Rise of the Machines, End of the Humans: Dr. Robert Lanza on Machines Taking over the World

World-renowned scientist Dr. Robert Lanza, who is likened to the legendary Albert Einstein, believes that one day, the world as we know it will be taken over by our own mechanical creations. “It’s not a matter of if, but rather when it’s going to happen,” he adds.

From Robert Lanza

Dr. Lanza is part of the team that has been successful in cloning herds of cows and even endangered species and the first human embryos, reversed ageing of the cellular level, and made progress in growing replacement tissues for every organ in the body including the heart and kidney. However, for him, there is still one more organ that’s a far greater challenge – the brain. “It seems natural that someday we’ll make machines that’ll think and act like people,” Dr. Robert Lanza says. There already are scientists at MIT proposing that the interactions between the neurons can be duplicated by using silicon chips. “Eventually we may even be able to build a machine that can reproduce and evolve.” Dr. Lanza adds.

From Robert Lanza

However, a machine has no other principle but physics and the chemistry of the atoms that compose it. Unlike humans, it cannot possess a sense of consciousness. Dr. Lanza states that the scientific community will eventually understand these algorithms to create “thinking” machines and enhancement to ourselves, both biological and artificial, that we can’t even dare think of. Dr. Lanza conludes, “And after over 200,000 years of evolution, Homo sapiens, as a distinct species, may go extinct, not by a meteor or nuclear weapons, but by our desire to achieve perfection.”

From Robert Lanza

Read more at www.robertlanza.com.

Robert Lanza on How Tissue Engineering Aids in Breast Reconstruction

Robert Lanza has mastered the fundamentals of stem cell research, as well as its use as a potential derivative for organ and tissue cells. His research on the matter has paved the way for numerous medical breakthroughs, giving scientists from all over the world a deeper understanding of this remarkable type of cell, which has the potential to grow and develop into nearly any other type of cell found within the human body. He specializes in stem cell research that is dedicated to developing these cells into other organ tissues.

From Robert Lanza

Stem cell research often goes hand-in-hand with regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, because of the stem cells’ ability to produce tissues. In his book, “Principles of Tissue Engineering,” (recognized as the definitive reference in the field) Robert Lanza explains how tissue engineering can aid in the creation of new soft-tissue replacements in breast reconstructive surgery after mastectomy or lumpectomy. Preadipocytes, fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, muscle myocytes, and chondrocytes are just some of the cell types that can be used for the procedure. Cell-polymer constructs are then introduced into the body via surgical implants or through injections. Once the cell-polymer constructs are inside the body, the process of tissue regeneration begins, and the breast tissues are replicated. This procedure can be very expensive, but it is worth every penny because results are guaranteed to look and feel natural.

From Robert Lanza

From Robert Lanza

More information on Robert Lanza and his expertise may be found at www.robertlanza.com.

Robert Lanza on Recent Stem Cell Advancements: “Retina in a Dish” is Successful

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Robert Lanza had recently blogged about developments in organs being recreated out of stem cells, noting that one type of complex tissue has been successfully recreated—an eight-layer early-stage retina designed to improve studies and even perhaps become a basis of treatment for eye disorders or blindness. That time, this tissue was the most complex cell structure created from derived embryonic stem cells. However, that structure is now eclipsed by a breakthrough in Japan where a full retina has been created.

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Mouse embryonic stem cells have been carefully coaxed to a very precise three-dimensional assembly, which is nicknamed “retina in a dish.” It is now currently leagues ahead of its predecessor as the most complex biological tissue engineered ever. Robert Lanza commends Dr. Yoshiki Sasai at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, who heads the research, for this amazing development. As he had always hoped for stem cell-derived biological structures, this technique, if adapted to human cells and then successfully proven safe for transplantation, can open the gates on unlimited tissue that replaces retinas. This, however, may take years.

A more immediate use for this is that Dr. Sasai's work can serve as a “quick-guide” for other researchers, and may aid in becoming a blueprint for assembly of other organs and complex tissues.

Robert Lanza’s own breakthroughs in the field of stem cell research can be found at his website, www.robertlanza.com.

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Robert Lanza on Recent Developments in the Field: Half a Million Dollars Awarded to US Stem Cell Researchers

Robert Lanza’s confidence in the stem cell research field continues to grow now that the scientific spotlight has fallen upon it. In a very recent development, the United States has officially granted the largest monetary award in the country to three top scientists in the field. The total equates to half a million dollars.



Medical Center prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research CEO James Barba states that the solutions to debilitating diseases might be found through the science of stem cells. The announced winners were Elaine Fucjs of Rockefeller University in New York, James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine, and Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan.



Robert Lanza adds that stem cells are seen by many researchers to have a wide application in the treatment and care of many human diseases. Yamanaka and Thomson contributed to this journey by discovering in their laboratories, separately, how to genetically reprogram adult human cells back to an embryonic state in 2007, which were reported as major scientific breakthroughs. The cell lines that both scientists have discovered are now the same ones used worldwide.



