Lifeboat Foundation

People typically think of food as calories, energy and sustenance. However, the latest evidence suggests that food also “talks” to our genome, which is the genetic blueprint that directs the way the body functions down to the cellular level.

This communication between food and genes may affect your health, physiology and longevity. The idea that food delivers important messages to an animal’s genome is the focus of a field known as nutrigenomics. This is a discipline still in its infancy, and many questions remain cloaked in mystery. Yet already, we researchers have learned a great deal about how food components affect the genome.

I am a molecular biologist who researches the interactions among food, genes and brains in the effort to better understand how food messages affect our biology. The efforts of scientists to decipher this transmission of information could one day result in healthier and happier lives for all of us. But until then, has unmasked at least one important fact: Our relationship with food is far more intimate than we ever imagined.

In March 2023, MIT Technology Review revealed that Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI (ChatGPT), was the mystery investor behind the $180 million investment into stealth startup Retro Biosciences, a biotech company with the ambition of “adding 10 years to the human lifespan.” This investment marks the latest tech entrepreneur expressing their interest in longevity science and a new connection with innovative AI technology.

According to February 2023 reports, AI is continuing to gain traction in healthcare applications. Currently, the market is estimated at $14.6 billion (USD) with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47.6%, with solutions spread across various healthcare fields, such as patient data and risk analysis, precision medicine, cybersecurity, lifestyle management, and drug discovery.

The increasing convergence of AI technology and longevity science is sparking advancements in the sector, with established businesses, start-ups, and researchers utilizing the technology. Most recently, scientists explored how ChatGPT, an AI-based language model, was able to predict Alzheimer’s in 80% of cases when analyzing speech. However, it is not the only implementation.

Stem cells (SCs) are undifferentiated cells which can proliferate indefinitely or differentiate into progenitor cells and end-phase differentiated cells (becoming pluripotent) (Mayo, 2021; Slack, 2022). Human embryonic SCs (hE-SCs) are found in the inner cell mass of the blastocyst; h E-SC research raises ethical concerns (Lo and Parham, 2009), and h E-SC transplantation in vivo can lead to the formation of large tumors called teratomas (Blum and Benvenisty, 2008).

Small numbers of adult SCs are found in some organ “niches”, including the bone marrow, where hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) replenish blood and immune cells. In 1958, Mathe et al. (1959) successfully performed the first adult SC therapy on five workers who had received high-dose accidental irradiation at the Vinca Nuclear Institute in Yugoslavia. After transfusions and grafts of homologous adult bone marrow, all workers survived (Mathe et al., 1959).

For years, the human umbilical cord was a waste material and, unlike h E-SCs, its use does not raise ethical concerns. In 1988, Gluckman et al. (1989) successfully performed the first human cord blood transplant in a child with Fanconi’s anemia. Since then, numerous public and private cord blood banks have been established worldwide for the cryopreservation of cord blood in view of its transplantation (Gluckman, 2011).

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have studied the four giant planets of the Solar System. It was launched from Earth in 1977 and continues its extended mission through interstellar space, making new discoveries 45 years after launch.

A system hack extends the life of the 5 instruments still working on the venerable spacecraft, now over 45 years into its extended mission.

His bold prediction and the reasoning behind it resurfaced in a YouTube video that has gone viral.

A new project called Progression Assessment in Neurodegenerative Disorders of Aging or PANDA aims to detect subtle changes in a person’s sleep patterns that may indicate the onset of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. The collaboration of this four-year project involves Rigshospitalet University, Denmark’s Aarhus University, and MedTech company T&W Engineering. The project has received funding of DKK 15 million to develop and test a small earbud-like experimental device that can detect the early signs of these diseases.

The Ear-EEG Technology

Unlike the traditional sleep-monitoring systems that require a person to stay in a clinic with multiple electrodes attached to their body, the ear-EEG allows for comfortable, long-term use at home. The device monitors electrical activity in the brain by measuring tiny voltage changes on the skin surface within the ear canal. It is also equipped with an oximeter for measuring blood oxygen levels, a microphone for monitoring respiration and heart rate, and a thermometer for measuring body temperature.

The researchers found those who showed positive age beliefs were 30% more likely to recover from cognitive impairment than those who held negative age beliefs, irrespective of the severity of the cognitive decline. The time for recovery was also quicker in people with positive age beliefs.

They also found that the participants who stayed positive about aging were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment over 12 years.

It is widely believed that memory loss associated with aging is irreversible. However, a new study says people who embrace aging positively may recover from cognitive decline.

Continue reading “Study Says Staying Positive About Aging May Help Reverse Cognitive Decline” »

Misfolded proteins are toxic to cells. They disrupt normal functions and cause some age-related human degenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. Cells work constantly to eliminate misfolded proteins, but these clearance mechanisms are still poorly understood.

In a new study published April 20 in Nature Cell Biology, researchers at Stanford University discovered a previously unknown cellular pathway for clearing misfolded proteins from the nucleus, the compartment where the cell stores, transcribes, and replicates its DNA. Keeping junk away from those processes is critical to normal cellular function. The new pathway could be a target for age-related disease therapies.

To find the new pathway, researchers in the lab of Judith Frydman, the Donald Kennedy Chair in the School of Humanities and Sciences, integrated several genetic, imaging, and biochemical approaches to understand how yeast cells dealt with misfolded proteins. For the experiments, the team restricted misfolded proteins to either the nucleus or the cytoplasm—the area inside the cell but outside the nucleus. The team visually followed the fate of the misfolded proteins through live-cell imaging and super-resolution microscopy.

A causal relationship exists among the aging process, organ decay and dis-function, and the occurrence of various diseases including cancer. A genetically engineered mouse model, termed Eklf^K74R/K74R or Eklf (K74R), carrying mutation on the well-conserved sumoylation site of the hematopoietic transcription factor KLF1/ EKLF has been generated that possesses extended lifespan and healthy characteristics including cancer resistance. We show that the high anti-cancer capability of the Eklf (K74R) mice are gender-, age-and genetic background-independent. Significantly, the anti-cancer capability and extended lifespan characteristics of Eklf (K74R) mice could be transferred to wild-type mice via transplantation of their bone marrow mononuclear cells. Targeted/global gene expression profiling analysis has identified changes of the expression of specific proteins and cellular pathways in the leukocytes of the Eklf (K74R) that are in the directions of anti-cancer and/or anti-aging. This study demonstrates the feasibility of developing a novel hematopoietic/ blood system for long-term anti-cancer and, potentially, for anti-aging.

The authors have declared no competing interest.