Targeted memory erasure may soon be more than just a plot device in romantic comedies like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” By manipulating a single protein called alpha-CaM kinase II, researchers have managed to eliminate traumatic memories from the brains of mice without impacting their ability to recall other memories. A remarkable discovery and one that heralds the possibility of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating phobias, not to mention questionable new procedures for the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Homeland Security. That said, the process is nowhere near ready for human trials. “First of all I should emphasize the methodology is not applicable to the human clinical situation yet,” said Dr. Joe Tsien of the Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute in Georgia. “However, it does suggest molecular paradigms which we can explore to perhaps achieve the same kind of effects in humans–but those are probably years or decades away.”
Does this mean we can torture people in time of war, run them under this machine and wallah no recollection of events? Have you seen Men in Black? Put on your sun glasses. This would save them billions in mental health services though. Sorry if you spent years studying psychology only to find your government job replaced by a machine.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size. 11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Targeted memory erasure may soon be more than just a plot device in romantic comedies like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” By manipulating a single protein called alpha-CaM kinase II, researchers have managed to eliminate traumatic memories from the brains of mice without impacting their ability to recall other memories. A remarkable discovery and one that heralds the possibility of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating phobias, not to mention questionable new procedures for the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Homeland Security. That said, the process is nowhere near ready for human trials. “First of all I should emphasize the methodology is not applicable to the human clinical situation yet,” said Dr. Joe Tsien of the Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute in Georgia. “However, it does suggest molecular paradigms which we can explore to perhaps achieve the same kind of effects in humans–but those are probably years or decades away.”
Comments
Does this mean we can torture people in time of war, run them under this machine and wallah no recollection of events? Have you seen Men in Black? Put on your sun glasses. This would save them billions in mental health services though. Sorry if you spent years studying psychology only to find your government job replaced by a machine.
Posted by Brandon Barclay at October 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am