Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Blogs 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.Job: Evolutionary Ecology of Plants or Fungi – Oregon State
The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology seeks applicants for a 9-month, full-time (1.0 FTE), tenure-track faculty position in Evolutionary Ecology of Plants or Fungi.
The successful candidate will be expected to establish an innovative and competitive research program that pursues scholarly work in the area of Evolutionary Ecology. The research specialization within evolutionary ecology is open and includes, but is not limited to: plants, fungi, or plant-fungal interactions (e.g., mycorrhizae, endophytes, pathogens, etc.). Emphasis is placed on research that integrates across multiple levels of inquiry and combines ...
Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics - July 23, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Jason Stajich Tags: jobs Source Type: blogs
The Dangers of the Future
In my new book, The Guide to the Future of Medicine coming out this August, I’ll feature plenty of analyses of the potential dangers we will all have to face due to new technologies. There will be new diseases because of the excessive use of virtual reality applications and it will be a real challenge to persuade people not to live an entirely virtual life.
A new article on Techcrunch, Immersive Infections, features some of these threats with a focus on augmented and virtual reality. It’s worth running over the examples it comes up with in order to prepare for the threats of the next few years.
One of the key c...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 23, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Health 2.0 Medicine 2.0 Technology Virtuality augmented reality danger virtual reality Source Type: blogs
The Future of Cardiology: Check This Slideshow
Christian Assad Kottner, MD who I met at Futuremed last year now gave a talk at Singularity University’s Exponential Cardiology GSP14 track about the future of cardiology. The basic issues behind heart diseases, today’s interventions and the possibilities of the future from imaging to 3D bioprinting are presented in details in this slideshow. (Source: ScienceRoll)
Source: ScienceRoll - July 23, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Slideshow cardiology Source Type: blogs
A Fully Digital Hospital Opens in 2015
I just heard the news that the first fully digital (entirely paperless) hospital will open in Abu Dhabi in 2015. The clinic worked with experts from the famous Cleveland Clinic, the No. 4 ranked best hospital in the United States. This might be a good step towards changing the hospital experience not only for professionals working there but more importantly for patients to make it a place where they go to re-energize themselves.
“The fact that a unified medical record is going to exist will provide seamless communication, which means there is an opportunity for us to communicate back and forth with the main campus and el...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 21, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Health Health 2.0 Hospital Innovation Medicine Medicine 2.0 clinic digital Source Type: blogs
From Doctor to Futurist: Step #8 My Own Methods
After fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming a doctor and a geneticist, I decided to make a brave change in my academic career and tried to merge my two selves: the doctor and the geek. As there was no profession like that, I created one. This is how I started discovering the steps needed to become a medical futurist. There is no clear path or course for that, therefore I try to reveal more and more pieces of information about this exciting journey in a series of blog entries.
The last years of this journey culminated in the book I’ll release in about 4-5 weeks. The Guide to the Future of Medicine features all t...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 18, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: From Doctor to Futurist Future Medicine Medicine 2.0 The Guide to the Future of Medicine medical futurist Source Type: blogs
Monitoring Drivers’ Health With ECG-Sensing Car Seats
Researchers at Nottingham Trent University are working on new kind of car seats that could measure vital signs such as ECG of the driver to prevent accidents caused by drivers falling asleep.
The sensor system can be used to detect heart signals which indicate a driver is beginning to lose alertness, and trigger a warning to pull over. Should the driver choose to ignore the alerts, active cruise control or lane departure technology could be deployed to gently guide the vehicle. The information could also be sent over a wireless network to a control centre to take further action.
This shows the path for new wearable healt...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 18, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Health Technology car ecg sensor system vital signs Source Type: blogs
Divergent Trilogy Tackles Genetic Engineering and Genetic Discrimination
Warning! Spoilers Ahead!!Divergent is the latest of the teen dystopian future trilogies to hit the big screen. I have read all three books, Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant. Is it not my favorite trilogy in this growing genre, but I know that teens everywhere love it.I do appreciate that Veronica Roth has tackled some of the most difficult issues that will face the younger generation. The third book, Allegiant, takes human genetic engineering and genetic discrimination head on.Here is a little background. The trilogy begins in a walled city where everyone lives in 5 factions depending on their personal qualities. The Am...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - July 18, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: Genetic Engineering Source Type: blogs
New Wearable: ChronoDose Delivers Drug Transdermally
This year represents a turning point for wearable health trackers, out of which an obvious next one could be a gadget that delivers drugs through the skin when needed. ChronoDose now delivers nicotine for those who would like to stop smoking but the patches didn’t really seem to be working. Users can teach the gadget when it is the hardest to resist the temptation therefore it can add the next dosage in the right time.
