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Category: biotech/medical – Page 763

New drug-like molecule extends lifespan, ameliorates pathology in worms and boosts function in mammalian muscle cells

Having healthy mitochondria, the organelles that produce energy in all our cells, usually portends a long healthy life whether in humans or in C. elegans, a tiny, short-lived nematode worm often used to study the aging process.

Researchers at the Buck Institute have identified a new drug-like molecule that keeps mitochondria healthy via mitophagy, a process that removes and recycles damaged mitochondria in multicellular organisms. The compound, dubbed MIC, is a that extended lifespan in C. elegans, ameliorated pathology in neurodegenerative disease models of C. elegans, and improved mitochondrial function in mouse muscle cells. Results are published in the November 13, 2023, edition of Nature Aging.

Defective mitophagy is implicated in many age-related diseases. It’s tied to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; it plays a role in cardiovascular diseases including heart failure; it influences metabolic disorders including obesity and type 2 diabetes; it is implicated in muscle wasting and sarcopenia and has a complex relationship with cancer progression.

Interventions that reduce inflammation may reduce incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease

Canadian scientists have established for the first time a new mechanism and role for LDL in the development of type 2 diabetes, beyond its traditional role in the development of cardiovascular disease in humans.

Announced today for World Diabetes Day, the work was carried out by Université de Montréal professor May Faraj, director of the nutrition, lipoproteins and cardiometabolic diseases research unit at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute.

Her study, titled “Native low-density lipoproteins are priming signals of the NLRP3 inflammasome/interleukin1β pathway in human adipose tissue and macrophages,” is published in Scientific Reports.

CRISPR-broad: combined design of multi-targeting gRNAs and broad, multiplex target finding

In CRISPR-Cas and related nuclease-mediated genome editing, target recognition is based on guide RNAs (gRNAs) that are complementary to selected DNA regions. While single site targeting is fundamental for localized genome editing, targeting to expanded and multiple chromosome elements is desirable for various biological applications such as genome mapping and epigenome editing that make use of different fusion proteins with enzymatically dead Cas9. The current gRNA design tools are not suitable for this task, as these are optimized for defining single gRNAs for unique loci. Here, we introduce CRISPR-broad, a standalone, open-source application that defines gRNAs with multiple but specific targets in large continuous or spread regions of the genome, as defined by the user.

Telemedicine found to cure 90.7% of hepatitis C cases in 12 programs

“Our study demonstrates how telemedicine successfully integrates medical and behavioral treatment.”

The practice of providing medical services remotely via telecommunications technology is known as telemedicine.

I going to make a greatest artwork as I can, by my head, my hand and by my mind/iStock.

The practice has gained prominence, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for its ability to provide more accessible and convenient healthcare services. Now, a new study conducted on 12 opioid treatment programs is finding that it may be more successful at treating patients than more conventional approaches such as offsite referrals.

Device generates oxygen inside the body by splitting water molecules

The device could one day be used for longer durations inside the body and used to power cells cells that target chronic diseases as well.

Ignatiev/iStock.

In 2021, the research team earned a $33 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an implantable “living pharmacy” to control the sleep and wake cycles inside the body. In this approach, researchers implant living cells inside the body that produce the necessary therapeutics, freeing the individual from taking medicines.

Revolutionary Gene Therapy Tackles Parkinson’s at Its Source: Promising Results in Primates

Scientists from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) within the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), along with their partners, have designed a targeted gene therapy approach to mitigate the primary motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in both rodents and nonhuman primates.

The study was recently published in the journal Cell.

Parkinson’s disease, characterized by the loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons, is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly population, affecting more than 6 million people worldwide.

New AI predicts who is most at risk of pancreatic cancer

An AI that can identify the patients most at risk of pancreatic cancer could lead to earlier detection of the deadly disease, which currently kills 88% of patients within 5 years of diagnosis.

The challenge: People with pancreatic cancer typically don’t experience any symptoms until a tumor is large or the cancer has spread to other organs. As a result, most aren’t diagnosed until their cancer is advanced and much harder to treat.

Screening people without symptoms for pancreatic cancer could lead to earlier detection, but the only tests for it are expensive or invasive. As a result, they’re reserved for the few people doctors believe are at high risk of pancreatic cancer, due to a family history of the disease, for example.