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Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
Denis Noble, CBE, PhD, FRS, the famed British biologist, delivers an interesting overview of his life's work studying the intricate details of biology and what new developments can mean for the treatment of disease.
As a celebrated British biologist, Noble held the Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford for two decades and was later bestowed the honor of Professor Emeritus and appointed Co-Director of Computational Physiology. Noble's work has been groundbreaking and he is one of the earliest pioneers of systems biology who developed the very first useful mathematical model of the heart, back in 1960.
Noble talks in detail about extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are lipid bilayer-delimited particles—naturally released from a cell but, unlike a cell, they cannot replicate. He discusses the interior of cells, and explains how extracellular vesicles occur, touching on DNA and RNA, and the processes utilized by cells. As he explains, we "used to think that the cells were more or less cut off from each other," but Noble states that this is just not true. Cells are actually exchanging information all the time, and the extracellular vesicles are little packets that contain information for exchange.
The celebrated biology expert goes on to discuss how Darwin saw the potential significance of transgenerational information being passed on. Noble explains that we can use the expanding information to develop tools to diagnose and treat diseases earlier on, which will be incredibly beneficial of course to patients. Noble continues, and talks about how digital intelligence and AI can help to organize information and opportunities. He explains how intelligence is created, and discusses his theories on the topic.
As one of the world's preeminent biologists and evolution scientists, Noble continues to lead some of the most pertinent discussions in the scientific community regarding life, genetics, and cellular processes.
Most attorneys aspire to one day author a book…to put all of the knowledge and expertise they've compiled over the years into a concise, informative, and easy-to-read guide for prospective clients and the public at large. Attorneys want this because they know the benefits are numerous, but nevertheless, they simply don't have the time to actually sit down and put pen to paper.
On today's episode, Richard Jacobs of Speakeasy Marketing, Inc. is joined by Tracy Merda to discuss how you can author a book by putting in a couple hours' worth of your time and simply speaking it. The Speak-a-Book™ method has helped hundreds of attorneys harness the authority that comes with being an author, and the returns are proving to be lucrative. In addition to differentiating you from the others, having your own book to reference will significantly influence the way others perceive your authority and expertise, demonstrate to clients your worth (and one more reason why they should retain your services), allow you to command higher fees, elevate your status as an attorney in your area of practice, bring in many new referrals, increase your chances of being featured in the media, and allow you to hand out copies to hundreds of colleagues and prospective clients almost anywhere you go, for free.
This isn't a long process; within 30-60 days, you could have a published book that translates to profit for years to come. Tune in for more information, and visit https://www.jacobsandwhitehall.com/.
In addition to being an author, serial entrepreneur, time management expert, and co-host of the Get-It-Done Guy podcast, Stever Robbins played a critical role in the development and implementation of the internet. Robbins joins the podcast today to share his insight and knowledge on several issues centering on the internet—how it came about, what it's become, and where it's going.
He discusses the good and the bad and the strengths and weaknesses of the internet, but expounds on the way it's affecting society as well as people on an individual level. "The internet acts as a tremendous amplifier…if something makes it onto the top 10 list…once it's on the top 10 list…you have audiences in the sizes of millions or billions…the problem is, just because something's on that list doesn't mean it's worth focusing on…" says Robbins. He continues to explain how this can lead to irresponsible social behavior, an emphasis on emotional reactivity, a decrease in our ability to focus, an increase in the prevalence of censorship, the manipulation of our biases, and a disconnection from our own creativity and ability to focus on our goals.
Robbins provides an in-depth and eye-opening examination of something that's so commonplace in the modern world that many of us don't even see it anymore. Press play to hear the full conversation. Learn more about Robbins' work at http://www.steverrobbins.com/.
Zack Abbott, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of ZBiotics (zbiotics.com), discusses his company's mission, acetaldehyde toxicity, and the future of probiotics for health protection.
Abbott is the creative scientific mind behind the proprietary technology and foundation for ZBiotics. Abbott holds a PhD in microbiology & immunology from the University of Michigan, where he worked on bacterial gene regulation. He earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, in immunology as well as classical art and archaeology. In his earlier years, Abbott was a researcher, studying HIV vaccines and pursuing novel antibiotics.
Abbott's company has developed ZBiotics™—the planet's first genetically engineered/modified probiotics designed to break down a toxic byproduct of alcohol known as acetaldehyde. He explains how the product works to combat the negative effects of alcohol, discussing the live bacteria aspects and the way they have engineered it to fight those negative effects. As he explains, by mimicking what our livers do to metabolize alcohol, ZBiotics takes its inspiration from nature.
