Lifeboat Foundation

Imagine a future where we can treat diabetes or autoimmune disorders with an electrical zap delivered by a device no larger than a speck of dust.

The device, implanted through microsurgery, sits silently on a single nerve bundle, monitoring electrical signals sent out by the brain to itself and various organs in the body.

Continue reading “No More Pills? Tiny Nerve-Zapping Implants to Fight Disease” »

Researchers from Polytechnique Montréal, Université de Montréal and McGill University have just achieved a spectacular breakthrough in cancer research. They have developed new nanorobotic agents capable of navigating through the bloodstream to administer a drug with precision by specifically targeting the active cancerous cells of tumours. This way of injecting medication ensures the optimal targeting of a tumour and avoids jeopardizing the integrity of organs and surrounding healthy tissues. As a result, the drug dosage that is highly toxic for the human organism could be significantly reduced.

This scientific breakthrough has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Nanotechnology in an article titled “Magneto-aerotactic bacteria deliver drug-containing nanoliposomes to tumour hypoxic regions.” The article notes the results of the research done on mice, which were successfully administered nanorobotic agents into colorectal tumours.

“These legions of nanorobotic agents were actually composed of more than 100 million flagellated bacteria — and therefore self-propelled — and loaded with drugs that moved by taking the most direct path between the drug’s injection point and the area of the body to cure,” explains Professor Sylvain Martel, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Medical Nanorobotics and Director of the Polytechnique Montréal Nanorobotics Laboratory, who heads the research team’s work. “The drug’s propelling force was enough to travel efficiently and enter deep inside the tumours.”

Continue reading “Legions of nanorobots target cancerous tumours with precision” »

Anti-inflammatory drug mefenamic acid completely reversed memory loss and brain inflammation in mice genetically engineered to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and amyloid beta-induced memory loss, a team led by David Brough, PhD, from the University of Manchester has discovered.

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) drug targets an important inflammatory pathway called the NLRP3 inflammasome, which damages brain cells, according to Brough. This is the first time a drug has been shown to target this inflammatory pathway, highlighting its importance in the disease model, Brough said.

Continue reading “Anti-inflammatory drug reverses memory loss in Alzheimer’s-disease-model mice” »

DNA naturalmente fluorescente.

Professores Vadim Backman, Hao Zhang, e Cheng Sun descobriram que as estruturas de macromoléculas em células vivas, de fato, naturalmente fluorescente. Esta descoberta pode abrir a próxima fronteira da descoberta biológica com a pavimentação de uma nova maneira para, imagiologia nanoscopic super-resolução sem rótulo e expandir a compreensão dos processos biológicos.

A surgical procedure that involves drilling holes and injecting stem cells into stroke patients’ brains seems to have contributed to a wheelchair-bound stroke patient regaining the ability to walk. Despite the major recovery exhibited by patients, further study must be made to investigate the true impact.

Researchers from Stanford University were “stunned” at the positive results they obtained after injecting stem cells directly into stroke patients’ brains. The discovery has created a talking point in the neuroscience community, causing researchers to re-visit and re-evaluate the notion that brain damage is permanent and irreversible.

Surgical Procedure

Continue reading “Stroke Survivor Walks Again After Doctors Inject Stem Cells Directly into Brain” »

IBM’s TrueNorth, a so-called “cognitive chip,” remarkably resembles the human brain: its 4,096 cores combine to create about a million digital neurons and 256 million synapse connections. In short, like everyone’s favorite complex organ, it operates extremely quickly and consumes far less energy than typical processors. Samsung has taken the chip and plugged it into its Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) to process digital imagery at a blindingly fast rate.

Typical digital cameras max out 120 frames per second, but a DVS-equipped gadget can capture an incredible 2,000 fps. Unlike a conventional sensor, each pixel on Samsung’s only reacts if it needs to report a change in what it’s seeing, according to CNET. That high speed could be useful for creating 3D maps or gesture controls. At a press event on Thursday in San Jose, the company demonstrated its ability to control a TV as it recognized hand waves and finger pinches from ten feet away.

DVS is efficient like its TrueNorth chip base, and only consumes about 300 milliwatts of power. That’s about a hundredth the drain of a laptop’s processor and a tenth of a phone’s, a Samsung VP said at the event. But we still have a ways to go before we approach the minimal power requirements of the human brain, he said, which can process some tasks at 100 million times less power than a computer.

Continue reading “Samsung plugs IBM’s brain-imitating chip into an advanced sensor” »

Scientists have devised a way to destroy blood stem cells in mice without using chemotherapy or radiotherapy, both of which have toxic side effects.

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This revolutionary new heart pump could save thousands of lives.