Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered that fruit flies with genetic modifications to enhance glucose uptake have significantly longer lifespans. Looking at the brain cells of aging flies, they found that better glucose uptake compensates for age-related deterioration in motor functions, and led to longer life. The effect was more pronounced when coupled with dietary restrictions. This suggests healthier eating plus improved glucose uptake in the brain might lead to enhanced lifespans.

The brain is a particularly power-hungry part of our bodies, consuming 20% of the oxygen we take in and 25% of the glucose. That’s why it’s so important that it can stay powered, using the glucose to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the “energy courier” of the body. This chemical process, known as glycolysis, happens in both the intracellular fluid and a part of cells known as the mitochondria. But as we get older, our brain cells become less adept at making ATP, something that broadly correlates with less glucose availability. That might suggest that more food for more glucose might actually be a good thing. On the other hand, it is known that a healthier diet actually leads to longer life. Unraveling the mystery surrounding these two contradictory pieces of knowledge might lead to a better understanding of healthier, longer lifespans.

A team led by Associate Professor Kanae Ando studied this problem using Drosophila fruit flies. Firstly, they confirmed that brain cells in older flies tended to have lower levels of ATP, and lower uptake of glucose. They specifically tied this down to lower amounts of the enzymes needed for glycolysis. To counteract this effect, they genetically modified flies to produce more of a glucose-transporting protein called hGut3. Amazingly, this increase in glucose uptake was all that was required to significantly improve the amount of ATP in cells. More specifically, they found that more hGut3 led to less decrease in the production of the enzymes, counteracting the decline with age. Though this did not lead to an improvement in age-related damage to mitochondria, they also suffered less deterioration in locomotor functions.

Team creates a microlaser whose wavelength can be switched by injecting single-stranded DNA into the cavity—and switched back with another, complementary DNA strand.

No data degradation, no problem.

The Moon and Mars are remote and forbidding but it’s fairly easy to turn their soil into construction material and mine it for water to drink and oxygen to breathe.

Several astronauts have spent more than a year in zero gravity, and they experienced muscle loss, brittle bones and difficulties with vision. A space station could be spun up to ameliorate these problems, and for colonists on the Moon and Mars, gravity would be reduced, not absent. Their capillaries and cardiovascular systems would adjust, and muscle mass would be shed.

Continue reading “The Physical Effects of Living in Space Could Create a New Human Species” »

Researchers from the Max Planck Society assessed humans’ capabilities for controlling killer AI. Read the details.

Researchers have found a simple way to eliminate almost all sequencing errors produced by a widely used portable DNA sequencer, potentially enabling scientists working outside the lab to study and track microorganisms like the SARS-CoV-2 virus more efficiently.

Using special molecular tags, the team was able to reduce the five-to-15 percent error rate of Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ MinION device to less than 0.005 percent — even when sequencing many long stretches of DNA at a time.

Continue reading “Pocket-Sized DNA Sequencer Achieves Near-Perfect Accuracy – Could Help Track COVID-19 Virus” »

Important here is at 38:13 where he says not only is his TAME trial paid for but an organization is going to pay a billion dollars per year on aging. He was not allowed to give details but it was going to start this month. I’ll be watching for the news.

Zoom Transcription: https://otter.ai/u/vTb6HEbcyTXBPgVrgRzB3I0CDC8

Continue reading “TAME & Biomarker Q&A with Nir Barzilai, Institute for Aging Research” »

Stem cells from fat. 😃

A new type of stem cell—that is, a cell with regenerative abilities—could be closer on the horizon, a new study led by UNSW Sydney shows.

Continue reading “Scientists are a step closer to developing ‘smart’ stem cells – and they’re made from human fat” »

The device, which is like a smartphone in the eye, took home an award at the year’s biggest tech conference, but it’s not quite ready for prime time.

This last year has been not been one for the social calendar. It has left us all feeling more and more isolated with lockdown after lockdown and restricted travel options globally. It is something we need to actively work to overcome, for our own sakes and for those around us, it is as detrimental to our long term health as smoking, obesity or having an alcohol disorder. It increases the risk of many health conditions, and even alters gene expressions. If you want to know even more detail I break it down in this new video, and look out for those who are having a rougher time, pay it forward. Make this world a place you want to live in…

In Loneliness As Deadly As Smoking-How It Impacts Your Health & Longevity I will be talking about how social isolation, something becoming more and more apparent in many countries and cities across the globe, is a serious threat to health and longevity.

Continue reading “Loneliness As Deadly As Smoking — How It Impacts Your Health & Longevity” »