Instead of manufacturing the enzyme separately, ZBiotics has engineered some probiotic bacteria to produce this enzyme anew, inside your gut, thereby transferring the trait for acetaldehyde breakdown out of the liver to probiotic bacteria. Abbott talks about the future of ZBiotics, as they look to build new products that can help our bodies handle many potentially problematic issues, from everyday chemicals in alcohol and dairy, to severe contaminants and problems, such as radiation and lead in water health effects.
Joan Diamond, Deputy Director and Senior Scenarist, Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability delivers an overview of her important work educating the public and assisting with the development of solutions for global crises.
Diamond is Executive Director of the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and Biosphere, an advanced Stanford University initiative that addresses the chasm between current knowledge of global problems and societies' failure to respond. Diamond is also a visiting scholar at the Center for the Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, where she actively oversees the Institute of Foresight Intelligence there.
Diamond talks about her experience and background. As she states, there is a vast amount of knowledge about the world's major problems, and that many systems are simply not working, from environmental issues such as water/drought to soil degradation, to fragile financial systems (credit/debt issues), etc. Many people are working to shift the trajectory from collapse to sustainability. In her role at the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, Diamond works to bring minds, public intellectuals, together to meet the world's challenges and assist with overpopulation solutions as well as economic growth and overconsumption solutions.
The Deputy Director explains many of the current inequities in the world, such as health care and education quality in developed nations like the United States. Educating the public through library materials, blogs, etc. are some of the ways that the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and Biosphere can make a difference. Diamond talks about their focus—the human predicament, civilization collapse. And as she states, unless societies engage then we are on a somewhat dire path, but individuals can be empowered and come together to find solutions.
Thomas Hartung, MD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, delivers an insightful overview of his work studying toxicity testing improvements, organoids, and advancing technologies.
Dr. Hartung has departmental affiliations with the Environmental Health and Engineering and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology departments at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Hartung's work is heavily focused on creating a paradigm shift in toxicity testing to improve overall public health. Dr. Hartung has been an integral part of the implementation of the 2007 NRC vision document known as, "Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century – a vision and a strategy."
Dr. Hartung discusses his background, and the road he has taken to arrive at his current place as a leading voice in the discussions concerning toxicity and animal testing. He explains that the technological opportunities have advanced significantly in the last few years. Dr. Hartung discusses 'organ on a chip' technologies and other advanced tissue, etc. work. As he explains, this field is permanently moving. The advancement of organoids, which are small, self-organized 3D tissue cultures that are actually derived from stem cells, is changing the way research is done.
The research doctor talks about the importance of toxicity testing, cellular communication and tissue technology, as well as genomics and metabolomics, discussing nutrients, types of cells, and the coming research that will certainly advance the field. Learning from current experiences, he explains that the 'human on a chip' technologies will continue to change as more research is done. Organoids are being used to test various compounds to observe the relative toxicity, but they are utilized for other reasons as well, such as modeling diseases. As Dr. Hartung states, the future will likely bring these types of
systems into all kinds of toxicity testing, and replace animal testing altogether if possible.
Katie Hasson, PhD, writer, speaker, researcher, educator, talks about the political and social aspects of human genetic technologies.
Hasson has an active role with the Center for Genetics and Society (geneticsandsociety.org) as their Program Director on Genetic Justice. The Center for Genetics and Society is a public interest nonprofit social justice organization that seeks to ensure a fair and impartial future in which human genetic and reproductive technologies will benefit the collective good.
Hasson explains the social justice perspective they seek to cultivate through important public discourse regarding human biotechnologies. She discusses her role and her goal of bringing more important and diverse voices into the conversation regarding human gene editing. Hasson explains the current thoughts on human gene editing, and the uses of CRISPR (clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeats). Hasson outlines the differences in the types of gene editing, discussing treatments for actual patients versus gene editing that could perhaps affect the traits of future generations, the latter of which tends to be the most controversial. She talks about some of the more surprising uses of gene editing that pushed the conversation forward rapidly, talking about some of the ethical and safety issues, as well as social concerns.
The science educator talks about the current technologies, and the risks, ethics, and benefits. Hasson explains the concept of normal, in regard to gene editing and the idea that some 'problems' may be edited out. In regard to correcting disease, she discusses the policy that could be implemented pertaining to gene editing uses. Continuing, she talks about some of the international commissions that have pulled together various voices from countries around the world to discuss and think about frameworks for utilizing some forms of gene editing.
Hasson holds a PhD in Sociology with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality from the prestigious University of California at Berkeley. She is a former Assistant Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California.
