In 2014, through an "ice bucket challenge" everyone began to understand the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as the "gradual frozen person".
The cause of "gradually frozen people" is still unknown, partly related to genetic and genetic defects, and partly caused by environmental factors, such as heavy metal poisoning. And for various reasons, there is no specific statistics on the number of global frozen people. According to a report issued by a US medical institution, the incidence of global “frozen people†(new cases every year) is 2/100,000-4/ 100,000, the prevalence rate is 4/100,000-6/100,000. The average life expectancy of “gradually frozen people†is only 3-5 years after the onset of illness, 50% of patients will die within 3 years, and the remaining 90% will pass away within 5 years.
Among all the patients, Stephen Hawking should be the best known. Hawking is also the longest-lived gradual frozen person. He fought for 55 years with the disease and passed away in March 2018. At the same time, Hawking’s legacy “Concise Answer to Big Questions†is scheduled for sale on October 16th.
The "big problem" in his legacy includes all kinds of interesting questions: Is artificial intelligence smarter than humans? Is there any other intelligent life in the universe? Does God exist? What happened before the "Big Bang"? What is the biggest threat to the future of the planet? and many more.
For the "frozen disease" that has plagued his life, Hawking hinted in the book that there are ways to solve it, even more than just freezing, but to solve any disease.
Science fiction superman becomes a reality, it is a curse for human beings.
Hawking hints in the book that the rich can choose to edit their own DNA in a short time, making themselves and future generations become "superman" with more physical ability, stronger disease resistance, higher intelligence and longer life in science fiction movies. ", so that others can not compete with it.
However, Hawking is very worried about this technology. Hawking believes that if some people become "superman" and others are ordinary humans, they will break the balance between existing human beings. As ordinary people, there will be only two ways out. The popularity of genetic modification technology "ordinary humans" will gradually disappear, and all become genetically modified "superhuman"; second, the technology is in the hands of a few people, and ordinary humans who cannot be upgraded through genetic modification technology will become " If there is such a moment, ordinary human beings will be "slavery" or face cleaning.
In fact, genetic editing, often we are all through film and television works, but now he is alive and into reality. In the United States, there is a doctor of biophysics named Zanell, who lived on the Internet in November last year. Gene editing technology, he tried to remove a protein that inhibits muscle growth in the arm by injecting DIY gene therapy to make his arm strong, but the injection did not change significantly after a few months.
For gene editing technology, there are still very serious ethical and moral problems in addition to its actual effects. Some scholars believe that for the purpose of non-therapeutic "genetic transformation", it is very scary to temporarily or permanently increase the body function by any means. Not only did some scholars worry about it. The Pew Research Center in the United States also conducted corresponding investigations in the previous year. The results showed that nearly 70% of the respondents also expressed their concerns about genetic editing technology.
However, the international community has long stipulated the issue of gene editing. In order to prevent Hawking from saying that "superman" really appears, the Human Gene Editing Committee has put forward 10 strict standards to regulate human genetic editing: lack of other feasible treatments. Limited to the prevention of a serious illness; limited to editing genes that have been shown to cause disease or strongly affect the disease; limited to editing the gene is ubiquitous in the population, and is associated with normal health, no side effects; Preclinical and clinical data on risks and possible health benefits; continuous and rigorous supervision of subjects during clinical trials; long-term, multi-generation follow-up plans with comprehensive, respectful personal autonomy; consistent with patient privacy Maximum transparency; continuous and repeated verification of health and social benefits and risks with broad public participation and advice; reliable regulatory mechanisms to prevent abuse outside of major diseases.
But apparently Hawking still believes that this technology will be biased in the future, as he wrote in the book, "The law may prohibit genetic modification of humans, but some people may not be able to resist improving memory, disease resistance, longevity, etc. The temptation of human characteristics."
In addition to the seemingly "unreliable" gene editing technology, how to overcome or inhibit cancer and AIDS is regarded as one of the world's five terminal illnesses, "frozen disease", and has been the research topic of various scientific research institutions around the world. In recent years, there have been some research results that make patients with "gradual freezing" unexpected.
"Fluorescent probe" technology allows "frozen people" to find early treatment
One of the difficulties in the treatment of gradual freezing is that it is difficult to diagnose. The symptoms of gradual freezing are easily confused with other diseases. It may take 1-3 years to determine whether a patient is a "frozen person". The condition has progressed to the middle and late stages.
In 2015, Tian Fengfeng, deputy director of the Henan Institute of Neurological Diseases in China, and his team developed a new technology to discover and treat “gradually frozen peopleâ€, namely “the early diagnosis of ALS disease and the application of tissue regeneration therapyâ€. . They use fluorescent probes to label and track molecules inside the cell. When the cell molecules are diseased, the fluorescent label will respond, allowing researchers to easily see changes in the cell molecule through an electron microscope and quickly confirm The lesion that the cell molecule will produce.
