Viruses are parasitic (i.e. they depend on their host to survive and propagate). There is a well-known hypothesis in the medical/biological communities that says that the most effective and therefore most successful parasite does little or no damage to its host while replicating itself.
An example is the common cold. Quite successful at dissemination while causing little long-term damage.HIV is another example; it can lay dormant (but infect others) for years until it destroys enough T cells to affect immunity.
While the idea of a genetic marker for longevity is an intriguing one, the study findings (as best I can tell) can really only be interpreted like so: Old people in the study exhibited this mitochondrial mutation three times more often than younger people, and it seemed to be more often inherited rather than acquired later in life.
While interesting, the possible applications are hyped in the press release. Although the mutation supposedly shifts the region controlling DNA replication, the study can't tell us what effect this has on the study subjects. Since the mutant mitochondrial DNA seems to increase with time in individuals living longer it may be the mitochondria with affected DNA reproduce faster than those without it. This is the same thing that happens when a cell turns cancerous, only and order of magnitude greater: unregulated division and cell immortality, at least until it outgrows its blood supply or the immune system destroys it.
The problem is, mitochondrial DNA encodes only for mitochondria (you know, those little organelles that produce ATP within the cell), not the somatic genes--that happens elsewhere, in the cell's nucleus. So while mutant mitochondria may work harder, be more efficient or otherwise make the cell's job easier, that doesn't mean this is the fountain of youth. As people age and genetic material is damaged by time and toxins mutations increase in frequency (which is why age generally = increased cancer risk), so it shouldn't be surprising that a mutation would be more common in the elderly. And predisposition to a particular mutation can be inherited (hence the twin concordance mentioned in the study).
I would be interested in what the percentage of mutant mtDNA is other ethnic groups, or among families where longevity is documented among several family members. And the figure of 17% really isn't that striking for a genetic marker that really may be playing a role in selection, at least to my statistically-challenged mind.
Everyone is letting their imagination run away with them. Not that that's a bad thing (that's the premise of great sci-fi) but there's nothing in the articles to suggest we'll have microchips implanted to record thoughts or USB ports on our skulls any time soon. As an MD I know a little something about neuroscience as well as implantable devices, and can assure you those scenarios are least a hundred years off, and probably a lot more. We have barely scratched the surface of how memory and thought are encoded, much less capturing that data.
Both of the articles discuss observing only electrical activity. While useful, it is analogous to an EKG, just a graph of currents that can tell us the heart rate yet gives us little functional info beyond that. It can't tell you what the blood pressure is, or what the quality or quantity of the blood components is. The devices described are only a little more invasive than a device already in use to diagnose certain brain abnormalities: the electroencephalograph (EEG). It may diagnose epilepsy and sometimes causes of dementia, can suggest the occasional tumor and can tell us a person is brain dead. That's about it. It certainly doesn't tell the world what you're thinking, your sexual preference, or your illicit file-sharing habits.
The article on brain fingerprinting makes clear (at least to me) that the machine is of the same concept as a lie-detector test, though perhaps more advanced and reliable. IMHO, the test is not self-incriminating any more than that damning fingerprint you accidentally left at the crime scene.
Quote from the first Linux and Main article: "...said a spokeswoman for the Delaware Division of Corporations...the KDE League had been listed as "void" in error in the state's computer system and would now be reinstated... Earlier, the organization was suspended for its failure to pay a tax levied on for-profit corporations. It had been "void" for more than seven months until Linux and Main on Monday asked the state to conduct a more thorough examination of the corporation's filings, which led to the discovery of its tax exemption."
This is not Enron. This is a case of nobody at the helm.
Just because they've been talking to him for a while doesn't mean he's not a nut. His demands may be unreasonable. Looking at his website, he would seem to be the worst kind of patent abuser: one with the legal patent knowledge to exploit obvious applications with the intent of holding them hostage once the people with the guts to actually risk capital unknowingly tread on them.
His next target will be force feedback joysticks--on his website is listed Patent No. 6,162,123: An electro-mechanical device for providing an input to a computer program and said computer program providing a tactile output through said electromechanical device to a user. More specifically, the present invention provides an electro-mechanical virtual sword game apparatus that receives positional information from sensors on the sword apparatus and the sword apparatus contains a propulsion gyrostat that under the control of a computer process may be toppled to provide a torque on the housing of the sword apparatus that may be used to simulate the impact of sword blows.
And I wouldn't count on patent reform any time soon. The economic world is a food chain, with law firms at the top. In this case the industry of patent law would have a lot to lose. Our legislators (who are bought and sold every day) will consider that first, though of course the fact that they are mostly lawyers themselves won't in the slightest way affect their judgement...
