Week 14: Biophysics

Class Discussion: "From bionics to brain chips, hacking humanity has never been more ethically fraught" 

I tried to research a bit deeper into the Belgian company Orionis Biosciences.  Unfortunately, their website is down.  My understanding is that the company is focusing on drug design at the genomic scale, especially for autoimmune-related cancers.  The statement from Sabatini that "the immune system is one of the most advanced and evolved weapons that we know today" particularly interested me - sort of a loaded statement, excuse the pun.  The company is based on monetizing tech developed by Prof. Jan Tavernier of Ghent University and the Cytokine Receptor Lab he established there.  Cytokines are likened to 'software' that run the immune system, which is why the company was included in the 'bionic hacking' article.  I thought the line between gene therapy and nanowarfare was particularly apt here.



The Prion Molecule
Cytokines [from Worldofmolecules.com]


Also, for the record, I misspoke last class regarding squid in space, although I think we should round up all the Cephalopods and send them back to outer space, where they came from!  (just kidding, but here's the paper that supports that theory).  

Anyways, the squid idea I was referring to is a robotic squid.  Nasa wants to build one and send it to Europa so they can explore that moon of Jupiter.  Here's the proposal.  

Soft-Robotic Rover
Graphic representation of the Soft-Robotic Rover with Electrodynamic Power Scavenging.
Credits: Mason Peck, Cornell University

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