Fuchs’ work, on the other hand, is focused mainly on stem cell biology. Understanding how stem cells make skin and hair and repair wounds have enabled other scientists to not only recreate more types of cells but also make genetic bases towards learning more on human skin disorders and cancers.



For more updates on stem cell research, log on to www.robertlanza.com.

Stem Cell Study Application: Robert Lanza Defines Regenerative Medicine

From Robert Lanza

A good part of Robert Lanza’s studies in human embryonic stem cell research goes to the further expansion of Regenerative Medicine. As human embryonic stem cells have an extremely high pluripotency and have the ability to generate three different types of cell found in the body, the potential to use stem cell research to generate nearly unlimited amounts of any type of human cell is exponential. This is one of the goals of stem cell research: so human cells may be created to replace or repair damaged ones in a human body.

Regenerative Medicine is defined as the process by which living, viable tissue is created in order to repair and replace those that have been damaged or ruptured by congenital defects. Robert Lanza’s research in regenerating retinal cells in order to replace those which have been damaged due to blindness—a currently experimental treatment that is still undergoing clinical trials—is one such example. This is but one of the more recent advancements in stem cell research that continues to prove that regenerative medicine may in fact be the solution to many uncured diseases today.

From Robert Lanza

Regenerative Medicine also empowers scientists, allowing them to grow tissues and organs in laboratory conditions and use them for safe implantation into a body that cannot heal itself. Aside from cell implantation, there is also the potential to regenerate whole organs for transplanting into the human body, thus eliminating the need to look for qualified organ donors, guaranteeing a more definite match to a patient's need.

Further details on Robert Lanza’s research relating to stem cell research and regenerative medicine can be found at www.robertlanza.com.

From Robert Lanza

Robert Lanza Talks About Generating Pancreatic Beta Cells With Embryonic Stem Cells

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Development of cures and treatments to many diseases, says Robert Lanza, can be fulfilled by harnessing the potential of pluripotent embryonic stem cells. These pluripotent cells have nearly limitless potential to develop and generate the different types of body cells found in the human body, thus providing the medical world with the potential to generate muscle tissue, blood tissue, skin tissue—even entire organs if the research progresses adequately.

Recently, a study has been made displaying how embryonic stem cells could be used, harnessing their signaling pathways, to develop pancreatic β-cells. Medical truth suggests that the key to curing diabetes lies in these β-cells, the destruction of which is the chief reason for the endocrine pancreas being unable to produce sufficient insulin.

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Robert Lanza goes on to say that there has been great research founded in trying to find a method that will regenerate a diabetic individual’s β-cells. Replenishing lost β-cell mass is a popular approach to curing diabetes, but it has taken a different turn with the development of pancreatic β-cells using embryonic stem cells.

By manipulating the signal pathways in the embryonic stem cells, β-cells could be generated from the ES cells, with researchers saying that there is a potential in starting material which could conceivably generate unlimited insulin-secreting cells. A promising strategy of development had been generated. However, the current protocols as they stand are not yet considered optimized due to the complexities of the signal pathways being used.

Hopefully, in a few more years, a breakthrough could be achieved that could mean a massive step in combating diabetes. Robert Lanza’s extensive research on the embryonic stem cell is detailed at www.robertlanza.com.

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Robert Lanza Discusses Stem Cell Research Advances: “Berlin Patient” Said to be Cured of HIV

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Robert Lanza has been in the forefront of stem cell research, with a breakthrough in deriving a “universal” blood supply from stem cells. In the current field of stem cell research, the blood research branch of stem cell research seems to have taken another great leap as, for the first time, a man has been reported as having been cured of HIV through stem cell therapy.

The struggle against AIDS has been considerable and has been an ongoing battle for many years, especially as the number of those infected continues to increase all over the world. That stem cells have now been conclusively proven (through extensive testing on the patient after the treatment) to have cured HIV marks a great advancement against the disease.

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology

Robert Lanza’s universal blood research is but one part of blood-related stem cell research. The Berlin Patient, as he was dubbed, had undergone stem cell transplants, with stem cells coming from an individual with a unique genetic profile: a mutation that created CD4 cells that did not have CCR5 receptors. This type of homozygosity is present in less than 1% of Caucasians, and greatly reduces HIV risks in an individual.

Through these transplanted stem cells, the original HIV-host CD4 cells started to become overrun and consequently eclipsed by the new CD4 cells, eliminating the infection. The Berlin Patient’s success has been spreading like wildfire through the medical world and is lauded as a great achievement not only in the field, but in history, as well.

Robert Lanza’s own stem cell research advances can be found at www.robertlanza.com.

From Robert Lanza: Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology