[IN THE NEWS] The Embryonic Genome Generator has been invented (not really)

Israeli scientists were able to grow more than 1,000 live mouse embryos outside of a living womb.  Though the process was begun in a living mouse, the embryos were moved to the mechanical womb after fertilization.

Unfortunately, the current systems nutrient solution can only sustain the embryos for eleven days (half way through a normal mouse pregnancy) before they die.  In order for the research to move closer to be able to carry an embryo to full term will be to create an artificial umbilical cord that would be able to provide the embryo with a blood supply.

The intent of building the artificial womb is for the researchers to be able to study genetic mutations and how environmental factors can affect a fetus while inside a womb.

Previous artificial wombs (EVE and Biobag) have been developed to assist late term lamb fetuses survive to term, but not embryos.  The EVE and Biobag experiments have been used to support fetuses for up to five days, but the researchers claim that their tech could support a lamb fetus for up to 28 days.

SOURCES:
ENGADGET.com - This mouse embryo grew in an artificial uterus (2021)
GIZMODO.com - Artificial Wombs Are Getting Better and Better (2019)
WIKIPEDIA.org - Artificial Womb

Video game with an AtB style

Got an email last week about an upcoming video game that has a serious AtB feel to it, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden by Funcom

[IN THE NEWS] Return of the Auroch

Article: The wild, extinct supercow returning to Europe

The earliest cows were mighty beasts that stood almost as tall as elephants, with lean, powerful frames and fearsome horns that would make a hunter think twice.

In a recent discussion with some friends, the topic went to lab grown meat and how it would impact the animals we domesticated in order to have ready and easy access to them as a food source.  The main animal we discussed was the domesticated cow.  Would they be allowed to go extinct, kept in small numbers as a source for "authentic" beef, or returned to the wild?

The first option, allowing them to go extinct, would be a big mistake.  Another article I came across recently talks about the devastating impact we have had on mammal biodiversity and how it could take millions of years to recover (Mammals Are Going Extinct so Fast That Biodiversity Will Need Millions of Years to Recover).  So, most likely, scientists/conservationists will step in to ensure that domesticated cattle wouldn't just die out; but possibly try to "return them to the wild" in small herds.

Conservationists now believe the loss of the [auroch, a keystone herbivore,] was tragic for biodiversity in Europe, arguing that the aurochs' huge appetite for grazing provided a natural "gardening service" that maintained landscapes and created the conditions for other species to thrive.

This in turn led me to finding the article above regarding the recreation of the Auroch, an distant early ancestor to the modern domesticated cow.  The part I find brilliant, is that instead of genetically modifying existing cattle, they are reverse breeding them.

Rather than attempt the type of gene editing or high-tech de-extinction approaches being employed for species from woolly mammoths to passenger pigeons, Goderie chose a method known as back-breeding to create a substitute bovine he named "Tauros."

The bast part is that these new Tauros are able to defend themselves again natural predators like wolves, and aren't acting like domesticated cattle anymore, increasing their survivability.  And with survivability comes the restoration of biodiversity, and hope.

[IN THE NEWS] Invasion of the Radioactive Boars

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/radioactive-boars-running-rampant-japanese-towns-article-1.2994205

As soon as I started reading this article (linked above), I could see this as something that could have happened in the years following the Crash once people started to reorganize.  Humans returning to their homes, towns and cities to find them now occupied by these strange mutant animals playing at being people.

I can see this as something Emperor Christian would say in rallies to raise the Empire of Humanity:

“It is not really clear now which is the master of the town, people or wild boars.  If we don’t get rid of them and turn this into a human-led town, the situation will get even wilder and uninhabitable.”

I've long tried to relate the Empires rational to fight against the anthropomorphic animals.  Most people try to equate Emperor Christian and the Empire of Humanity with Hitler and the Nazis, but I think it's closer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  One side (the EoH) sees the other (all anthro Animalkind) taking over the lands of their birthright.

Healing Salves

One of the issues that most gamers run in to while playing in AtB is healing from damage.  I've already posted one article on a the Panacea Goat as an option for healing illness and disease, but healing wounds caused by gunfire, blades, horns, claws or even fire have been difficult to address.

