Lifeboat Foundation

Viruses impact host cells and have indirect effects on ecosystem processes. Plankton such as ciliates can reduce the abundance of virions in water, but whether virus consumption translates into demographic consequences for the grazers is unknown. Here, we show that small protists not only can consume viruses they also can grow and divide given only viruses to eat. Moreover, the ciliate Halteria sp. foraging on chloroviruses displays dynamics and interaction parameters that are similar to other microbial trophic interactions. These results suggest that the effect of viruses on ecosystems extends beyond (and in contrast to) the viral shunt by redirecting energy up food chains.

Unprecedented views of the interior of cells and other nanoscale structures are now possible thanks to innovations in expansion microscopy. The advancements could help provide future insight into neuroscience, pathology, and many other biological and medical fields.

In the paper “Magnify is a universal molecular anchoring strategy for expansion microscopy,” published Jan. 2 in the journal Nature Biotechnology, collaborators from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Brown University describe new protocols for dubbed Magnify.

Continue reading “New expansion microscopy methods magnify research’s impact” »

New research in the journal Nature Aging takes a page from the field of renewable energy and shows that genetically engineered mitochondria can convert light energy into chemical energy that cells can use, ultimately extending the life of the roundworm C. elegans. While the prospect of sunlight-charged cells in humans is more science fiction than science, the findings shed light on important mechanisms in the aging process.

“We know that mitochondrial dysfunction is a consequence of aging,” said Andrew Wojtovich, Ph.D., associate professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and senior author of the study.

“This study found that simply boosting metabolism using light-powered mitochondria gave laboratory worms longer, healthier lives. These findings and new research tools will enable us to further study mitochondria and identify new ways to treat age-related diseases and age healthier.”

Findings underline the importance of a strength-based rather than a deficit-based focus on aging and older adults.

What are the keys to “successful” or optimal aging? A new study followed more than 7,000 middle-aged and older Canadians for approximately three years to identify the factors linked to well-being as we age.

They found that those who were female, married, physically active, and not obese and those who had never smoked, had higher incomes, and who did not have insomnia, heart disease or arthritis, were more likely to maintain excellent health across the study period and less likely to develop disabling cognitive, physical, or emotional problems.

Year 2011 face_with_colon_three

It was only a year ago that ACell’s “miracle powder” was sprinkled on amputated fingers and shown to stimulate the regeneration of fingertips. The world was both awed and skeptical of the powder’s regenerative power, touting that it would revolutionize regenerative medicine or calling it was quack science.

A fingertip is one thing. A thigh, quite another.

Continue reading “Miracle Powder Regrows Fingers, Now Thigh Muscle for Marine” »

Year 2022 face_with_colon_three

One day, humans might be able to regrow body parts, regenerate tissue damaged due to disease, and even sprout missing limbs.

While it’s still in the realm of science fiction today, advanced tissue and limb regeneration might be our future thanks to the foundation being laid by scientists like assistant professor James Godwin of Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Maine.

Continue reading “Regeneration of human limbs and organs — science fact or science fiction?” »

A new method can illuminate the identities and activities of cells throughout an organ or a tumor at unprecedented resolution, according to a study co-led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and the New York Genome Center.

The method, described Jan. 2 in a paper in Nature Biotechnology, records gene activity patterns and the presence of key proteins in cells across tissue samples, while retaining information about the cells’ precise locations. This enables the creation of complex, data-rich “maps” of organs, including diseased organs and tumors, which could be widely useful in basic and clinical research.

“This technology is exciting because it allows us to map the spatial organization of tissues, including cell types, cell activities and cell-to-cell interactions, as never before,” said study co-senior author Dr. Dan Landau, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and a member of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and a core faculty member at the New York Genome Center.

A company has donated 350 of Smit’s, the biomechanical engineer behind the design, 3D-printed prosthetic hands to war victims in Ukraine.

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) researchers designed laser-cutting 3D-printed prosthetic hands for Ukranian war victims. Thanks to laser-cutting technology, war victims get their prosthetic limbs more easily. These prosthetic hands are in use in India, and Indian company Vispala donated 350 of Smit’s 3D-printed prosthetic hands to war victims in Ukraine, according to the TU Delft.

Continue reading “A biomechanical engineer combines 3D printing and laser-cutting technology to make prosthetic hands” »

Solar Foods, a Finnish food tech company famed for its approach toward alternative protein — made of microbes cultured with electricity and air, is ready to make giant strides in 2023. The company is building its first commercial-scale factory near Helsinki, Finland, that can make food directly from carbon dioxide, New Scientist reported.

The alternative protein, Solein, and its usage in various foods have already been tested in a pilot factory for two years. Recently, Business Finland approved a €34 million grant funding to Solar Foods, making it the largest public grant funding for cellular agriculture in the world. In September 2022, Solar Foods was also selected to be a part of the European Commission’s strategic hydrogen economy core.