/ News
Gerbils regain hearing thanks to stem cell therapy
Scientists have restored hearing in gerbils using a stem cell therapy that may hold promise for deaf humans.
Using human embryonic stem cells, researchers at the University of Sheffield were able to implant immature nerve cells into gerbils, which then regenerated and were able to improve hearing ability in the animals. The study was published on Sept. 12 in Nature.
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According to a Nature News article on the study, more than 275 million people have moderate-to-profound hearing loss, many of whom have it caused by a disruption in communication between the inner ear and brain. Senior study author Dr. Marcelo Rivolta, a stem cell researcher at the University of Sheffield told HealthDay that about 80 to 90 percent of deafness is due to problems with cells in the inner ear.
There are two types of inner ear cells. Hair cells translate vibrations into electrical signals that are transmitted via the auditory nerve to the brain. Problems with these cells are typically fixed via cochlear implant, a small device which can bypass the hair cells and directly send signals to intact auditory nerves. Neurons make up the auditory nerve, and when these are damaged, doctors have little to no treatment options available.
It's important to note that the type of deafness that the gerbils had affected only neurons, making it very rare. The Associated Press points out that type of deafness only affects between less than 1 percent to 15 percent of patients. Furthermore, the treatment won't work in all the patients with that disorder.
But, because so many disorders have to do with inner ear cell problems, the research is promising and may have future human applications.
Researchers in the study took embryonic stem cells, which can develop into any other kind of cell in the body, and grew them into a test tube that had molecules that are available when the fetus develops ears, known as fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). Some stem cells developed characteristics similar to hair cells and others turned into cells that looked like neurons.
Then the neuron-like cells, which were called otic neural progenitors (ONPs), were transplanted into the ears of gerbils that had been given ouabain, a chemical that damages the neurons in the auditory nerves but not the hair cells.
Ten weeks later, the cells had grown and some connected to the brain stem. The gerbils on average had a 46 percent overall improvement in hearing, with many of the animals registering brain activity at much fainter sounds after the transplant.
Dr. John Goddard, a neurologist at the House Clinic in Los Angeles, told HealthDay that the study was exciting because it showed stem cells helped nerve cells regrow, but added that it will take some time before it's determined if it is an appropriate treatment for human deafness. Stefan Heller, a stem-cell researcher at Stanford University in California, told Nature News it could take as long as 15 years before it is ready.
"It is clearly of interest for a lot of people because the potential is dramatic," Goddard said. "The specific article sheds additional light that there is some potential there for regrowth, or regeneration, of sensory cells. But this is going to take many years."
Prof Dave Moore, the director of the Medical Research Council's Institute of Hearing Research in Nottingham, U.K., explained to the BBC that despite the "major development," part of the difficulty with deaf patients is accessing the part of the inner ear where the problems are.
"It's extremely tiny and very difficult to get to and that will be a really formidable undertaking," he said.
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57511697-10391704/gerbils-regain-hearing-thanks-to-stem-cell-therapy/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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