Then came this, VetiGel.  VetiGel is a real-life anticoagulant that offers much more promise in the future, and seems to be something that could be produced in a setting such as AtB.  One could say that at some point it's potential was grafted into some plant life, which could be harvested, packaged and marketed in game.

In the video, the CEO mentions that the technology may be able to be applied to the regeneration of organs some day.  Limbs may be a stretch, but in a game environment, who knows...

I'll have to come up with a item description, name, and mechanics for it.

[IN THE NEWS] Uplift

So this happened... Scientists were able to make some monkeys smarter by implanting a neuroprosthesis (an array of electrodes) in their cerebral cortex.  This was part of a study to find a way to "facilitate and/or recover the cognitive function when such circumstances impair appropriate decision making."  In other words, this brain implant could fix your brain after a stroke or dementia.

The interesting side effect that they found was that it was also able to IMPROVE the cognition of the test subjects.  Outside of testing scales, that probably didn't mean all that much of an improvement - the monkeys probably didn't start reading Hamlet or playing chess.  However, the implication is still there that we stand at the doorway of Uplifting animal intelligence from that of the common domestic and feral beast to that of the common and bestial human.

The question is should we?  From the point of being able to improve primate cognition through medical brain implants, you find yourself looking at a "Flowers for Algernon" situation with a non-permanent improvement, and not a "Planet of the Apes" situation where the change was genetic and permanent.  Since we would be able to deactivate this implant, we would remain in control.  So the danger of revolution is minimal.

I don't question the ethics of changing the cognition of a primate from the stand point of "do we have the right?" either, isn't it the responsibility of one being to help his brother.  However, this could lead one to ask, is this cognitive enhancement an improvement?  Would we be "helping" them?  Are they better off as they are? Are they happier?

No, I would ask should we from the standpoint of, are we ready?  Ready to take on the responsibility.  We have a hard enough time with just one sapient species on the planet, and becoming the parent to a new species is a great responsibility - not to be taken lightly.

Once you uplift a species, you can't just kick them out of the garden and say, "good luck out there", expect them to get a 9-to-5 job, and become a productive member of society.  Nor do we want to "improve" a species just to make them smarter pets or slave labor.  We've been down that road before and should have learned better by now.

No, I don't think we are ready to "improve" another species until we can improve ourselves.

[source]
Journal of Neural Engineering
io9: Scientists make monkeys smarter using brain implants
io9: Should we upgrade the intelligence of animals

Are Cyborgs the Future of Humanity?

Is the next step in human evolution cyborgs? Very doubtful, economically speaking it's just a really big stretch. I'd place my money on genetic enhancements trumping cybernetics, though I don't doubt cybernetic enhancements may find a short lived niche, somewhere.

The main drawback of cybernetics would be upkeep and upgrades. At the pace technological evolution is at currently, you have to change your computers and cell phones every few months to keep up with the latest advances. Would you be willing to go in and have your cybernetics upgraded as often?

Imagine the cost.

Also, cybernetic augmentations would not carry over through reproduction. So you'll have to budget each child's cybernetics.

Nanotechnology might simplify the installation and upkeep processes, but it would still be unpleasant and costly.

Biological and genetic engineering is most likely the road humanity will decide to follow if they decide to take control of their evolutionary path. The biggest benefit would be if the changes were such that they could be passed from parent to child. However, there's no saying if the parents upgrades would be compatible or cause some unforeseen mutations in the offspring.

In the end, you have to ask yourself, would it be worth it?

[UPDATE]
This article was originally written in 2009, and since then we haven't seen much public motion in the area of human cybernetic implants - though there are quite a few more wearable computers (smart phones) on the market today; but there are still those who are continuing to play with and develop the technology.

One of the pioneers in this area, Steve Mann (the father of wearable computing), was recently accosted by a group of men in a Parisian McDonalds [link] who took issue with his cybernetically attached "Digital Eye Glass" and tried to physically remove it from his head:

He angrily grabbed my eyeglass, and tried to pull it off my head. The eyeglass is permanently attached and does not come off my skull without special tools.

I tried to calm him down and I showed him the letter from my doctor and the documentation I had brought with me.

