyborg is a lot less futuristic and drastic than people think.

For me and for the thousands of people around the world who have implants, its all about functionality. An implant simply makes our lives easier and more efficient. Mine also sends out pre-written text messages when peoples phones come within a few feet of me, which is a fun party trick.

But frankly, a lot of the most transformative technology is still being developed, and if youre healthy like me, theres really not much benefit in doing a lot of biohacking today.

I take nootropics for better brain memory, but theres no conclusive research I know of that it actually works yet. Ive done some brainwave therapy, sometimes called direct neurofeedback, or biofeedback, but I didnt see any lasting changes. I fly drones for fun, and of course I also have Jethro, our family robot.

For the most part, members of the disabled community are the ones who are truly benefiting from transhumanist technologies today. If you have an arm shot off in a war, its cyborg science that gives you a robot arm controlled by your neural system that allows you to grab a beer, play the piano, or shake someones hand again.

But much more dramatic technology is soon to come. And the hope is that it will be availableand accessibleto everyone.

I asked to be added to a volunteer list for an experiment that will place implants in peoples brains that would allow us to communicate telepathically, using AI. (Biohacking trials like this are secretive because they are coming under more intense legal scrutiny.)Im also looking into getting a facial recognition security system for my home. I might even get a pet dog robot; these have become incredibly sophisticated, have fur softer than the real thing (that doesnt shed all over your couch or trigger allergies) and can even act as security systems.

Beyond that, people are using stem cells to grow new teeth, genetic editing to create designer babies, and exoskeleton technology that will likely allow a human to run on water in the near future.

Most people generally focus on one aspect of transhumanism, like just biohacking, or just AI, or just brainwave-tech devices. But I like to try it all, embrace it all, and support it all. Whatever new transhumanist direction technology takes, I try to take it all in and embrace the innovation.

This multi-faceted approach has worked well in helping me build a bridge connecting the various industries and factions of the transhumanist movement. Its what inspired me to launch presidential and California gubernatorial campaigns on a transhumanist platform. Now Im embarking on a new campaign in 2020 for US president as a Republican, hoping to get conservatives to become more open-minded about the future.

The amount of money flowing into transhumanist projects is growing into many billions of dollars. The life extension business of transhumanism will be a $600 billion industry by 2025, according to Bank of America. This is no time for transhumanism to break apart into many different divisions, and its no time to butt heads. We need to unite in our aim to truly change the human being forever.

Transhumanistsit doesnt matter what kind you arebelieve they can be more than just human. The word natural is not in our vocabulary. Theres only what transhumanists can do with the tools of science and technology they create. That is our great calling: to evolve the human being into something better than it is.

Because transhumanism has grown so broadly by now, not all transhumanists agree with me on substantially changing the human being. Some believe we should only use technology to eliminate suffering in our lives. Religious transhumanists believe we should use brain implants and virtual reality to improves our morality and religious behavior. Others tell me politics and transhumanism should never mix, and we must always keep science out of the hands of the government.

We need unity of some significant sort because as we grow at such a fast rate there are a lot of challenges ahead. For example, the conservative Christian Right wants to enact moratoriums against transhumanism. The anarcho-primativists, led by people like the primitivist philosopher and author John Zerzan (who I debated once at Stanford University), want to eliminate much technology and go back to a hunting-gathering lifestyle which they believe is more in tune with Earths original ecology. And finally, we must be careful that the so-called one percent doesnt take transhumanist technology and leave us all in the dust, by becoming gods themselves with radical tech and not sharing the benefits with humanity.

I personally believe the largest danger of the transhumanist era is the fact that within a few decades, we will have created super-intelligent AI. What if this new entity simply decides it doesnt like humans? If something is more sophisticated, powerful, intelligent, and resilient than humans, we will have a hard time stopping it if it wants to harm or eliminate us.

Whatever happens in the future, we must take greater care than we ever have before as our species enters the transhumanist age. For the first time, we are on the verge of transforming the physical structure of our bodies and our brains. And we are inventing machines that could end up being more intelligent and powerful than we are. This type of change requires that not only governments act together, but also cultures, religions, and humanity as a whole.

In the end, I believe that a lot more people will be on board with transhumanism than admit it. Nearly all of us want to eliminate disease, protect our families from death, and create a better path and purpose for science and technology.

But I also realize that this must be done ever so delicately, so as not to prematurely push our species into crisis with our unbridled arrogance. One day, we humans may look back and revel in how far our species has evolvedinto undying mammals, cyborgs, robots, and even pure living data. And the most important part will be to be able to look back and know we didnt destroy ourselves to get there.

More:
What it means to be a cyborg in 2019 - Quartz