Lifeboat Foundation

A study that peered into live mouse brains suggests for nearly 70 years we’ve been targeting the wrong neurons in our design of antipsychotic drugs.

Untangling the vast web of brain cells and determining how drugs work upon them is a tough task. Using a miniature microscope and fluorescent tags, a team of researchers led by Northwestern University neuroscientist Seongsik Yun discovered that effective antipsychotic drugs cling to a different type of brain cell than scientists originally thought.

Just like research suggesting depression might not be a chemical imbalance in serotonin levels, our understanding of schizophrenia treatments may need a rethink if widely-used antipsychotics are targeting different neurons than expected.

Canadian researchers at the University of Montreal have successfully recreated and mathematically confirmed two molecular languages at the origin of life.

Their groundbreaking findings, recently published in the Journal of American Chemical Society, pave the way for advancements in nanotechnologies, offering potential in areas like biosensing, drug delivery, and molecular imaging.

Living organisms are made up of billions of nanomachines and nanostructures that communicate to create higher-order entities able to do many essential things, such as moving, thinking, surviving, and reproducing.

Genome-wide association analyses of magnetic resonance imaging data describe the genetic architecture of 13 cortical phenotypes at both global and regional levels, implicating neurodevelopmental and constrained genes.

A new method allows large quantities of muscle stem cells to be safely obtained in cell culture. This provides a potential for treating patients with muscle diseases – and for those who would like to eat meat, but don’t want to kill animals.

Elon Musk delves into the groundbreaking potential of Neuralink, a revolutionary venture aimed at interfacing with the human brain to tackle an array of brain-related disorders. Musk envisions a future where Neuralink’s advancements lead to the resolution of conditions like autism, schizophrenia, memory loss, and even spinal cord injuries.

Elon Musk discusses the transformative power of Neuralink, highlighting its role in restoring motor control after spinal cord injuries, revitalizing brain function post-stroke, and combating genetically or trauma-induced brain diseases. Musk’s compelling insights reveal how interfacing with neurons at an intricate level can pave the way for repairing and enhancing brain circuits using cutting-edge technology.

Continue reading “Elon Musk on Neuralink: Solving Brain Diseases & Reducing the Risk of AI” »

A new technique mimics the normal reprogramming process in early embryonic development to essentially wipe a cell’s memory, making it similar to a stem cell.

The dome is varnished matte black and shaped somewhere between an oversized eco-chic lampshade and a fifth grader’s diorama of a volcano—all pudgy curves and asymmetric slopes. Underneath sits a small table, almost a stool, made of the same amorphous material. The table is fitted with a brass fixture loosely reminiscent of a guitar but (so the adjacent panel tells me) is actually a replica of the 17th-century microscope designed by Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek—a nod to the father of microscopy.

From a speaker concealed in the dome, a voice intones:

In the midst of a global pandemic, on the eve of an irreversible climate emergency, and in the early, thrilling decades of a biotech revolution, the human race began to question its relationship to the natural world. For many years, scientists believed life to be a competition, one that humanity must win… But as biologists learned more about living systems, it became undeniable that interdependence was key to understanding life on Earth.

One of the biggest challenges of researching organs in vivo (or as part of an entire, living organism) is that there is little room for error. Finding treatment for a patient’s kidney, intestine, heart, or any organ must be done carefully; if anything goes wrong, it’s the person’s life on the line. Enter the organoid.

First fully realized and developed in the early 2010s, an organoid is a miniaturized and simplified version of an organ produced in vitro (or outside the entire organism: on their own). The organoid has significant use for researchers as it can be grown, researched, then recreated if any treatments cause tissue harm. Isolating the treatments to an in vitro organ gives researchers flexibility; they can focus entirely on targeted treatments without worrying about harming a living patient.

One of the most significant scientific advances of the last ten years, organoids have revolutionized research across several fields, and continue to grow more advanced and helpful year over year. So, what are these microscopic powerhouses, exactly?

Plus a monkey who took a selfie and ignited a years-long legal battle and crow pooping antics, and more weird things we learned this week.