Read More at HuffPost.com

Below is a video from 2010 where Steve Mann talks about his EyeTap technology :

[IN THE NEWS] First Chimera Monkeys Born

Researchers in Oregon say they have created the world's first genetically modified monkeys by fusing cells from up to six different embryos, in what could be a big advance for medical research and the rise of an anthropomorphic animal empire.

One Small Step

This is Ambam, a bachelor Western Lowland gorilla at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, England. He loves to walk around like this!
The video was taken by Johanna Watson whilst she was working for a project on great ape locomotion.

[IN THE NEWS] Automated Flying Construction Robots

When I saw this, I knew they were something I need to scale up and bring into some role playing game.

Watch as a group of automated quadrotor robots autonomously build several cubical structures. Quadrotor researcher Daniel Mellinger notes, "We tell the quadrotors what structure to build and they figure out the assembly plan and then build it."

These structures beams are held together with magnets, but there's no reason if this were scaled up that you couldn't have a team of welding robots securing larger metal beams while the lifters recharged their batteries.



This reminds me of the 80s sci-fi movie Runaway

Mutated Animal Found In Ditch

Okay, it's actually a video short by Neil (District 9) Blomkamp. IO9 tracked down some information on the AGM Heartland logo on the side of the creature and found this info:

Entertainment services by way of an online website with video, audio and textual content and images featuring characters and storylines about a fictional genetic engineering company that produces genetically engineered and altered organisms.

Growing Giant Bugs

One of the arguments of those who don't believe in giant insects is that there's no way they could support their own weight, yet giant (well compared to now-a-days) insects did exist in prehistoric times and one scientist set out to prove that they could exist today; given the right conditions...

"Ancient Earth saw dragonflies with wingspans up to 28 inches, and their size is thought to be linked to higher levels of oxygen in the prehistoric atmosphere. Now John VandenBrooks of Arizona State University has tested that hypothesis by growing himself some big bugs."

Read more at: Scientists unlock the secrets behind growing giant bugs (io9.com)

Arthur C. Clark and The World of Tomorrow

PART 1:


PART 2:

[IN THE NEWS] Digital Doomsday

Ever wonder why everyone seems to be down in the dirt in post-apocalyptic settings, even several decades after? Even though we are so brilliant now and would probably be even more some time down the road? Why don't the survivors just use that knowledge to pick themselves up by the boot straps and get back to it?

Because everything we are is built on a house of cards.

Read this Article: Digital doomsday: the end of knowledge

Tom Simonite and Michael Le Page write:

Yet even as we are acquiring ever more extraordinary knowledge, we are storing it in ever more fragile and ephemeral forms. If our civilisation runs into trouble, like all others before it, how much would survive?

[snip]

Whatever the cause, if the power was cut off to the banks of computers that now store much of humanity's knowledge, and people stopped looking after them and the buildings housing them, and factories ceased to churn out new chips and drives, how long would all our knowledge survive? How much would the survivors of such a disaster be able to retrieve decades or centuries hence?

[snip]

In 2008, for instance, it emerged that the US had "forgotten" how to make a secret ingredient of some nuclear warheads, dubbed Fogbank. Adequate records had not been kept and all the key personnel had retired or left the agency responsible. The fiasco ended up adding $69 million to the cost of a warhead refurbishment programme.

Something to keep in mind next time your AtB players/characters try booting up an old computer that's been gathering dust in the ruins on the Crash, or wonder why the few surviving humans didn't just rebuild the nuclear power plants and fast food joints.

Of course, since AtB is science fiction, anything is possible.

[IN THE NEWS] Plant-Animal Hybrid

Ever wish you didn't need to eat? Well, there is a Sea Slug that can do just that thanks to its ancestors stealing plant DNA allowing them to create genes necessary to make green chlorophyll pigment. They then steal chloroplasts from algae they eat to conduct photosynthesis.

LiveScience.com wrote: [link]

"The sea slugs live in salt marshes in New England and Canada. In addition to burglarizing the genes needed to make the green pigment chlorophyll, the slugs also steal tiny cell parts called chloroplasts, which they use to conduct photosynthesis. The chloroplasts use the chlorophyl to convert sunlight into energy, just as plants do, eliminating the need to eat food to gain energy.

"We collect them and we keep them in aquaria for months," Pierce said. "As long as we shine a light on them for 12 hours a day, they can survive [without food]."