In addition to labeling and discovering cytopathic effects, fluorescent probes can also carry drugs, so that the disease can be detected and treated in the early stage of the "gradual freezing".
"Fluorescent probes" belong to the discovery diagnosis, and "tissue regenerative therapy" is the weapon for their treatment of "gradual frozen people". Its technical name is "3-dimensional stereoscopic tissue transplantation technology", compared with traditional stem cell transplantation, "3-dimensional" The three-dimensional tissue transplantation technology greatly improves the survival rate of stem cells by transplanting the living environment of tissue cells. At present, this technology has passed the animal experiment stage, and will enter the clinical experiment stage after approval, and the actual treatment from the disease body is also more The closer it is.
For the "frozen people", the traditional treatment method only uses medical technology and drugs to "continue" life for patients. In the case of Hawking, if there is no government to provide strong medical technical support, he is not likely to suffer. After the gradual freezing of the disease, it still lasts for 55 years, but this is almost impossible for ordinary people. When enjoying these "powerful medical technologies," it also costs millions to spend as an ordinary person. Can not afford, and tissue regeneration technology costs less than one-tenth compared to traditional treatment methods, as Professor Tian Fengfeng said, "If the technology is extended to the treatment stage through clinical trials, the treatment for the frozen people will be A revolutionary breakthrough."
Bio-electric technology makes the "gradually frozen" muscles "moving up"
"Frozen freezing" is the progressive weakness and atrophy of the muscles including the ball, limbs, trunk, and chest abdomen after the upper motor and lower motor neurons are injured. "Frozen disease" patients are equivalent to a cognitive "plant man", except for being conscious, completely uncontrollable to the body.
Recently, researchers in the field of materials science and neurosurgery in the United States have jointly developed an implantable, degradable bioelectric medical device. Animal experiments have shown that it can accelerate peripheral nerve regeneration through pulsed discharge and promote the recovery of damaged peripheral nerves.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, was completed by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Washington. The researchers said that the wireless control device of the size of the coin and the thickness of the paper can be used for several weeks after being implanted into the body, and then naturally absorbed by the body. The device can restore muscle strength and control through discharge.
Although this study has not been tested in patients with “gradual freezingâ€, it is foreseeable that this study has considerable auxiliary significance for “gradually frozen peopleâ€. The initial symptoms of “frozen people†will appear. Asymmetry muscle weakness, with the development of the disease, the hand weakness will become more and more serious, and gradually develop to the forearm, upper arm, and then to the lower limbs. For the implantation of biodegradable biomedical equipment, it is equivalent to giving the inside of the body. "Frozen people" installed an "automatic massage device" to stimulate muscle atrophy and improve muscle control through bioelectric stimulation of muscles and nerves.
"Chip Organs" helps the drug development to finish the last mile
From the research and development to the market, the drug is a very long process. After the development, it is necessary to pass the animal experiment and then pass the clinical test to prove the safety and effectiveness of the drug before it can be put into use. Nowadays, many animal protection organizations and people oppose the use of animals as experimental subjects, and the human body as a test subject is highly risky, and the ethical controversy is large, and the emergence of "organ chip" effectively solves this problem.
In fact, "organ chips" is not a new concept. Two years ago, several large pharmaceutical companies began to use "organ chips" for drug testing.
On October 11th, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported on a method for making 3D models of nerve and muscle tissue on microfluidic chips in Progress in Science. With this "chip organ", they observed striking differences between healthy neurons and "frozen" neurons, and tested two new drugs that are still in clinical testing. The results of the simulation show that both drugs can help muscles contract under the stimulation of motor neurons and increase the survival rate of neurons.
The advantage of "organ chip" is that it not only can truly reflect the human condition, but also save costs, and at the same time greatly shorten the test time, can quickly know the specific effect and mechanism of the drug, and there is no ethical controversy. And compared to animal experiments, the "organ chip" is closer to the real human body, so the test results are more direct.
The "organ chip" technology is not perfect at present, and there are some doubts. For example, organ chips may not be able to reproduce a series of functional changes caused by the complex endocrine environment of the body, so the results of testing drugs are not necessarily completely objective and Accurate; the simulation environment of the chip is far less complicated than the human body; the existing chip materials cannot be mass-produced, but for the future of the "organ chip", the medical community is still relatively optimistic, and this technology has also become a "gradual frozen person" recovery. One of the hopes.
All in all, although there is still no mature method for the cure of “gradually frozen peopleâ€, the public has already paid enough attention to it, and new research has been going on. I believe that there will be many lines in the near future. An effective treatment has emerged, and it is hoped that no one in the human race will be plagued by any disease.
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