The Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory

"Nutrigenomics is the study of how dietary constituents interact with genes, and their products, to regulate biochemical pathways and thus, the balance between health and disease states. Genetic variation and numerous environmental factors modulate these interactions and their understanding constitutes the basis for the future development of more personalized and successful dietary recommendations to prevent disease and achieve healthier aging."

Here is a link if you would like to read more about the laboratory and nutrigenomics.

http://www.hnrc.tufts.edu/1192109687036/HNRCA-Page-hnrca2ws_1192109688473.html

DR. Raymond Rodriguez Speaking At The 2010 AIBC

From the newsroom at Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics at University of California, Davis:

"Dr. Raymond Rodriguez is an invited speaker at the 2010 Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (AIBC) in Saskatchewan, Canada on September 13, 2010. Dr. Rodriguez will speak in the Health Session and the title of his presentation is Diet-Gene Interaction as a Nutridynamical System: Nutritional Genomics at the Edge of Chaos."

I will try to tell you more about the conference real soon. Dr. Rodriguez is a member of the faculty at the Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics.

Statement on Institute of Medicine Report on Food Safety

Here is the first paragraph from a statement issued by Leavitt Partners in June. It is still relevant, especially in light of the current, massive egg recall.

"June 8, 2010

The release today of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) report "Enhancing Food Safety: The Role of the Food and Drug Administration," drives home the need for modernizing the food safety system in the United States. The report calls for a prevention-oriented, risk-based approach to allocate food safety resources and efforts. This theme, while a familiar one echoed by the broader food safety community, is difficult to implement."

Here is a link so you may read the entire statement. It may surprise you. Let me know if you agree or disagree with them.

http://news.leavittpartners.com/newsrelease-cid-1-id-12.html

Medicine May Be Key To Cloning's Future

Here is the first part of an article written by Rick Barrett about cloning animals, especially farm animals, to help speed up medical drug production.

"MILWAUKEE — The cloning of animals may have come from agriculture, but its real promise may be in the lucrative field of medicine rather than as food.

Genetically modified cows and goats can produce proteins in their milk that can be extracted as a drug component. Cloning animals to create living drug factories could lower the costs of medicines used to save lives."

Here is a link for you to use to read the entire article.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/SCI-CLONEDANIMALS-MEDICINE_3023283/SCI-CLONEDANIMALS-MEDICINE_3023283/

Genetics Not Enough to Increase Wheat Production

Here's an article you need to read in the next 10-12 days if you can. It may not be available through the link below after that. I will save it, and I may be able to email it to you, but it would be easier if you can read it using the link.

Here is the first paragraph from the article just to give you an intro to the subject. The article is provided by the Crop Science Society of America.

"The deep gene pool that has allowed wheat to achieve ever increasing gains in yield may be draining. Crop scientists estimate that 50% of the gain in wheat production over the past century has been due to breeding. According to a new study, however, that improvement has been slowing since the late 1980s, with little chance that future increases in yield can be met by breeding efforts alone."

Just more evidence to me that we will need new and innovative ways of providing nutrition in the future.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/genetics-not-enough-to-increase-wheat-production

The Singularity Is Coming; or No It Isn't; or Wait Maybe It Is!

Here's Lev Grossman's "slightly different" take on the Singularity Summit 2010 and the future. I like this one.

http://techland.com/2010/08/16/the-singularity-is-coming-or-no-it-isnt-or-wait-maybe-it-is/

Aaron Saenz Tells What Actually Happened At The Summit

An excellent account of what actually happened at The Singularity Summit 2010 written by Aaron Saenz.

http://singularityhub.com/2010/08/17/singularity-summit-2010-optimism-intelligence-and-the-future-oh-my/

Patrick Takahashi on The Singularity Summit 2010

Here is a link to an interesting blog post by Patrick Takahashi on the Huffington Post site about the Singularity Summit in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Patrick was impressed by the optimism for the future that he says was evident throughout the summit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-takahashi/the-singularity-summit-20_b_685196.html#

Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics

I will be telling you a lot about nutritional genomics in the days to come. Meanwhile, here is a brief introduction to a world-class nutritional genomics program in California USA and a link to the program's website. Take a look and start to learn more about nutritional genomics.

"Welcome to the Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics (CENG) at the University of California, Davis - a program dedicated to promoting the study of nutritional genomics. The mission of the Center is to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities through the study of diet-genome interactions as they relate to chronic disease and certain cancers. The Center has now begun translating the results of nearly seven years of research, training and education on diet-genome interactions into tangible benefits that can prevent disease and improve human and animal health and wellness."

http://nutrigenomics.ucdavis.edu/

Singularity and Nutrition Website

Please visit my website when you have a little time. You can learn about Ray Kurzweil, the Singularity and the GNR revolution among other things. Here is a link for your convenience.

https://sites.google.com/site/singularityandnutrition/

Humans by Era - Average Lifespan at Birth

Hi folks! I decided to start this blog with a little history. Many people are not satisfied with how long we humans are living now-a-days, and they are working on new and better ways of increasing our years and our health. After all, why live longer if it just means more years to be ill? Right? I'll be talking about that a lot in this blog. For now, here's our history:


Humans by Era Average Lifespan at Birth
(years)

Upper Paleolithic 33 At age 15: 39 (to age 54)
Neolithic 20
Bronze Age and Iron Age 35+
Classical Greece 28
Classical Rome 28
Pre-Columbian North America 25-30
Medieval Islamic Caliphate 35+
Medieval Britain 30
Early Modern Britain 40+
Early 20th Century 30-45

Current world average 67.2 2010 est.

The average life expectancy in Colonial America was under 25 years in the Virginia colony, and in New England about 40% of children failed to reach adulthood. During the Industrial Revolution, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically. The percentage of children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5% in 1730-1749 to 31.8% in 1810-1829.

Public health measures are credited with much of the recent increase in life expectancy. During the 20th century, the average lifespan in the United States increased by more than 30 years, of which 25 years can be attributed to advances in public health.