IBM’s Watson showed its face in everything winning at Jeopardy to cooking exotic meals, but it hasn’t accomplished their greatest feat yet, saving a life. The doctors from the University of Tokyo reported that, the artificial intelligence diagnosed the woman’s rare form of Leukemia which had been incorrectly identified months earlier.
According to the sources, this woman’s age is 60 years. This analytical machine took just 10 minutes for comparing the patient’s genetic changes from the database of 20 million cancer research papers and delivering the accurate diagnosis. This helps in providing the proper treatment which had proven vague. The university also said that Watson has also identified another rarest form of Leukemia in other patients.
When compared with the Watson and other AI systems which are regularly providing the advice at the hospitals are likely to take the long for a while, but this won’t be all the useful in the situations without readily comparable data. On enquiring with the school for more information regarding the incident, this diagnosis shows just how the technology could be useful in the medical world.
The doctors don’t need to spend the more time on the research for identifying the certain disease or hoping that another hospital can offer the insights. With the simple plugging in the right data and initiates the healing process. Watson proves that how beneficial technologies are in our medical sciences. Nowadays AI is everywhere and the days aren’t too far for curing the major diseases using the artificial intelligence.
Early humans are said to have a genetic mutation which helped adapt to smoke exposure from fires. This genetic mutation served as an evolutionary advantage over other homo groups like Neanderthals, who were extinct 40,000 years ago.
Neanderthals were closely related to modern humans with 99.5% similar DNA.According to the findings of Researchers at Pennsylvania State University, a mutation in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor that regulates body’s response to poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was found only in the early human beings.
This may have made the beginning of the people more desensitized to the smoke toxins. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are chemicals which are released while burning oil, coal, trash, gasoline, wood, tobacco or other organic substances such as charcoal-broiled meat.
Our early ancestors who were around the smoky caves developed this mutation which helped us to come this far. According to Gary Perdew, Professor at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in the US, “Modern humans are the only primates that carry this genetic mutation that potentially increased tolerance to toxic materials produced by fires for cooking, protection and heating,”
This mutation which helped in the evolution is located at located in the middle of the ligand-binding domain and is even found in present-day humans. The altered DNA must have helped effectively processing the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dioxins.
“If you are breathing in smoke, you want to metabolise these hydrophobic compounds and get rid of them. However, you don’t want to metabolise them so rapidly that it overloads your system and causes overt cellular toxicity,” Perdew added.
According to the evolutionary hypothesis, Neanderthals lack the mutation hence, if Neanderthals were exposed to large amounts of these smoke, it could lead to respiratory problems, decreased reproductive capacity for women and increased susceptibility to respiratory viruses among preadolescents resulting their extinction.
On the other hand, humans’ exhibit decreased toxicity because they are slowly metabolising these compounds than Neanderthals, researchers said.
“For Neanderthals, inhaling smoke and eating charcoal-broiled meat, they would be exposed to multiple sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to be carcinogens and lead to cell death at high concentrations,” added Perdew.
The scientists examined the genetic material of nine modern human beings and compared with 45,000-year-old three Neanderthals and one member of Denisovans in Siberia. The mutation was absent in Neanderthals and Denisovans but found in modern man.
The study was published online at journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. The team plans to study the gene further to know where it came from and how it evolved.
World Hepatitis Day is observed on 28th July of every year. The day is marked by World Health Organization to raise the awareness of viral hepatitis and to reduce the deaths from Hepatitis.
A Silent Killer Hepatitis: 95% of Infected People Do Not Know That Are At Risk
Do you know which disease leads to a maximum number of deaths in the world?
I guess most of you will be shocked to know that it is HEPATITIS. Yes, with approximately 1.4 million deaths every year, hepatitis stands first leaving behind other communicable diseases like HIV/AID, and Tuberculosis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) marked 28th July as the World Hepatitis Day to raise awareness in all the countries about the deadly viral Hepatitis. Hepatitis day is marked to reduce the deaths and infection rate.
According to the reports of the United Nations‘ top Health agency, WHO reported that globally 400 million people are affected by viral hepatitis. And with the growing impact, above six to ten million inhabitants are being infected every year.
Around 95 percent of infected people in the world do not know that they are infected with Hepatitis B or C. World. And above 90 percent people with Hepatitis C can be completely cured in just three to six months.
WHO which is concerned with the public health urges all the countries to raise the awareness to combat the viral Hepatitis. The Director-General of WHO, Dr Margaret Chan said, “The world has ignored hepatitis at its peril.” “It is time to mobilize a global response to hepatitis on the scale similar to that generated to fight other communicable diseases like HIV-AIDS and tuberculosis,” she added.
What exactly is viral Hepatitis? How does it affect the Infected Person?
