“For the human species, the love of power is greater than the love of truth.” - Yuval Noah Harari, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”
There is a book called “The King of Diseases - Cancer Chronicles” that is particularly unsuitable for reading before meals. The book depicts the despair and helplessness of the medical community in their century-long battle against cancer, with countless brave attempts resulting in generations of patients becoming casualties.
Until today, cancer treatment remains one of the most expensive remedies that often bankrupts many people.
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In the past few decades, our lives have undergone revolutionary changes, and the fundamental reason for this is the electronic industry transitioning from analog to digital.
Scientists’ understanding of pathology and pharmacology has long been in a state of trial-and-error simulation, resulting in exorbitant costs and lengthy development cycles for drug research, ultimately relying only on statistical approval for market launch.
The dawn of cancer treatment has arrived because the era of digitization replacing traditional analog biological technologies has come.
- Reviewing basic knowledge.
Normal cells undergo carcinogenesis, which means that they produce DNA different from their own. This can be seen as a software replication error, where one’s own cells become invaders.
Every cell is a factory that produces proteins based on DNA, and proteins are used to perform the functions of the cell.
The cancer protein produced by cancer cells is absent in normal cells. The original design of our immune system is to be able to detect these foreign proteins, similar to detecting the invasion of viruses and bacteria.
There are two important types of lymphocytes in the immune system in two days:
T cells usually undergo machine learning (encounter various pathogens) in the data center (lymph nodes) and remember to activate the corresponding B cells upon the enemy’s return (antigen).
Cancer cells can grow in large numbers and eventually develop into tumors or cancer due to certain cancer cells having the ability to disguise themselves from the immune system.
- Advanced Techniques in Cancer Treatment
In addition to traditional simulation techniques such as surgical removal, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, new changes have emerged in some anti-cancer strategies with the development of molecular biology.
Let’s take a look at the technology involved in modular conversion, which emerged after our initial understanding of cancer antigens:
Methods 1, 2, and 3 are often used together. The most famous targets among them are PD-1/1L, which bring in billions of dollars in drugs every year. However, this method is not advanced enough, as it appears that similar patients are all treated with the same targets, and the effectiveness rate is not high enough.
Car-T therapy, which is a personalized treatment method that has gained popularity in recent years, involves engineering T cells with receptors (Car) that can recognize cancer cells. However, it has several drawbacks such as the limited availability of healthy T cells for modification, low success rates in treating complex solid tumors, and other issues.
Three, Gene Scissors.
What should the digital technology for cancer resistance look like?
In the past 10 years, two major breakthroughs have occurred in genetic technology: CRISPR-Cas gene scissors and mRNA vaccines.
The author of “Steve Jobs Biography,” Walter Isaacson, has a new book titled “Code Breaker” which tells the story of CRISPR.
CRISPR is a technology that scientists learned from the humblest of organisms, bacteria. This technique has opened Pandora’s box, allowing scientists to copy and paste various gene fragments with low cost and precision.
The traditional genetic modification technique is quite crude, sometimes forcibly injecting another segment of DNA into a cell. Although this method is crude, the trial and error threshold is quite high, and we all know that Monsanto has to some extent monopolized genetically modified seeds.
After the advent of CRISPR technology, the cost has significantly reduced to the point that even a high school student can perform more precise editing than what used to be possible with Monsanto. Editing human genes is now not too difficult as well.
- mRNA technology.
mRNA is well known in relation to the COVID-19 vaccine, but the destructive nature behind it is actually quite revolutionary and unknown to many people.
mRNA can instruct the human body to produce any protein, which is quite intimidating as it essentially allows for pre-programmed instructions to be implanted within the cells. This is just one of its functions, as it can also be used to train the immune system.
If a virus or cancer mutation occurs, technicians only need to identify the target and perform gene sequencing, send a series of numbers to the factory, and in two weeks, the vaccine can be produced.
Some people say, “Stop talking, even mRNA vaccines cannot prevent Omicron.”
Actually, this is not entirely a scientific issue. The mRNA vaccine for omicron has already been developed, but people are still being forced to receive old vaccines. Under current procedures and concepts, clinical trials and approval of new drugs and vaccines may require a long waiting period.
If there appears an airborne virus with a mortality rate of 30%, I believe decision makers would promptly approve the mRNA vaccine. Whether or not to get vaccinated is a personal decision, but people have the right to multiple choices.
- Fully Digitalized Cancer Treatment.
Therefore, the ultimate digital logic for cancer suppression becomes very simple.
The most crucial aspect is that these treatment methods can be personalized and tailored to suit individual needs, and digitization will enable pathology and treatment principles to be simulated on a computer.
All of the aforementioned methods will probably take about ten years to reach practical levels. As for patients, they will of course require a lot of money.
So, does this article end here?
- The Beginning of Misfortune.
Technological development always advances ahead of humanity. The stronger human abilities become, the more bad things they do.
For example, during the Second Industrial Revolution, the machine gun and tank appeared and caused a battle that resulted in 1.34 million casualties. Since then, atomic bombs, airplanes, missiles, and other lethal weapons have surpassed the power of the machine gun.
The recent bad example is the mobile internet. Information spreads at an unparalleled speed to everyone’s fingertips. The 99% of people who never used to watch TV news or read newspapers now look at their phones every day. The mob and the narrow-minded are incited and connected, hatred is spread at lightning speed, and the crowd is severely divided beyond repair. This world is becoming more and more disgusting.
Mutations and even cancer in human cells are necessary for evolution. The development and growth of fetuses will go through the entire process of evolution from a single cell, and our DNA records all of it. However, the vast majority of the abilities we acquire in this lifetime to resist various viruses and cancer cells are not recorded in DNA, and therefore cannot be passed on to future generations.
This is a clever design. The Creator hopes that we can survive and become stronger generation after generation. He does not allow us to simply rely on outdated knowledge. Similarly, the least valuable aspect of an old expert is their knowledge.
There is a design within our genes that forces us towards aging, preventing us from living too long and delaying the evolution of future generations. However, with the significant advancement of synthetic biology, we are now able to produce artificial meat, modify animal organs for transplant, use gene editing to alleviate serious illnesses and aging restrictions, and even create life. The question remains: is this power something that humanity should possess?
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It is said that the first time humans contracted the flu was only 10,000 years ago, and many of the things we take for granted were not naturally occurring.
In the long river of history, spanning billions of years since the birth of life, humans emerged relatively recently, only 70 to 80 thousand years ago, from a four-limbed creature with a cloaca. In a sudden leap, they broke free from the constraints of their genetic destiny and became masters of creation.
“Nevertheless, the eventual nirvana or eternal life of humans may still depend on artificial intelligence.”
Genetically modified humans and intelligent machines:
When it comes to power, the two may intertwine, but ultimately there will be a battle.