Digital Scryer

Hey all, I’m looking for some things to write about on this blog. Seeing as how there are a HUGE amount of sci-fi and comic book movies coming out recently I figured I’d take requests on doing relevant posts.

So if you have a question about how a super power would work in real life, or a piece of sci-fi technology, or a superhero or whatever, email it to me and I’ll do my best to answer it in its own blog post here on Digital Scryer.

You can reach me at brent@digitalscryer.com

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Technorati Tags: Blog, Comic Book Movies, Comics, Movies, Real Life Superheroes, Sci Fi, Science, Superhero, Superheroes, Technology

The journal Cell Metabolism posted this week about a drug called SRT1720 which activates the SRT1 gene. This gene is believed to be heavily tied to the aging process, and the extension of life caused by calorie restricted diets in many animal studies.

When this drug was used on mice, it caused them to become virtually immune to weight gain even on a horrible high fat diet. It also effectively doubled their stamina when distance running. This is an amazing development with massive (pardon the pun) weight-loss potential.

Imagine being virtually tireless while running your tubby self on the treadmill and losing fat like some kind of…fat losing…machine…thing. All the while gorging yourself on whatever fast food junk you wanted. Sounds like the American dream to me!

Now this doesn’t mean you’d be healthy, filling your face with a limitless amount of chemically laden garbage and fried food, but you would be better off. A physically fit body can deal with the stress of a horrible diet far better than a roly poly one.

Here’s my question/theory; With all the “Mind Over DNA” research that’s come out of India in recent years, and is now taking place more in North America as well, the mind body connection is bigger than ever before. Manchester U proved that the mind can trick the body into thinking it’s exercised, and numerous studies point out that exercising activates different gene pathways so that connection is perfectly plausible.

What’s to stop an enterprising hypnotherapist or psychiatrist or EFT practitioner or whatever, from developing a course/program/mp3 downloads to trigger this SRT1 activation without the need for any drugs? I’m not talking about the “DNA Activation” BS that many people try to hawk, I’m talking about actual, science-backed, mind over body type stuff.

Of course some trials would have to be done to prove any of it actually worked, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t and it’d mean a cheap, drug-free way of having this advantage without having horrible side effects, or having to restock your supply.

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Technorati Tags: Cell Metabolism, Diet, DNA, DNA Activation, Drug-Free, EFT, Fast Food, Gene, Genetics, High Fat, Hypnotherapist, Journal, Junk Food, Manchester University, Mice, Mind Over DNA, Psychiatry, SRT-1, SRT-1720, SRT1, SRT1720, Stamina, Weight gain, Weightloss

The Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis, released some more fruit fly sleep findings this week:

http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/12092.html

These findings state that while it’s commonly known that people’s brains slow down with gradual sleep deprivation, they now know the reason and how to prevent it.

Regular fruit flies who were sleep deprived demonstrated a significant downward learning curve. Flies engineered with more dopamine receptors in their brain’s mushroom bodies (their equivalent to the human hippocampus) were able to maintain their mental performance despite a lack of sleep.

Basically their amount of dopamine seems to remain the same, they just have the ability to use it better. I’m wondering if this could have any nootropic (intelligence enhancing) side effects, other than just more mental stamina.

In the article they talk about how this could lead to methods for extended periods of wakefulness in emergency workers. The problem I see with it though, is the method by which it’s achieved. Upping your hippocampal dopamine receptors, whether through drug use or genetic engineering, would mean a major change in lifestyle. Your body clock wouldn’t be matched with the rest of the world and at the same time, I think it would create a caste system; regular sleepers vs. less sleepers. If you were a company, who would you be more likely to hire?

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Technorati Tags: Biology, Dopamine, Fruit Flies, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Hippocampus, Learning, Memory, Nootropic, Sleep

At the Howard Hughes Medical Institute last month, researchers released these interesting findings about sleep:

http://www.hhmi.org/news/sehgal20080717.html

It seems there’s a gene responsible for sleep regulation and having it knocked out makes fruit flies sleep eighty percent less if at all. The downside? It shortens their lives by a lot. The researches have dubbed the gene SLEEPLESS and are hoping to find a similar one in humans as well as more info about how sleep regulation works in all animals.

As a sometimes insomniac, this information really hits home. It could lead to real treatments for a lack of sleep instead of just the “maybe” treatments like the over the counter aids on the market today.

It could also be used to help treat Fatal Familial Insomnia, a very rare (28 families have it world wide) and inherited prion disease that causes gradually worsening insomnia, eventually leading to dementia and death. This recent research into FFI makes me think twice about the people in my article People Who Don’t Need Sleep.

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Technorati Tags: Animals, Fatal Familial Insomnia, Fruit Flies, Gene, Genetics, HHMI, Insomnia, Insomniac, Sleep, SLEEPLESS

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute released this article today:

http://www.hhmi.org/news/evans20080731.html

It’s about two different drugs they’ve isolated that have the potential not only for vast medical breakthroughs, but as heavy performance enhancers. The first drug, GW1516, didn’t have any effect until the mice in the study actually had to exercise, once they did however, their energy metabolisms switched from burning sugar for fuel to burning straight fat. The side effects of this? How about becoming virtually tireless as well as gaining an inability to pack on flab onto your saddle bags.

In humans, this would mean an exercise program that gave you results very quickly, and in athletes a major boost in performance.

The second drug, AICAR, is believed to help increase Mitochondria and ATP production by mimicking an exercise byproduct called AMP and tricking the muscles into thinking they’re burning fat. It’s a good thing the Olympic Committee got a hold of a test for these drugs already.

Even though no human trials have been conducted, that wouldn’t stop many aspiring Olympians from trying them anyway in their attempt for the gold. It really says something about the fanaticism of winning when people are willing to potentially sacrifice their health on something that’ll probably work, while having no idea what the side effects, if any, will be.

I find it interesting how they never mentioned if they mixed the drugs. I’m no biochemist, but it seems to me the second drug would allow for the benefits of the first without the need to exercise. Interesting.

All in all, I’m in favour of this. I’d use it regularly as I don’t plan on being a competitive athlete any time soon, I’m just down with human enhancement and freeing up more time by not having to exercise. I think I’ll wait though until they find out what the side effects are before I shop at Paco’s Street Pharmacy south of the American boarder or hire the chemist from my local Shadow-Clinic.

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Technorati Tags: Drugs, Exercise, Fat Burning, Genetics, Mice, PPARdelta, Weightloss