Hepatitis is the virus that causes infection and inflammation of the liver in the Human body. The disease is a silent killer that affects the liver without any symptom. A variety of reasons is observed in the case of hepatitis that makes it either acute or a chronic health challenge. Diagnosing the disease which is caused mainly due to the infected blood through unsafe injections is tough.
So, the Genova-based World Health Organization on the annually observed World Hepatitis Day goes with the global campaigning theme-“Know Hepatitis-Act Now.” The theme is to eliminate the Hepatitis B or C by encouraging people to test and to reach the 95 percent infected people who do not know they are infected with the disease.
International Hepatitis Day
Recently, on 25th July WHO with its partner, Social Entrepreneurship for sexual health launched “HepTestContest,” a global contest to disclose how testing guidelines could change into real action. “We needed examples of innovations and best practices to help guide and inspire others,” said Philippa Easterbrook, co-led of WHO Global Hepatitis Programme.
WHO stated that the programme received 64 contributions from 27 countries. WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly in the month of May 2016 – called for treating eight million people for hepatitis B or C by 2020, to reduce new infections by 90 percent, and to cut down the death rate by 65 percent in 2030. The targets are part of the first ever Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis.
“Know Hepatitis-Act Now”- 28th July World Hepatitis Day
World’s first gene editing technology, CRISPR-Cas9, which uses CRISPR to tackle many deadly diseases like Cancer, is collectively affirmed on 21st June by a review panel at National Institutes of Health (NIH). This trial is specially designed to treat three kinds of cancer. The first trial aims to test whether it is safe for people and is expected to encourage many other medical groups to initiate the use of CRISPR in treatments.
The trail which is headed to start later this year is surprisingly funded by the tech billionaire Sean Parker (Former President at Facebook & Napster Founder). The aim of the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy’s revolutionary project is to solve cancer. The research led by Dr. Carl June is backed by $250 million, 300 scientists and 40 labs.
On Tuesday, Penn’s Dr. Carl June told the National Institute of Health’s Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC), “Our preliminary data suggests that we could improve the efficacy of these T cells if we use CRISPR.”
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) who proposed the experiment claimed that the technique used will remove certain cells from the immune system called T-cells from the cancer patients. The trail experiment would also be conducted at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas (9 patients) and the University of California, San Francisco (3 patients). Penn shall also produce genetically modifies T cells.
After genetically modifying the T cells with the use of CRIPSR (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), they are reprogrammed back into the patient body which targets and devastate the tumor cells like myeloma, melanoma, and sarcoma. Under this gene editing an entirely new gene is added to these T-cells for a receptor that bonds to a protein called NY‐ES0‐1.
Well, the experiment is still not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates clinical trials. Affirmation of the regulators at the institutions, where the project will be worked is also required.
Even though the studies have found bright results with genetically modified T’s, unfortunately the cells have been shown to work only on few types of blood cancers like leukemias. Results were disappointing with solid tumors. So, there are possible chances for patients to come back with cancer as the tumor repels the T-cells.
Earlier this month, Dr. June in Forbes Philanthropy Summit said that the aim of the experiments is to produce T cells, a type of white blood cell, “better than nature made them.” The cells will be edited to lack several genes, including one that allows them to respond to a protein called PD-1.
The gene editing has already been used in humans earlier, but just not done using the CRISPR-Cas9 system. TALEN was the first genome editing technique which was used last year to modify T-cells to treat a British toddler suffering with leukemia.
Editas Medicine, a biotech company which is based in Cambridge, Mass., is expected to be the first to use CRISPR in people to treat a rare eye disease. But Penn is expected to defeat Editas. Seattle’s Juno Therapeutics promised Editas, almost $737 million for CRISPR technology, while Novartis is at a $280 million with Intellia Therapeutics.
Are you feeling or suffering from a headache? Or Experiencing any other severe pain which would disturb your daily schedule. Don’t get worried, just open Google app and start searching for your symptoms.
Yes, the tech giant company will be helping you to diagnose yourself in the case of a sudden pain which may be due to stress level or any other reason. And now Google will play a Doctor to stop that. Google made a decision to concentrate that is symptom related, stating the reason that presumably one percent of searches on Google are symptom search.
So Google will navigate and tends to lead people from mild symptoms to various conditions leading to unnecessary anxiety and stress. If you ask the tech Giant Company on symptoms search like “a one-sided headache,” then it will show you a list relating to your symptom search (“a headache,” “a migraine,” “a tension headache,” “a cluster headache,” and “sinusitis,”).
The Google’s Symptom search would provide an overview description along with information on self-treatment option. Google says “ Our goal is to help to navigate you to explore health conditions related to your symptoms.”
On working with a team of medical experts, Google collected high-quality medical information and carefully reviewed individual symptom information.Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic helped to represent on improving the lists.
The new Symptom Search update will roll out in next few days in English. Over the time, will extend this to other languages and made internationally.
