Nordic Life Science 1
NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE EDITOR IN CHIEF: MALIN OTMANI
LAYOUT: LISA LIDGREN, MALIN OTMANI ENGLISH PROOFREADING: GAIL ADAM COVER PHOTO: MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT PRINTED BY: ÅTTA.45 2024 SCIENCE JOURNALISTS IN THIS ISSUE: WORDS FROM THE EDI TOR MALIN OTMANI The last frontier in medicine ELLEN R. DELISIO PAULA PÉREZ GONZÁLEZANGUIANO THE BRAIN IS a fascinating organ and a hot topic, I mean who does not want to learn more about our personalities, our souls (if you believe in them), our dreams, and not least our potential and ways to treat and restore its function when becoming ill or coming of age. It does not got less exciting when many scientists state that we are entering the golden age of neurodegenerative disease treatment. AI and the rapid progress being made within mRNA and cancer, for example, have definitely speeded things up. Learn more about some of the most recent progress being made within CNS disease treatments, including Nordic advances, in Sheila Mahoney-Jewels’s review on page 76. Although the recent brain news from Elon Musk's Neuralink that the first ever human SHEILA MAHONEYJEWELS patient has been able to control a computer mouse just by though through an implanted brain-chip might scare a few (me included), it also holds great medical potential. It could for example have the potential to restore vision, motor function, and speech. But still, scary. Having recently watched the movie Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan, CHARLOTTE SCHUBERT you can't miss the connections between now (the AI race) and then (the atomic bomb race). As Future of Life Institute's President Max Tegmark put it recently in an interview with CNBC (in connection with their Open letter calling on world leaders to show long-view leadership on existential threats), “We need safety engineering for our future, with nuclear weapons, with synthetic biology, with ever more powerful AI.” Indeed. On another brain topic – perhaps you will find it useful at your next board or Monday PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: MATTIAS OLME MARKETING & SALES: MATTIAS OLME EMAIL: MATTIAS@NLSNEWS.COM PHONE: +46 8 588 941 51 COPYRIGHT 2024 BY NLS MEDIA GROUP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WHITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. A MAGAZINE FROM NLS MEDIA GROUP NLS MEDIA GROUP AB, ST PAULSGATAN 13 118 46 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN PHONE: +46 8 588 941 51 morning meeting – scientists have reported that people are more creative after waking from the earliest stage of sleep (the state of sleep onset), especially when they are guided to dream about a particular topic, termed targeted dream incubation (Horowitz at el., Scientific Reports, 2023). According to the researchers, during this dream state, the brain makes more wide-ranging connections between disparate concepts, and this gives a boost in creativity. It's worth a try! NLS On my mind lately: Founder being pushed off. Some with reason, some unfair. Listen to the podcast That Human Touch – Health Innovation in West Sweden (27 January, 2024) where Mikael Kubista, founder of Tataa Biocenter, shares his journey. MALIN OTMANI EDITOR IN CHIEF FOR DAILY LIFE SCIENCE UPDATES: NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG DO YOU HAVE NEWS TO SHARE? MALIN@NLSNEWS.COM PARTNERS: SUBSCRIPTION DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION: 13 EUR/MONTH, INCLUDES: 01. THE DIGITAL ISSUES OF THE MAGAZINE 02. ACCESS TO ARCHIVE, FULLY SEARCHABLE, INCLUDING ALL PREVIOUS DIGITAL ISSUES 03. THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER NLS NEWS AND THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER NLS CAREERS 04. ACCESS TO ALL DIGITAL CONTENT ON NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG, UNLIMITED READING CALL: +46 8 588 941 51 OR SIGN UP AT: NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG/SUBSCRIBE