Lifeboat Foundation

It’s not quite the mythical fountain of youth but it is, perhaps, a start: Scientists have managed to engineer human skin cells to reverse 30 years of aging, resetting them to a much more youthful state in terms of certain molecular measurements.

While it’s very early days for the research – so we shouldn’t get carried away too quickly – the technique could play a major part in efforts to produce rejuvenative medicine that’s able to undo some of the damaging consequences of our bodies getting older.

What makes the research particularly notable is that the skin cells were reprogrammed to be biologically younger while still keeping some of the functionality that made them skin cells in the first place.

The Neuro-Network.

𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜-𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧

Continue reading “AI maps psychedelic ‘trip’ experiences to regions of the brain — opening new route to psychiatric treatments” »

Controllable protein attachment onto solid interfaces is essential for the functionality of proteins with broad applications. Silica-binding peptides (SBPs) have emerged as an important tool enabling convenient binding of proteins onto a silica surface. Surprisingly, we found that removal of polyhistidines, a common tag for protein purification, dramatically decrease the binding affinity of a SBP-tagged nanobody onto a silica surface. We hypothesized that polyhistidines and SBPs can be combined to enhance affinity. Through a series of purposely designed SBPs, we identified that the relative orientation of amino acids is a key factor affecting the surface binding strength. One re-engineered SBP, SBP4, exhibits a 4000-fold improvement compared to the original sequence.

Selective activation of the hepatoportal nerve plexus via peripheral focused ultrasound stimulation improves glucose homoeostasis and enhances glucose tolerance and utilization in rodent models of diabetes and in swine.

There are even more types of viruses in the ocean than researchers once thought. Now they identified a total of 5,504 new marine RNA viruses and doubled the number of known RNA virus phyla from five to 10.

Our next challenge, then, was to determine the evolutionary connections between these genes. The more similar the two genes were, the more likely viruses with those genes were closely related. Because these sequences had evolved so long ago (possibly predating the first cell), the genetic signposts indicating where new viruses may have split off from a common ancestor had been lost to time. A form of artificial intelligence called machine learning, however, allowed us to systematically organize these sequences and detect differences more objectively than if the task were done manually.

We identified a total of 5,504 new marine RNA viruses and doubled the number of known RNA virus phyla from five to 10. Mapping these new sequences geographically revealed that two of the new phyla were particularly abundant across vast oceanic regions, with regional preferences in either temperate and tropical waters (the Taraviricota, named after the Tara Oceans expeditions) or the Arctic Ocean (the Arctiviricota).

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry is the first to look at multiple levels of biology within women with postpartum depression (PPD) to see how women with the condition differ from those without it. PPD affects 1 in 7 women and has negative mental health consequences for both mother and child. However, the precise biological mechanisms behind the disorder are unknown.

“We don’t have PPD figured out,” said lead author Jerry Guintivano, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UNC Department of Psychiatry. “A lot of biological research focuses on candidate genes and hormones, and we do have a lead on some PPD-specific medications, but it’s important to take multiple avenues to target this condition. Not every manifestation of PPD is the same.”

That’s why Guintivano led a team of researchers from the UNC School of Medicine to conduct the largest transcriptome-wide association study for PPD to date. Previous studies have only analyzed whole blood samples. This study took a deeper look and examined the different components of blood. They took blood samples from 1,500 racially and ethnically diverse women from across North Carolina who had given birth within the past six weeks, 482 of whom were diagnosed with PPD. Researchers used RNA sequencing, DNA genotyping, and assessment of DNA methylation—amounting to three levels of basic biology evaluation—to look for differences in components of the blood samples from women with PPD versus women without PPD.

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Papers referenced in the video:
Dietary oxalate to calcium ratio and incident cardiovascular events: a 10-year follow-up among an Asian population.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35346210/

Continue reading “Calcium Intake Affects The Association For Dietary Oxalate With CVD-Event Risk” »

The TechCrunch Global Affairs Project examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.

Geopolitical actors have always used technology to further their goals. Unlike other technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is far more than a mere tool. We do not want to anthropomorphize AI or suggest that it has intentions of its own. It is not — yet — a moral agent. But it is fast becoming a primary determinant of our collective destiny. We believe that because of AI’s unique characteristics — and its impact on other fields, from biotechnologies to nanotechnologies — it is already threatening the foundations of global peace and security.

The rapid rate of AI technological development, paired with the breadth of new applications (the global AI market size is expected to grow more than ninefold from 2020 to 2028) means AI systems are being widely deployed without sufficient legal oversight or full consideration of their ethical impacts. This gap, often referred to as the pacing problem, has left legislatures and executive branches simply unable to cope.