Lifeboat Foundation

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule which is present in cells and made of genetic material to help build proteins necessary for cell function. RNA provides a template for the construction of proteins and is essential for cell and organism life. Immune cells rely on these proteins, including CD8⁺ or cytotoxic T cells which are responsible for killing invading pathogens. Importantly, cytotoxic T cells are a major component of the memory immune response. A pool of T cells specifically designed to recognize an invader is stored for future invasion of that particular pathogen. For example, once these cells are exposed to an invading antigen or protein, the immune system will expand T cells specific to that antigen and remember the antigen next time it enters the body. Vaccines work in a similar way by introducing a foreign antigen to the body, so the immune system is ready if the pathogen ever enters your body in the future. Only a small set of T cells that expand survive and it is unclear how this process occurs.

Recently a team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) demonstrated that a single strand of RNA governs a T cells ability to recognize and kill tumors. The single strand of RNA is known as let-7 and is a microRNA, which is responsible for gene expression regulation. The recent discovery may improve vaccine development and cellular memory to enhance immunotherapy against cancers. Immunotherapy is a general term referring to cancer therapies that try to activate the immune system to kill the tumor compared to other drugs that try to directly kill the tumor with chemicals, such as chemotherapy.

The report published in Nature Communications identified that the microRNA, let-7, may enhance memory of T cells. Researchers led by Dr. Leonid Pobezinsky, Associate Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at UMass, further built on our understanding of how T cells form immune memory. Pobezinsky and colleagues found that a small piece of microRNA that has been present throughout evolution is expressed in memory cells. Additionally, they found that more let-7 a cell has, the more likely that cell will recognize a cancer cell and kill it. The increased let-7 also indicates that the cell will turn into a memory cell after being exposed to an antigen. The regulation of enhanced memory T cells by let-7 is an integral process key to fight infections. This is a critical finding, especially because memory cells retain stem-like characteristics and can survive for decades.

Now, scientists have a mathematical model that closely matches how the human brain processes visual information.

Scientists have confirmed that human brains are naturally wired to perform advanced calculations, much like a high-powered computer, to make sense of the world through a process known as Bayesian inference.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Sydney, University of Queensland and University of Cambridge developed a specific mathematical model that closely matches how human brains work when it comes to reading vision. The model contained everything needed to carry out Bayesian inference.

Humanity is about to suffer.

In an age of unpredictable job evolution, it is hard to argue that the knowledge acquisition historically associated with a university degree is still relevant. But as university qualifications become more commonplace, recruiters and employers will increasingly demand them, regardless of whether they are actually required for a specific job. Research shows that the correlation between education level and job performance is weak, and that intelligence scores are a much better indicator of job potential. If we were to pick between a candidate with a college degree and a candidate with a higher intelligence score, we could expect the latter to outperform the former in most jobs, particularly when those jobs require constant thinking and learning.

The measurement of the mysterious form of matter around these quasar galaxies could have profound implications for our understanding of how the cosmos has evolved.

Insights into healing and aging were discovered by National Institutes of Health researchers and their collaborators, who studied how a tiny sea creature regenerates an entire new body from only its mouth. The researchers sequenced RNA from Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, a small, tube-shaped animal that lives on the shells of hermit crabs. Just as the Hydractinia were beginning to regenerate new bodies, the researchers detected a molecular signature associated with the biological process of aging, also known as senescence. According to the study published in Cell Reports, Hydractinia demonstrates that the fundamental biological processes of healing and aging are intertwined, providing new perspective on how aging evolved.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/scientists-dis…a-creature

Continue reading “Scientists discover clues to aging and healing from a squishy sea creature” »

Professor Geoff Duller from Aberystwyth University explained that, given the considerable age of these artifacts, assigning precise dates to them presented a significant challenge. To address this issue, luminescence dating techniques were employed. These innovative dating methods have broad-ranging implications, enabling the dating of much older materials and facilitating the reconstruction of sites that offer insights into human evolution—in the case of Kalambo Falls, an excavation conducted in the 1960s yielded comparable wooden fragments. Still, their dating had remained elusive, leaving the true importance of the site uncertain until now.

Kalambo Falls is located on the Kalambo River above a 772-foot (235-meter) waterfall on the border of Zambia and Tanzania near Lake Tanganyika. The area is on a ‘tentative ‘list from UNESCO for becoming a World Heritage site because of its archaeological significance.

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There is powerful science behind how our beliefs inform our genetic expression. It’s not our genes alone that dictate our health outcomes, rather it’s the biology of belief that determines our destiny.

Continue reading “How Our GENES Listen To Our Beliefs: Heal The Body & Prevent Disease | Dr. Bruce Lipton” »

A study in the journal Cell sheds new light on the evolution of neurons, focusing on the placozoans, a millimeter-sized marine animal. Researchers at the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in these unique and ancient creatures may have given rise to neurons in more complex animals.

Placozoans are tiny animals, around the size of a large grain of sand, which graze on algae and microbes living on the surface of rocks and other substrates found in shallow, warm seas. The blob-like and pancake-shaped creatures are so simple that they live without any body parts or organs.

Continue reading “Tiny sea creatures reveal the ancient origins of neurons” »