Something like this has to have been toyed around with at some point in the AtB setting. A few years ago I did write up an adventure called "The Green Death" which involved a symbiotic plant that dominated it's human and animal hosts, but this concept opens up a whole new dimension of possibilities.

Here's a little mutation package you could add to your game:

Animal Photosynthesis Package

BIO-E Cost: 25
Appearance: This mutant's skin and hair/fur/feathers/scales now have a dark green pigment from the natural chlorophyll.
Power: With exposure to light, the character's natural chlorophyll and chloroplasts needed to convert sunlight into energy and reducing, or alleviating, the character's need to eat depending on the character's level of activity.
NOTE: A majority of the character's body must be exposed to sunlight for this power to be affective. Clothing reduces the effecivness of this power dramitically.

[IN THE NEWS] Fanged Frogs

Not too long ago, I wrote an article on a new AtB creature I called the Viper Frog. Well, as it would turn out, scientists have discover fanged frogs in Thailand:

Fanged Frog and Other Bizarre Species Discovered [livescience.com]

A bird-eating frog with fangs, an alien gecko equipped with orange eyes and technicolor skin, and a flightless bird are among the 163 newly identified species discovered in Southeast Asia last year...

Bird-eating fanged frog (Limnonectes megastomias): An opportunistic eater, this frog lies in wait for its prey in streams in Thailand. Males of the species use their fangs for male-to-male combat, as scientists have seen frogs with missing limbs and multiple scars.

And this wasn't the first fanged frog found recently. Another species was found in New Guinea:

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea [guardian.co.uk]

A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea.

So, it is possible that the Viper Frog could have evolved in nature. Funny how science fiction always seems to be one step ahead.

[IN THE NEWS] Regenesis: The New You

A few years ago I had this idea for an idea that could add a little character to the world before the Crash and Big Death, and maybe play on how it might impact the world of After the Bomb.

Seeing as how the world was experiencing a golden age of Bio Science, I thought that it would be great if they had come up with a way to grow you a new body to order. "Bored with your current body? New You can grow you a new one to order." You would be able to everything from height, weight, eye color, skin color/tone, gender, facial appearance, etc...

The crazy thing is we are already ridiculously close to being able to do just that. Well, to an extent.

Gone will be the days of organ donors and the possibility of passing along infectious diseases. In the last decade or two we've been able to grow replacement organs, ears, and skin grafts, but this often required the use of a host organism (usually a rat or pig) for the replacement tissue/organ to be grown. Recently, it was found that you can strip the existing cell tissue from a donor heart, coat it with stem cells from the recipient to regrow a working organ, and the resulting organ won't be rejected since it is now covered with the recipient's own cell tissue.

To sweeten the deal, researcher have found that they can more easily reprogram adipose [fat] cells into stem cells. An since stem cells can be turned into any other cells in your body, all you need to do is put on some weight before hand and have it harvested when you need it, or put in a bank for future use.

We aren't just limited to soft organs either. We are now learning how to regrow teeth, and bones!

Throw all this together and what's to stop someone from growing you a whole new body? Just transplant the brain and you've got yourself a "New You". Sure, you and your new body will need to go through some physical therapy to operate properly, but you can get past that in the realm of science fiction.

To take this on an even wilder ride, why limit your new body to that of a human. Why not buy an anthropomorphic body, or something entirely alien. It appears that this idea is used in the movie Avatar (though instead of transplanting the brain, they use a mind link interface). Imagine transplanting yourself into the body of a centaur, mermaid, or winged human!!


You could take this to the extreme and figure that someone could use this technique to life forever, if it weren't for that pesky problem of deteriorating brain tissue, but who says that has to be a problem anymore? Brain tissue is pretty much just like any other in the body and should be able to be regrown. the problem is that you wouldn't just (or might not) be able to just grow yourself a second brain and swap out the old one due to the fact that (as far as we know) there is no way of transferring your consciousness from your original brain into the new one. One possibility I can think of is that you could periodically have new brain tissue grown within your new (larger?) skull to compensate for the loss.

However, again, in the realm of science fiction anything is possible...

So, there you go the basis of the idea that would be Regenesis: The New You, a company that can grow you a new body -- built to order.

