January 2010 Blog Posts (5)

Understanding how cells interpret the genetic code to synthesize the various proteins our bodies require is leading to the development of new cell-based (stem cell) therapies and corresponding technologies. At present, the best hopes are for treating incurable conditions such as spinal injury, Parkinson's disease and diabetes. Cell-based therapies will play a valuable role in contemporary and future medicine. They will allow a shift toward "personalized medicine" for treatment and prevention of… Continue

Unraveling the human genome and understanding how cells interpret the genetic code to synthesize the various proteins our bodies require to grow, develop and work properly, is leading to the development of new (gene) therapies and corresponding technologies in cases where the genetic information has been corrupted. At present, the most promising applications are in cancer, diabetes and heart disease. By identifying the different genes involved in these and other illnesses, we can devise new… Continue

Blood microcirculation is the smallest functional unit of the cardiovascular system and the site of interaction between blood and tissue. It is clinically evaluated primarily on the basis of physical examination. However, current clinical focus on the macrocirculation (including cardiac output, large vessel pressures and flows, etc.) provides very limited insight into the mechanisms operating at the exchange sites (especially the capillaries).



The clinical implications are pertinent… Continue

The first cyberneticists (Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann, Claude Shannon, Warren McCulloch, and others) set for themselves the challenge of discovering the neural mechanisms underlying mental phenomena and expressing them in explicit mathematical language. Their original intention was to create an exact science of the mind. Although their approach was quite mechanistic, concentrating on patterns common to organisms and machines, it involved many novel ideas that exerted a tremendous influence… Continue

General systems theory is an important means of controlling and instigating the transfer of principles from one field to another, and it will no longer be necessary to duplicate or triplicate the discovery of the same principle in different fields isolated from each other. At the same time, by formulating exact criteria, general systems theory will guard against superficial analogies, which are useless in science (see, e.g., Ludwig von Bertalanffy, 1968).



Whereas the above idea can… Continue