2/14/2010 PERMALINK
Breakthrough Alert Episode 4 Your weekly podcast briefing on the latest advances in genetic and cyborg mods for human regeneration and enhancement begins now.

Counsyl is offering a $349 genetic test kit that by analyzing a parent's saliva can determine their future children's risks for developing any of over 100 debilitating genetic diseases.

In a big step towards personalized genetic medicine, Arizona State University scientists have found a way to much more quickly discriminate between DNA's four core chemical components for faster, cheaper, ubiquitous gene sequencing.

Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have discovered a molecule that binds to a molecular 'switch' found in cancer cells and cancer-associated blood vessels to keep it in the 'off' position preventing tumor growth.

Aquaculture, a process that combines hydroponic vegetable growth with fish farming to create a resilient and robust food production system, is an essential technology for preventing mass human starvation in the years ahead finds research done at the University of California, Davis.

UCLA chemists have created synthetic 'gene-like' crystals capable of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

MIT researchers makes more progress on powering your implants and wearware using only the differences in temperature between your body (or any other warm object) and the surrounding air.

Google is testing and developing a bot that can give your cell phone real-time spoken language translation abilities. Researchers expect the universal translator bot to become available sometime in the next two years.

Telomeres are caps at the end of your chromosome that prevent errors in replication that grow shorter and more failure prone as you age. In a major breakthrough in life extension science, researchers at the University of Leicester have discovered the genes that determine your telomere length.

According to Michael Mautner, Research Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, it is our moral obligation to propagate life throughout the cosmos. Certainly our cosmos is a dangerous place and if we do not work to spread our species across multiple star system, humanity's extinction will arrive millions of generations sooner than necessary.

Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology have discovered the specific structure in your brain's amygdala that gives you an aversion to losing money.

IBM scientists have developed a method for creating solar cells that are just as efficient as today's cells but use an inexpensive ink-based fab process that utilizes much cheaper materials than any existing solar cell manufacturing techniques.

Star Wars research finally spins off something useful. A laser system that can keep your picnics mosquito free by zapping up to 100 of those flying disease-filled syringes out of the air each minute.

The Pentagon's research arm, Darpa, is looking to re-write the laws of evolution by creating "synthetic organisms" with the ability to live forever unless killed with the flick of a programmed molecular switch.

New research from Lund University in Sweden shows that blueberries can alleviate and protect against intestinal inflammations such as ulcerative colitis.

Researchers at Arizona State University's Center for Single Molecule Biophysics at the Biodesign Institute have demonstrated a method using carbon nanotubes to sequence DNA bases as they pass through the tube the can sequence your DNA a thousand times faster than existing methods.

Because cartilage cannot regenerate after the body has stopped growing, defects caused by injuries or wear and tear from aging are a problem. But now genetic engineers and molecular biologists at the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS) of the University of Freiburg have made it possible to remove healthy cartilage cells and grow these outside the body. This tissue can then be attached to the defective cartilage where it attaches and grows, repairing any damage in only three weeks.

Eating chocolates may help lower their risk of stroke says a preliminary study from researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.

In research that gives literal meaning to the term "power suit," University of California, Berkeley, engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that will one day be woven into your clothing to power all your personal gear.

A new bot allows your computer to listen and intelligently summarize a boring meeting for you, while you snooze or think about more important things right through it.

In a demo that drew gasps at TED2010, Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos how new augmented-reality and tele-presence mapping technology from Microsoft that maps crowd-sourced photos onto a 3-D representation of the world can dramatically enhance your reality.

Bruce Dunn, Professor of Materials Science at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, appears in a short clip explaining how tiny 3-dimensional batteries and fuel cells powered by sugar will soon be able to power your implants off the sugar in your blood stream.

Consuming two or more soft drinks per week nearly doubles your risk of developing pancreatic cancer say researchers from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

By exploiting a system that let's government employees retire at age 50 with 90% of their pay. Then take another job with the government. San Luis Obispo County Under Sheriff Steve Bolts will take home between $640,000 and $772,000 this year in taxpayer money. Public employee contracts like these are one reason why America is sinking into a quagmire.

Volunteer firefighters are complaining that professional firefighters are using their control of state regulatory boards to eliminate volunteers from their profession by creating more and more hoops for the volunteers to jump through. The goal is convert all volunteer firefighter jobs into highly paid public employee union jobs. Requiring struggling rural communities to spend many billions more annually.

That completes your Breakthrough Alert briefing for this week. Links to more information on any item covered can be found at our web site.

Be seeing you.