Also, there is this link for a session about CRISPR Consensus: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL29W0b7TmEDzaW1VsLHndZtBpoOlB5CmI
Kevin Lee, Digital Trust and Safety Architect at Sift (sift.com), talks about his company and their mission.
As the Trust and Safety Architect at Sift Science, Lee is very involved in Sift's core mission—securing trust and safety for the digital age. Lee is skilled in building high-performing teams and systems that will combat suspicious and malicious behaviors. Before bringing his expertise to Sift, Lee was a manager at Facebook, Square, and Google in roles pertaining to risk, and spam, as well as trust and safety.
Lee discusses how Sift started out in the payment fraud area, using machine learning and other technologies to outsmart fraudsters. Today, they are focused heavily on digital trust and safety issues. Lee explains the mechanics of their solutions, and he cites specific examples of client work, from Airbnb, Twitter, and others, helping to stop data breaches and fraud. He explains how 'bad actors' take over accounts and the kinds of malicious acts they try to implement.
Lee discusses some of the e-commerce sites that they offer protections for, and how attacks against them are designed. Continuing, Lee explains some of the signs they look for that could indicate fraud is potentially happening. He talks about iPhone fraud attempts, and the telltale signs of fraud that they see in that platform/family versus android. From account take over to trolling and financial fraud, Lee explains some of the most current problems businesses are combatting. As he states, in account take over scenarios, often trust is destroyed, which could result in the loss of customers and clients.
Wrapping up, Lee explains how easy it is to get started with Sift and the protections that companies can take advantage of right away. As digital disrupters, Sift is innovating daily, taking its position as a leader in the digital security space.
Luke Osborn, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, discusses the lab's exciting work in modern prosthetics and biomedical engineering.
Osborn is a postdoctoral researcher in the Intelligent Systems Group in the Research and Exploratory Development Department at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Osborn's expertise lies in multiple scientific areas, specifically concentrated on neuroengineering and applied neuroscience. His intensive work explores the groundbreaking new areas of advancement in tactile sensing and feedback for sensory augmentation.
Osborn often works with upper limb amputees. He discusses the problem known as phantom limb, which is the sensation that an amputated limb is still actually attached. Statistically speaking, 80 to 100% of people who have had an amputation report experiencing 'phantom' sensations/feelings in their amputated limb, and unfortunately, most of these types of sensations are painful. He explains how the muscles that still exist in partial limbs can cause amputees to feel sensations. He talks about their work in the improvement of prosthetics, utilizing sensory feedback. The big issue: embodiment, and as Osborn explains embodiment is the integration of an artificial limb (prosthetic) into someone's own body identity so to speak, essentially the fusion of body and perception. The goal is to get people to feel that their prosthetic is a part of them.
The prosthetics researcher talks about the ways they work with amputees, and the methods they use to get them to feel sensations, such as pressure, etc. Restoring sensation is a key element of their work, and Osborn explains how they target functionality. Osborn's questions lead to more research and advancement. Ultimately, the goal is to figure out what types of sensations and perceptions can be improved, and how to improve them via new technologies.
Dr. Theodore S. Piliszek, founder and medical director of the Advanced Health and Wellness Center in Houston, Texas, delivers an interesting overview of his life's work in health, wellness, and genetics research.
Dr. Piliszek has over 30 years of experience in preventive medicine that has taken him to multiple continents. Dr. Piliszek is a nutritional specialist who has dedicated his life to the study and advancement of Functional Longevity Medicine and Clinical Nutrition for the prevention and reversal of vascular, metabolic, and degenerative diseases.
Dr. Piliszek has extensive experience in Hematopathology research and has studied with some of the world's greatest geneticists, including the celebrated geneticist, Sir David Weatherall at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Piliszek has been certified by the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine, and today he continues to
share his vast knowledge with the medical community and public.
Dr. Piliszek talks about his interest in anti-aging, the medtech impact, and nutrigenomics, which is the science that analyzes the relationship between the human genome, nutrition, and health. By evaluating one's genomic expressions, Dr. Piliszek states that we can learn a lot about possible future outcomes, and risks, and potentially provide information that could help individuals delay or avoid possible medical maladies. Dr. Piliszek continues his discussion and dives into a detailed analysis of foods and exercise and the impact each has on health. Citing examples of how genetics plays a role in the trajectory of long term health, Dr. Piliszek lays out the many genetic abnormalities that could be factored in to bring about a medical problem, such as Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases.
The genetics, health, and medical technology expert discusses some of the puzzling questions that he is most curious about, discussing nutrition and micronutrients—including vitamins and minerals. To counteract modern stressors, micronutrient supplementation often produces a good outcome. Dr. Piliszek goes on to discuss disease treatment and some of the changes that are coming that may be beneficial.
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