These 2 stories struck me as similar, despite being completely different. What they have in common is the leaps and bounds of technology into areas where humans have shown deficiencies. In theory, they are the same, given the title of this post.
Story One:
How CRISPR Is Poised to Rewrite the Story of Memory Loss
CRISPR, a powerful gene editing tool, is revolutionizing our understanding and treatment of memory loss, particularly in conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. This technology allows scientists to modify genes with unprecedented precision, opening new avenues for research and potential therapies.
## Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive decline. It is associated with the accumulation of amyloid beta plaques and tau protein tangles in the brain, which disrupt normal neuronal function. Recent studies have highlighted the role of specific proteins and pathways in the disease’s progression, offering potential targets for intervention.
## CRISPR’s Role in Alzheimer’s Research
CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing has been instrumental in studying Alzheimer’s disease by allowing researchers to manipulate genes involved in the disease. For instance, scientists have used CRISPR to create neurons lacking tau protein, a key component of neurofibrillary tangles, and then reintroduce specific tau isoforms to study their effects. This approach has identified the 1N4R tau isoform as a critical driver of neuronal damage, providing a new target for future treatments.
## Targeting Memory Loss with CRISPR
Beyond Alzheimer’s, CRISPR is also being explored for its potential to erase or modify memories. Researchers at Peking University have successfully used CRISPR to remove fearful memories from rats, suggesting a possible application in treating conditions like PTSD. This breakthrough raises both hope and ethical questions about the manipulation of memories.
More here if you want to read it
Story Two:
US Department of Energy Forms $1 Billion Supercomputer and AI Partnership With AMD
Scientists and companies are trying to replicate fusion, the reaction that fuels the sun, by jamming light atoms in a plasma gas under intense heat and pressure to release massive amounts of energy.
“We’ve made great progress, but plasmas are unstable, and we need to recreate the center of the sun on Earth,” Wright told Reuters.
What is the pattern? Look at the title. Every time in history that we try where we don’t understand the ramifications, either another problem is created or we mess things up (FUBAR).
The COVID-19 vaccine has shown us that we aren’t yet competent with gene editing. Introducing a spike protein in a human for a virus that 99% of the population survived was ill-advised. It caused more health problems than it cured.
We have deciphered the Genome equation, it doesn’t mean we have any idea how cutting out potentially defective DNA is going to affect the rest of the living organism (I’m hoping they at least do the lab rat tests this time before authorizing a cure they intended to force on everyone).
For the record, I’m for helping the memory impaired. Just use the right method
Next, how will we contain something that is the temperature of the core of the Sun? The Bikini Islands are still uninhabitable from the nuclear tests we conducted more than half a century ago.
I’m sure a reader will criticize my logic (I get that a lot at first until I’m right), but there are places we need not always go, at least until a proper structure to prevent harm is established.
For example, bad guys are already using Artificial Intelligence for terrorism and weapons to hack into sensitive places. The less moral have found a new way to ruin their lives with porn. That is what I mean by developing the proper boundaries to control the issues of the two stories. That alone is another pattern.
How AI Is Becoming Weak Link In Cybersecurity
We are not in the 23rd Century yet, when Star Trek took place. They had a Matter/Anti-Matter Warp Drive. Even that killed Captain Spock in the Kobayashi Maru.
As for me, the Crisper technology is scarier, as there is so much we don’t know about the human body and how it functions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m for curing diseases and helping people out, but in the big picture, we are in the infancy of this. I’m not even sure we should be going there
Patterns reveal themselves. One of the biggest is that people don’t learn from their past mistakes or the mistakes of others.
YMMV, but have a good think about it before you discard the logic of the pattern.
Delusions of Adequacy 