E5: Wheat gene bank, AI-designed rocket thruster, the causes of human progress, and more

Tony Morley

25 Jul 2024 — 12 min read

"A collection of century-old wheat could hold valuable DNA that may be used in future crop breeding. DNA contained in the collection may hold the keys to developing future wheat variants with reduced fertilizer requirements, higher yields, or more environmental resilience."

Tony Morley, July 25th, 2024

Welcome to The Up Wing, Edition 5, the best in progress and optimistic news, collated, curated, and delivered weekly. We report on the past, present, and future of human progress, progress studies, and optimistic news. We're pro-growth, free markets, classical liberalism, Enlightenment, science, technology, and a better future for all humanity. We're still in beta; hang in there.

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Life was dirty, difficult, and dangerous for almost everyone who ever existed:

"From surviving on wild plants and game to controlling our world with technology, humanity’s journey of progress is a story of expanding human agency."

Excerpt from The Techno-Humanist Manifesto, Jason Crawford

"Its scorecard over the last few centuries is legendary: more than a twenty-fold increase in GDP per capita in developed nations, and a reduction in extreme poverty from almost 80% of the world to less than 10%; more than a doubling of global life expectancy at birth, including a tenfold reduction in child mortality; an increase in basic education and literacy rates from about 15% to over 85%." — Jason Crawford for Big Think

A new drug could change the tide of war against HIV with 100% protection if the exorbitant price can be overcome.

A new drug by Gilead, described as “the closest we have ever been to an HIV vaccine” could cost $40 (£31) a year for every patient, a thousand times less than its current price, new research suggests.

The drug currently costs $42,250 for the first year, while Gilead is under pressure to make the breakthrough treatment more accessible. In a trial conducted in South Africa and Uganda, the drug offered 100% protection to more than 5,000 women.

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A century-old wheat collection could hold invaluable DNA for future crop breeding

A collection of century-old wheat could hold valuable DNA that may be used in future crop breeding. DNA contained in the collection may hold the keys to developing future wheat variants with reduced fertilizer requirements, higher yields, or more environmental resilience. The collection is potentially a “gold mine” of genetic diversity with significant agricultural implications.

Root Source: Nature, Published: June 17th, 2024 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07682-9

Secondary Source: Science: ‘Gold mine’ of century-old wheat varieties could help breeders restore long lost traits

From cancer to Alzheimer's, vaccines against the diseases of old age are on a realistic development path

From cancer to Alzheimer's, researchers are getting closer to the successful development of a number of vaccines that may soon allow protection against the diseases of old age, providing for the possibility of a longer, healthier life.

“One day, we will be treating and preventing Alzheimer’s with vaccines,” says Weiner. “Of course, it doesn’t happen overnight. But we’re doing it.”

Machine learning-powered analysis of gut microbe populations may lead to more effective Autism diagnosis in children

New research published in the journal Nature Microbiology outlines a possible link between some gut microbe populations and autism in children. The findings suggest that analyzing gut microbe populations may aid in diagnosing autism in a manner that is faster and less invasive.

Root Source: Multikingdom and functional gut microbiota, Nature, July 2024 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01739-1.epdf

Stunning new toaster-sized, AI-designed, and 3D-printed rocket from LEAP71 packs 20,000 horsepower

A new toaster-sized rocket motor, the Noyron TKL-5, designed entirely "autonomously without human intervention" has just been successfully tested by the team at LEAP17, pushing out 5 kN (500 kg / 1124 lbf) of thrust, 20,000 horsepower.

Credit: LEAP71, Dubai Noyron TKL-5 Rocket Thruster

AI robotic packing systems are packing frozen meals, and it's just the beginning

Faster, tireless, accurate, inexpensive, and without the drudgery of human packing; a new fleet of AI-powered robots are making inroads into more skilled food packing applications typically staffed with human packers.

"One of these systems can now do the work of two to four workers depending on which ingredients are being packed, Griego says. The robots also reduce waste, since they can pack more consistent portions than their human counterparts."

Jeep-mounted space laser receiver helps test high-speed infrared communications

"In a proof-of-concept breakthrough, researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA) have successfully received infrared laser signals from a satellite in low Earth orbit. The feat of engineering paves the way for a 1,000-fold increase in communication speeds between Earth and space."