ChronoDose is a programmable transdermal drug delivery system that’s worn as an armband. The ChronoDose will someday offer many different drugs the ability to be programmed, and administered via this...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 17, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Technology Wearables nicotine smoking Source Type: blogs
1 Out Of 5 Americans Don’t Track Any Vital Signs
Without managing our health while being healthy it is impossible to significantly improve healthcare. I’ve already introduced the health trackers I have been using to stay healthy as an attempt of persuading people to do so.
Now Withings has come up with the report of a recent survey that had some worrying results.
Although 82% of Americans think tracking vital signs at home is important, one fifth of Americans do not track any vitals outside of the doctor’s office.
75% of people would be open to checking their vitals at home if they were a part of a program that would save them money on health insurance prem...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 16, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Health Technology Wearables Source Type: blogs
Google And Novartis Tracking Diabetes With Smart Contact Lenses
A few months ago I discussed the future features of smart contact lenses. Now using these to augment vision or track health parameters is not only a good idea any more, as Google launched a partnership with the pharmaceutical company Novartis to develop smart contact lenses that can track diabetes by measuring blood glucose levels in tears and fix farsightedness as well.
As part of the agreement, Google[x] and Novartis’ eye care division Alcon will create smart lenses that feature “non-invasive sensors, microchips and other miniaturized electronics” and focus on two main areas. The first will provide a ...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 16, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Google Health Technology novartis smart contact lens Source Type: blogs
Dear Hobby Lobby Haters: Birth Control is not Medicine
There is one argument against the Hobby Lobby decision that is driving me crazy maybe because it is going unchallenged on Facebook pages and comboxes all over.It goes like this: if Hobby Lobby can deny health insurance coverage for birth control, then what will stop a company owned by other religious nut jobs from denying blood transfusions, chemotherapy, or inhalers for asthma?This one seems to make sense and I am sure many people do not see where it falls short. I am not expert on Constitutional Law or on health insurance in general but this seems pretty obvious to me.Blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and inhalers are me...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - July 15, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: Reproductive Technologies Source Type: blogs
Computer or Human Caregiver?
There has been a long debate whether people would want to get the right diagnosis and the best treatment from human caregivers or algorithms/programs providing the same quality. Every round table or discussion group I have ever been the member of concluded that people need people in interaction and communication, especially when they are vulnerable. However, there is nothing to make us believe there won’t be an algorithm that can diagnose a disease better than a human doctor.
To make this issue even more complicated, new research found patients are more likely to respond honestly to personal questions when talking...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 13, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Health 2.0 Technology algorithm chatbot diagnosis Source Type: blogs
How Does a Brain-Controlled Exoskeleton Work?
Have you seen the most important 5 seconds of the recent opening ceremony of the Football World Cup? A person standing in an exoskeleton controlled the machine with his thoughts and made the first kick of the game. Isn’t is amazing? It should have received a much larger attention.
Popular Science summarized in a report and a video how it actually worked and what happened in the backstage. Here are some interesting details:
The sensors placed on Juliano Pinto record angle, position, pressure, and temperature, that is then fed back to the subject through vibrations placed on their torso. These vibrations create an illu...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 10, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Technology exoskeleton football Source Type: blogs
Finger Device Reads to the Blind in Real Time
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came up with a fantastic device that can read written words out loud for people with impaired vision. Not surprisingly, the device was printed out with a 3D printer and has to be worn on the index finger.
A synthesized voice reads words aloud, quickly translating books, restaurant menus and other needed materials for daily living, especially away from home or office.
Reading is as easy as pointing the finger at text. Special software tracks the finger movement, identifies words and processes the information. The device has vibration motors that alert readers ...
Source: ScienceRoll - July 9, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Invention blind device MIT Source Type: blogs
My Rules for Discourse on the Internet
I could be having a great day and a nasty exchange on the Internet will always bring me down. Whether I am involved or not, uncivil discourse sucks the joy out of the Internet for me. I suspect it does for most people who are not secret psychopaths. I am especially discouraged when I see Christians ripping each other apart for the whole world to see.In a recent exchange on Twitter, someone called a woman a "dumb nasty-deragatory-term-begining-with-a-c" for raising flags about some reproductive technologies. Other women, myself included, came to her defense calling the comment what it was: a blatant example of mis...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - July 8, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Source Type: blogs
