Through the Noise — April 9th 2022
Welcome to Through the Noise! A newsletter for those curious about healthcare innovation, technology, equity, and social impact. In it, I share relevant resources such as articles, reports, relevant links, recommendations for books, docuseries, podcasts, events, and courses.
In this issue, I am covering five exciting and or insightful stories
- Treating patient earth
- The danger and limitations of techno-optimism
- China Is About to Regulate AI — and the World Is Watching
- The promise of a new generation of cancer-preventing vaccines
- The Human Genome Is — Finally! — Complete
I want also to share some exciting news, my book 2050 Crossroads has been greenlighted by my publisher and my pre-sell campaign is live. Check more below.
Treating patient earth
We celebrated this week World Health Day 2022. It is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on Apr. 7, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization and other related organizations. Below is an awareness video from WHO.
I thought it was an excellent opportunity to reshare an article written Foresight Global Health on November 2021: Treating Patient Earth.
With every day comes new evidence of the devastation caused by climate change, and paralleling this rise is the rapid escalation of the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Climate change and non-communicable diseases have an undeniable link — treat one, and the other will follow.
The resounding message is loud and clear: act now to protect our climate and planet because time is rapidly running out. But this call to arms is not the preserve of climate change alone. Similarly, messages and actions around non-communicable diseases (NCDs) need to adopt a heightened sense of urgency: act now to prevent future disease burdens.
The danger and limitations of techno-optimism
Imagine a future where clean energy is abundant and widely accessible, healthy food is available to anyone who needs it, and anything can be manufactured at will with minimal environmental impact. Reaching this utopia might take time, but we will get there as long as we continue innovating and our technologies improve.
This is what techno-optimists will say to you. They will claim that the impacts of technology on society are overwhelmingly positive and that innovation allows humanity to make unthinkable economic, political, social, and cultural progress.
The reality is different, according to Tristan Bove. In his essay, he explains the danger of Techno-optimism and how philanthropic techno-optimists use and abuse the system. He suggests that policies, including regulation and taxation of the ultra-wealthy, are necessary. Reducing socioeconomic inequality and engaging citizens in a coordinated effort have to be done if we want to democratize our response to climate change and achieve the transformational change we need.
China Is About to Regulate AI — and the World Is Watching
According to Alberto Romero, China Is About to Regulate AI — and the World Is Watching. It’s unprecedented in the world.
Algorithms define our realities. They manipulate our attention and waste our time. We think we don’t want to live without them but look for ways to fight against the strong urge to scroll down on our phones. Tech companies have absolute power over them and don’t respond to the increasingly louder voices asking to revert these unescapable digital prisons. Algorithms should be subjected to the same rules that govern other new technologies, but the big tech refuses to be held accountable or have its all-important algorithms externally audited.
Now, China has decided to turn the tides. On Mar. 1, they activated a law that will allow users to turn off algorithm recommendations completely, among other unprecedented measures to give people more power over tech. Imagine a world where Facebook couldn’t show you what it wanted — optimized to keep you engaged — but what you wanted or needed.
The promise of a new generation of cancer-preventing vaccines
Vaccines to prevent certain types of cancer already exist. They target viruses: hepatitis B virus, which can trigger liver cancer, and human papillomavirus, which causes cervical and other cancers. But most cancers are not caused by viruses. The Lynch vaccine trial will be one of the first clinical tests of a vaccine to prevent nonviral cancers.
The idea is to deliver into the body bits of proteins, or antigens, from cancer cells to stimulate the immune system to attack any incipient tumors. The concept isn’t new, and it has faced skepticism. But now, a few teams — including one funded by National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) — are poised to test preventive vaccines, in some cases in healthy people at high genetic risk for breast and other cancers. Their efforts have been propelled by new insights into the genetic changes in early cancers and the recognition that even nascent tumors can suppress the immune system. The vaccines should work best in healthy people who have never had cancer.
Researchers are trying out several vaccine strategies. Some use so-called tumor antigens, molecular markers that are scarce on healthy cells but plentiful on cancer cells. The Lynch vaccine instead targets “neoantigens,” a potent type of antigen only found on tumor cells. Some deploy just a single antigen, whereas others use a large number in a bid to shield against cancer broadly.
The Human Genome Is — Finally! — Complete
When the Human Genome Project announced that they had completed the first human genome in 2003, it was a momentous accomplishment — for the first time, the DNA blueprint of human life was unlocked. But it came with a catch — they couldn’t put together all the genetic information in the genome. There were gaps: unfilled, often repetitive regions that were too confusing to piece together.
With advancements in technology that could handle these repetitive sequences, scientists finally filled those gaps in May 2021, and the first end-to-end human genome was officially published on Mar. 31, 2022.
2050 Crossroads
Our future is yet to be written. We cannot predict it, but we can imagine it.
Have you ever wondered what our future will look like? What’s going to happen tomorrow, over the next decade, or even a millennium from now?
Well, you’re not alone. I had the same thoughts after my scary experience with Covid back in April 2020. I wrote this book about the future (s) of health, hopes, and concerns. I wanted to give you a glimpse into our many possible futures and how the convergence of exponential technologies could shape them. But importantly I wanted to understand which world we will leave to our children and what we should be doing now to ensure a better future for them.
I interviewed (and continue to) researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and healthcare professionals worldwide to get their insights and perspective. The result is this book — a collection of stories and interviews, hopes and concerns, that will help you explore the possibilities.
This book is about how we can use technology and innovation to make health more equitable and accessible, as well as a healthier society. It is not a techno-optimist book, nor does it promote any particular technology or agenda. It is simply about opening a debate about the possible futures of healthcare so that we can make informed decisions today.
My book is expected to be released end of this year. However, in order to cover the publication cost, I need to secure the first 250 copies in the next 22 days :)
50% of any remaining funds (post-publishing costs) will be donated to a charity SOS Children’s Villages. Why this NGO? It’s obvious, they are our future
https://igg.me/at/2050crossroads/x/27406573#/
Thank you for taking the time to read this issue and for all the support you have provided to help our effort with Ukraine.
If you liked it… Share it! And subscribe! Thank you