Oh yeah, what about your old body? What if you want to go back to being the old you? Well, they will keep that for posterity in cryogenic storage, for an added fee.

---

IN THE NEWS Links

• Organs to Order
• Hybrid Heart
  
• Hybrid Heart Video
• Custom-made For You
  
• Regrow Teeth
• Scientists Regrow Chicken Wing
• Using Glass to Regrow Bone
  
• Stem Cells from Fat
  

[IN THE NEWS] Biologists Napping While Work Militarized

Scientists are often portrayed as the dupes of the military, or government conspiracies. Now a new editorial by Bioethicist Malcolm Dando states that biologists don't understand how their research is being weaponized. Read the full article to understand the very real ramifications.

Biologists napping while work militarized [Nature.com]

As researchers discover more agents that alter mental states, the Chemical Weapons Convention needs modification to help ensure that the life sciences are not used for hostile purposes, says Malcolm Dando.

At the 4th European Symposium on Non-Lethal Weapons in 2007, researchers from the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Charles University in Prague described the effects on macaque monkeys of combinations of drugs that produce a rapid loss of aggressive behaviour. They argued that the drugs could be "used to pacify aggressive people during ... terrorist attacks". The same researchers have also investigated methods of aerosol delivery to human volunteers.

Those who support the development of incapacitating agents often argue that using them in conflict situations stops people being killed. Historical evidence suggests otherwise. At the Nord-Ost siege, for instance, terrorists exposed to the fentanyl mixture were shot dead rather than arrested. Likewise, in Vietnam, the US military used vast quantities of CS gas — a 'non-lethal' riot-control agent — to increase the effectiveness of conventional weapons by flushing the Viet Cong out of their hiding places.

It's worth reading the entire editorial - full of facts of how life sciences has been perverted into blueprints for bioweaponry and just how some scientists either turn a blind eye to, or are complicit in the weaponization of their scientific discoveries.

However, in relation to the After the Bomb game setting, it offers a gold mine of possibilities. Whether it be mad scientists wanting to test their latest experiment on some rural locals, a war lord using the scientific discoveries of a duped scientist, or the Empire discovering some lost biological weapon from before the Crash, the possibilities are nearly limitless. As horrible, troublesome, or disturbing as they may be...

[IN THE NEWS] Bio-Hackers

It seems that we are already living in an age where people already have their own home bio-labs. Currently, it's a fringe group know as bio-hackers, creating the genetically-engineered bugs in makeshift gene laboratories for fun.

Okay, their not just creating germs and viruses, Boston bio-hacker Kay Aull (as seen in the attached video below) used her hacking skills to test her father and herself for the genetic disease haemochromatosis.



There's even a DIYbio forum where these guys share their 1337-skills. However, authorities are becoming increasingly concerned of the health and contamination risks of these at home bio hobbyists. DIYbio Founder Mac Cowell, in a Sky News said, "The main danger is if you're doing it on your own - the chemicals can be considered hazardous waste so you need to know how to dispose it."

So it will be no surprise when Erick's vision becomes a reality,

"It wasn't long before ordinary citizens could buy gene-scan attachments and software for their personal computers, before trading in gene patterns was common on the internet, and before 'virtual' breeding games let anyone experiment with mixing genes and chromosomes from different animals.

One of the most dramatic new products was called the EGG®, or Embryonic Genome Generator. Sold as "make your own mutant" kits, the first EGGs were used to grow transgenetic mice. EGGs suitable for growing dogs, cats and other pets quickly caught on. Within months, people all over the world were experimenting by mixing genes from different animals, and even from humans."

[IN THE NEWS] Talking Mice?!

Talking mice? Well, maybe not today, but a team of German scientists, studing the evolution of speech and language, have created transgenic mice with the gene associated with human speech. [ScienceDirect.com]

IO9.com wrote: [link]

The researchers wanted to shed light on how humans developed our language capabilities, including the intricate thought and muscle coordination which allowed us as a species to develop complex language. One gene responsible for that development is the FOXP2 gene. Its absence leads to speech disorders, and its presence is an important component of human speech. Humans and Neanderthals are known to have a specific variation on the FOXP2 gene, though versions of it appear in other mammals and birds.

So while these experiments may not result in NIMH rodents, who knows what might happen if these mice are left to continue their line with the mutation?