Lab Blog

I'm not sure what timeline Gabe believes in but attempting to pour his time and money into something doesn't really matter, does it? It doesn't have to pay off tomorrow for it to be a worthy endeavor.

Also, it's important to understand that our understanding of interfacing with the human nervous system is not as in the gutters as most people think. Right now you can find labs interfacing computers with nerves:

A recent, of many, example: https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/health-tech/its-like-you-have-a-hand-again

Going back slightly further, this is a company interfacing with your retina: https://secondsight.com/discover-argus/#

Going back even further, this is a person interfacing with your visual cortex: http://web.archive.org/web/20050404225434/http://www.artificialvision.com/faq.html

Here are some videos of the original prototypes in one of the first patients: http://web.archive.org/web/20050312143129/http://www.artificialvision.com:80/video.html

What's very interesting is there's a breakdown of the costs/components of this system on this page: http://web.archive.org/web/20050312145543/http://www.artificialvision.com/wired.html

1 miniature camera mounted on eyeglasses
1 frame grabber
1 microcomputer
1 stimulus generation module
2 implanted electrode arrays with percutaneous pedestals
3 sets of rechargeable batteries and 1 charger (customer is responsible for replacement batteries as needed)

It's essentially a phone + signal generator…

(2018) https://bohembaeksvensson.medium.com/toxoplasma-the-most-successful-parasite-in-the-world-do-you-know-it-c1083012f28a

> Toxoplasma is the most “successful” parasite in the world but known only to a few. In humans, it infects the brain, heart, lungs, and muscle tissue ... Toxoplasma is being associated with depression, cancer, diabetes, obesity, bipolar, schizophrenia, self-harm, dementia, aggression, reduced learning ability in children, subtle mind-control, and impaired curiosity. It has infected more than 30% of the global population ... The older you are the higher the probability of being infected. If you are 50 years old, the average probability of being infected with Toxoplasma is in the range of 50% — so it’s worth investing 15 minutes in getting to know it.

(2017) https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-report/how-to-stop-lurking-toxoplasmosis-parasite-target-its-stomach

> Undercooked meat can spread Toxoplasma bradyzoite cysts, and the parasite is often transmitted to humans through cat feces that contain another cyst form. That’s why public health authorities advise pregnant women not to change cat litter boxes, and advise anyone who eats meat to consume it only fully cooked. The key danger from toxoplasmosis is that it’s one of the few infections capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. That means it can get into the nervous system, including the retina, spinal cord and brain. It can also hide out in muscle tissue of both humans and animals.

> ...we now have to assume the existence of some kind of insurance with copay, otherwise I don't know how 900 people afford $365k/year in medical costs

You just hit upon the problem.

> Some families spend thousands of dollars each year to buy orphan drugs, which are drugs that have received a special designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. About 1 in 8 families [with children taking orphan drugs] paid more than $2,000 a year in 2018 – double the percentage who spent that much in 2013.[0]

Put that up against the US median household income of $67.5k (or $46.6k for black households)[1], and you've got yourself a significant expense. Keep in mind, this is only the median income. 8.7% of households make between $15-25k per year[1] and probably can't afford the copays, much less the insurance.

If it's a scenario where it's "take the drug or a kid dies," more than 1/10th of those kids die, absent any outside financial help. And, that would be quite a lot of financial help, too.

Let's not also forget this kid is probably uninsurable, so, they'll have to have group health insurance for the entirre rest of their lives. Better not get fired from your job when you're past 26, kiddo!

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[0]: https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-notes/big-costs-for-small-patients-rare-diseases-study-finds

[1]: https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html

> rather than producing them outside the body and then injecting them

That's not what the Oxford/AZ vaccine does, is it? From what I understand, it's a viral vector vaccine engineered to deliver DNA that encodes the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into human cells and induce them to express the protein, stimulating the immune response.

The plan was never to introduce spike protein "produced outside the body." The mechanism of action is getting the body to produce spike protein and learn to attack it as foreign. If the Oxford/AZ vaccine doesn't "take advantage of your own cells to produce the spike protein," I don't know what does.

https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/top-5-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-explained

It is an unfounded conspiracy theory that has nothing really to do with this topic. It also shows a great deal of ignorance around how HIV invades the body (and why it is so difficult to completely eradicate e.g. [0]).

I didn't downvote it, but it isn't exactly hard to see why some might. It is less that HN is "ridiculously polarized" and more that the signal:noise on that specific comment is exceptionally low.

[0] https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-report/cells-stand-way-of-curing-hiv