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Chemists Develop Switchable Antibiotic
Scientists at the University of Groningen have developed an antibiotic whose activity can be controlled using light. It is possible to 'switch on' the substance immediately before use, after which it will slowly lose its activity. Thus release of the active antibiotic into the environment might be prevented. This discovery was published on the website of the scientific journal Nature Chemistry on 15 September 2013.
Antibiotics protect us against lethal infections and are also widely used in agriculture. However, after use they end up in the environment, for example through the sewage system, where they can promote the development of resistant bacterial strains.
With this in mind, the Groningen scientists investigated whether an antibiotic could be developed whose activity could be controlled. After all, if only deactivated antibiotics enter the environment, there will be no risk of resistance.
Variants
Ben Feringa, professor of organic chemistry, is a pioneer in the field of light-activated molecular switches. His PhD student Willem Velema created variants of an antibiotic to which a photoswitchable group was attached. 'It is difficult to predict what will happen to the activity when a group in a molecule is changed', explains Velema. The new group will, after all, influence the effect of the antibiotic. 'And that will have to happen in exactly the right way.'
Velema made nine variants, one of which appeared to work very well in tests that were carried out in collaboration with the research group of molecular biologist Arnold Driessen. The switch ensures that the antibiotic does not work in the normal position. However, after radiation with ultraviolet light, part of the switch molecule flips, activating the antibiotic. In chemical terms: the switchable group changes from a trans-isomer to a cis-isomer.
Half-life
In the Nature Chemistry article, the researchers demonstrate that it is possible to switch on the antibiotic at any time. Subsequently, the molecule flips back by itself from the active cis-isomer to the non-active trans-isomer. The half-life is approximately two hours at body temperature.
Feringa emphasizes that the experiments are only meant to demonstrate that it is possible to control the activity of an antibiotic using light. 'The path from this idea to a working drug is very long, it could be another ten years.' In addition to switchable antibiotics not burdening the environment, they could also be used to treat very specific areas in the body. Feringa: 'You could take an inactive antibiotic for a skin infection and then activate it at the site where it is required. No useful bacteria in the intestines will be killed this way.'
Bacterial growth
For the time being, the switchable antibiotic is especially useful for research. 'It is possible to inhibit the growth of bacteria very specifically at a particular site and at a specific time.' You could, for example, investigate which factors influence the growth of the bacterium and the action of the antibiotic or the origin of resistance.
'But this article's most important message is that it is possible to externally control the action of a drug, composed of a relatively small molecule, in this case using light,' says Feringa. 'That is a whole new way of thinking about drug research.'
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130916091019.htm
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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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