This is typical of the conservative mindset that characterizes St. Louis. While there are enclaves of younger and more open-minded types, the place is well-known for its prudishness, xenophobia and predjudice. There is now a well-publicized brain-drain because of college graduates exiting and the area being unable to attract same from other areas. I lived there for seven long years before I got fed up with the apathy.
It doesn't suprise me that they're trying to ban video games. Strip clubs were banned a long time ago, video games are just another means to extinguish what they percieve as unpleasant elements.
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An example is the common cold. Quite successful at dissemination while causing little long-term damage.HIV is another example; it can lay dormant (but infect others) for years until it destroys enough T cells to affect immunity.
While interesting, the possible applications are hyped in the press release. Although the mutation supposedly shifts the region controlling DNA replication, the study can't tell us what effect this has on the study subjects. Since the mutant mitochondrial DNA seems to increase with time in individuals living longer it may be the mitochondria with affected DNA reproduce faster than those without it. This is the same thing that happens when a cell turns cancerous, only and order of magnitude greater: unregulated division and cell immortality, at least until it outgrows its blood supply or the immune system destroys it.
The problem is, mitochondrial DNA encodes only for mitochondria (you know, those little organelles that produce ATP within the cell), not the somatic genes--that happens elsewhere, in the cell's nucleus. So while mutant mitochondria may work harder, be more efficient or otherwise make the cell's job easier, that doesn't mean this is the fountain of youth. As people age and genetic material is damaged by time and toxins mutations increase in frequency (which is why age generally = increased cancer risk), so it shouldn't be surprising that a mutation would be more common in the elderly. And predisposition to a particular mutation can be inherited (hence the twin concordance mentioned in the study).
I would be interested in what the percentage of mutant mtDNA is other ethnic groups, or among families where longevity is documented among several family members. And the figure of 17% really isn't that striking for a genetic marker that really may be playing a role in selection, at least to my statistically-challenged mind.
Both of the articles discuss observing only electrical activity. While useful, it is analogous to an EKG, just a graph of currents that can tell us the heart rate yet gives us little functional info beyond that. It can't tell you what the blood pressure is, or what the quality or quantity of the blood components is. The devices described are only a little more invasive than a device already in use to diagnose certain brain abnormalities: the electroencephalograph (EEG). It may diagnose epilepsy and sometimes causes of dementia, can suggest the occasional tumor and can tell us a person is brain dead. That's about it. It certainly doesn't tell the world what you're thinking, your sexual preference, or your illicit file-sharing habits.
The article on brain fingerprinting makes clear (at least to me) that the machine is of the same concept as a lie-detector test, though perhaps more advanced and reliable. IMHO, the test is not self-incriminating any more than that damning fingerprint you accidentally left at the crime scene.
Quote from the first Linux and Main article: "...said a spokeswoman for the Delaware Division of Corporations...the KDE League had been listed as "void" in error in the state's computer system and would now be reinstated... Earlier, the organization was suspended for its failure to pay a tax levied on for-profit corporations. It had been "void" for more than seven months until Linux and Main on Monday asked the state to conduct a more thorough examination of the corporation's filings, which led to the discovery of its tax exemption."
This is not Enron. This is a case of nobody at the helm.
His next target will be force feedback joysticks--on his website is listed Patent No. 6,162,123: An electro-mechanical device for providing an input to a computer program and said computer program providing a tactile output through said electromechanical device to a user. More specifically, the present invention provides an electro-mechanical virtual sword game apparatus that receives positional information from sensors on the sword apparatus and the sword apparatus contains a propulsion gyrostat that under the control of a computer process may be toppled to provide a torque on the housing of the sword apparatus that may be used to simulate the impact of sword blows.
And I wouldn't count on patent reform any time soon. The economic world is a food chain, with law firms at the top. In this case the industry of patent law would have a lot to lose. Our legislators (who are bought and sold every day) will consider that first, though of course the fact that they are mostly lawyers themselves won't in the slightest way affect their judgement...
This is typical of the conservative mindset that characterizes St. Louis. While there are enclaves of younger and more open-minded types, the place is well-known for its prudishness, xenophobia and predjudice. There is now a well-publicized brain-drain because of college graduates exiting and the area being unable to attract same from other areas. I lived there for seven long years before I got fed up with the apathy. It doesn't suprise me that they're trying to ban video games. Strip clubs were banned a long time ago, video games are just another means to extinguish what they percieve as unpleasant elements.