Lifeboat Foundation

ROCHESTER, Minn. ― Adding messenger RNA, or mRNA therapy improves the response to cancer immunotherapy in patients who weren’t responding to the treatment, Mayo Clinic research shows. Immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to prevent, control and eliminate cancer. The study is published in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The phrase messenger RNA and its acronym, mRNA, have become familiar to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 work by instructing cells in the body how to make a protein that triggers an immune response against the virus.

MRNA technology has also been of interest to cancer researchers and physicians. One of the major obstacles in cancer treatment is the low response rate in patients who receive immune checkpoint inhibitors to prevent an immune response from being so strong that it destroys healthy cells in the body.

In this video Dr. Lustgarten introduces his N of 1 experiment and gives an overview of the processes that he follows. He also discusses why he thinks it is important to track your own markers and not just rely on published trials.

Dr. Michael Lustgarten is a scientist at the Tufts University Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston, Massachusetts. His research currently focuses on the role of the gut microbiome and serum metabolome on muscle mass and function in older adults.
In this series of interviews Dr Lustgarten shares his experience with his rigorous n of 1 experiment over the last 7 years and shows how we or anyone can conduct a similar trial by tracking food, exercise and sleep, measure results and derive relationships between them, with a goal of extending our healthspan.

Continue reading “N Of 1 Extend Lifespan Experiment: How To Start | Dr Michael Lustgarten Interview Series 3 Ep 1” »

Abstract. The cnidarian model organism Hydra has long been studied for its remarkable ability to regenerate its head, which is controlled by a head organizer located near the hypostome. The canonical Wnt pathway plays a central role in head organizer function during regeneration and during bud formation, which is the asexual mode of reproduction in Hydra. However, it is unclear how shared the developmental programs of head organizer genesis are in budding and regeneration. Time-series analysis of gene expression changes during head regeneration and budding revealed a set of 298 differentially expressed genes during the 48-h head regeneration and 72-h budding time courses. In order to understand the regulatory elements controlling Hydra head regeneration, we first identified 27,137 open-chromatin elements that are open in one or more sections of the organism body or regenerating tissue. We used histone modification ChIP-seq to identify 9,998 candidate proximal promoter and 3,018 candidate enhancer-like regions respectively. We show that a subset of these regulatory elements is dynamically remodeled during head regeneration and identify a set of transcription factor motifs that are enriched in the enhancer regions activated during head regeneration. Our results show that Hydra displays complex gene regulatory structures of developmentally dynamic enhancers, which suggests that the evolution of complex developmental enhancers predates the split of cnidarians and bilaterians.

Bionaut Labs aims to use robots smaller than a grain of rice to deliver medications exactly where they are needed and minimize the side effects for the body.

Moderator: Michael Wall.
Panelists: Kennda Lynch, Abigail Fraeman, Morgan Cable.

Part of the Earth at the Crossroads conference held on Nov. 18, 2021.

Continue reading “Habitability in the Solar System” »

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K78jqx9fx2I
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GUEST BIO:
Jamie Metzl is an author specializing in topics of genetic engineering, biotechnology, and geopolitics.

Continue reading “Sam Harris and Brett Weinstein Twitter feud | Jamie Metzl and Lex Fridman” »

Blocking matrix metalloproteinases MMP2 and MMP9 can have the opposite effect on neuroplasticity depending on whether the brain is healthy or injured.

Summary: Blocking the matrix metalloproteinases MMP2 and MMP9 can have the opposite effect on neuroplasticity depending on whether the brain is healthy or injured.

Source: University of Gottingen

Continue reading “Learning and Protecting Itself: How the Brain Adapts” »

NASA has again delayed the multi-billion dollar James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), this time citing communications issues.

The space telescope was due to launch on December 22, 2021, from the European Spaceport in Korou, French Guiana.

The space agency is now saying “no earlier than” December 24, 2021.

Continue reading “NASA Delays $10 Billion Space Telescope Yet Again. It Could Now Launch On Christmas Day” »

What if your brain at 77 were as plastic as it was at 7? What if you could learn Mandarin with the ease of a toddler or play Rachmaninoff without breaking a sweat? A growing understanding of neuroplasticity suggests these fantasies could one day become reality. Neuroplasticity may also be the key to solving diseases like Alzheimer’s, depression, and autism. In this program, leading neuroscientists discuss their most recent findings and both the tantalizing possibilities and pitfalls for our future cognitive selves.

PARTICIPANTS: alvaro pascual-leone, nim tottenham, carla shatz.

Continue reading “The Nuts and Bolts of Better Brains: Harnessing the Power of Neuroplasticity” »