The mobile optical communication network, TeraNet 3. Credit: ICRAR

New helium discovery is truly game-changing, and proving larger than first celebrated

A major new helium discovery by Pulsar Helium in Minnesota is proving larger than expected, driving further excitement around the possibility of commercializing and getting into production, one of the most important critical helium fields in history. It's a breakthrough that could have tremendous implications for science, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing.

We wrote about the initial discovery back in May 2024 here: "Helium discovery is the supply breakthrough science, medicine, and industry needed"

Gene-Edited xenotransplants could help ease a critical shortage of donor organs

More than 100,000 people are currently awaiting an organ transplant in the United States, with 17 people dying daily while awaiting a donor. Gene-edited animal organs could represent "a promising solution to the organ shortage crisis."

"Using CRISPR, the company made 69 edits that removed some pig genes, added some human ones, and reduced the risk of latent virus in the organ reactivating and harming the patient."

Scientists are launching a first-in-human vaccine trial for the highly fatal Marburg virus

Researchers in the United Kingdom have just launched a first-of-its-kind human vaccine against the highly fatal Marburg varus, with a (CFR) case fatality rate of up to 88%. Researchers are looking for 46 volunteers to receive doses of the ChAdOx1 Marburg vaccine at the University of Oxford.

The world's poor get richer

"The proportion of the world's adults with a net worth of less than $10,000 has plunged this century, from 75% in 2000 to less than 40% in 2023. That's according to data from the latest UBS Wealth Report." — Felix Salmon

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/11/world-income-inequality-ubs-wealth-report

How's the world’s emotional status tracking? It's better than it looks, especially among young people

Despite what you hear in the daily media, people are far less miserable than we're being led to believe. The results depend on how you ask the question, but the grand story is one of improved average happiness globally.

"Positive emotions reached a score of 71 out of 100 worldwide, the highest since the pandemic began. And negative emotions dropped for the first time since 2014. Among all age groups, young people were, by far, the best off. They experienced more positive emotions than anyone else and fewer negative ones. And in both directions, that’s been the case since measurement began in 2006."

"When you look at happiness that way, you get Scandinavian domination:"

What are the causes of human progress?

From freedom and innovation to the Enlightenment, in this new op-ed, Johan Norberg argues for the root causes of human progress and what will continue to driving further progress forward.

"It was the combined forces of the Enlightenment and classical liberalism that reduced intellectual and economic elites’ power to stamp out progress."

"To make progress, we must do something differently from what we did yesterday, and we must do it faster, better, or with less effort. To accomplish that, we innovate, and we imitate. That takes a certain openness to surprises, and that openness is rare."

Silencing this gene could allow for longer, healthier, and better lives, and it already works in mice

"A protein that promotes inflammation could hold the key to a longer, healthier life. Blocking the protein, called IL-11, in middle-aged mice boosted metabolism, reduced frailty and increased lifespan by about 25%."

"When they deleted the gene that codes for the IL-11 protein in some mice, the animals had improved healthspans — they were healthy for longer — and lived 25% longer than mice with normal levels of IL-11."

Root Source: Inhibition of IL-11 signalling extends mammalian healthspan and lifespan, Nature, July 17th, 2024 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07701-9

Progress Imprint:

Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker's 2019 book Enlightenment Now remains an effective and approachable argument for science, humanism, and human progress's past, present, and future story. Five years on, Enlightenment Now is still a must-read, if you haven't already, a brilliant introduction to progress theory.

"If you follow the trendlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer, and more prosperous - not just in the West, but worldwide. Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent value system that many of us embrace without even realizing it."

How Innovation Can Lead to Climate Adaptation, Kite & Key Media

It turns out, we're making progress — and while climate change is real and an important challenge, we're not doomed.

"Sea levels rising, flooding our major cities. Crops withering in the fields, imperiling our food supply. Catastrophic storms, blistering heat, water shortages. Add it all up and you can only come to one conclusion … which is that it’s all probably gonna be ok."

Kite & Key Media, March 2023

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