Lifeboat Foundation

The intricate relationship between hydrogen sulfide (H2S), gut microbiota, and sirtuins (SIRTs) can be seen as a paradigm axis in maintaining cellular homeostasis, modulating oxidative stress, and promoting mitochondrial health, which together play a pivotal role in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. H2S, a gasotransmitter synthesized endogenously and by specific gut microbiota, acts as a potent modulator of mitochondrial function and oxidative stress, protecting against cellular damage. Through sulfate-reducing bacteria, gut microbiota influences systemic H2S levels, creating a link between gut health and metabolic processes. Dysbiosis, or an imbalance in microbial populations, can alter H2S production, impair mitochondrial function, increase oxidative stress, and heighten inflammation, all contributing factors in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Dr. Abba Zubair, MD: “Our hope is to study these space-grown cells to improve treatment for age-related conditions such as stroke, dementia, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.”

What can microgravity teach us about stem cell growth? This is what a recent study published in NPJ Microgravity hopes to address as a pair of researchers from the Mayo Clinic investigated past research regarding the growth properties of stem cells, specifically regeneration, differentiation, and cell proliferation in microgravity and whether the stem cells can maintain these properties after returning to Earth. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand how stem cell growth in microgravity can be transitioned into medical applications, including tissue growth for disease modeling.

“The goal of almost all space flight in which stem cells are studied is to enhance growth of large amounts of safe and high-quality clinical-grade stem cells with minimal cell differentiation,” said Dr. Abba Zubair, MD, who is a faculty at the Mayo Clinic and the sole co-author on the study. “Our hope is to study these space-grown cells to improve treatment for age-related conditions such as stroke, dementia, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.”

Continue reading “Space-Born Stem Cells: A New Frontier in Regenerative Medicine” »

A recent article in PNAS unveils a remarkable discovery: the ability for reverse development in a ctenophore, commonly known as a comb jelly. These findings indicate that life cycle flexibility in animals may be more widespread than previously believed.

Animal life cycles typically follow a familiar pattern, declined in countless variations: they are born, grow, reproduce, and die, giving way to the next generation. Only a few species are able to deviate from this general principle, the best-known example being the ‘immortal jellyfish’ Turritopsis dohrnii, which can revert from an adult medusa back to a polyp. This elusive group of animals with flexible life cycles now includes the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi.

“The work challenges our understanding of early animal development and body plans, opening new avenues for the study of life cycle plasticity and rejuvenation. The fact that we have found a new species that uses this peculiar “time-travel machine” raises fascinating questions about how spread this capacity is across the animal tree of life,” said Joan J. Soto-Angel, a postdoctoral fellow in the Manet Team at the Department of Natural History at the University of Bergen.

They might not make you beautiful, but research suggests exosomes might help us diagnose and treat diseases.

In a rat experiment, researchers publishing in Aging Cell have found that senescent cells and SASP factors are key in regenerating knee cartilage.

Not always negative

Cellular senescence is widely known to have negative effects, to the point that it is one of the hallmarks of aging. In fact, rather than protecting cartilage, cellular senescence has been reported to damage it in the progression of osteoarthritis [1]. However, the idea that senescence is beneficial for regeneration is not a new concept [2], and it has been found to assist wound healing in mice [3]. Understanding everything involved in this complex relationship is not easy, and one of the factors appears to be windows of time [4].

Researchers tracked the health of nearly one thousand mice on a variety of diets to see if these diets would extend the mice’s lifespan. The study was designed to ensure that each mouse was genetically distinct, which allowed the team to better represent the genetic diversity of the human population. By doing so, the results are made more clinically relevant, elevating the study to one of the most significant investigations into aging and lifespan to date.

For nearly a century, laboratory studies have shown consistent results: eat less food, or eat less often, and an animal will live longer. But scientists have struggled to understand why these kinds of restrictive diets work to extend lifespan, and how to best implement them in humans. Now, in a long-awaited study to appear in the Oct. 9 issue of Nature, scientists at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and collaborators tracked the health of nearly one thousand mice on a variety of diets to make new inroads into these questions.

The study was designed to ensure that each mouse was genetically distinct, which allowed the team to better represent the genetic diversity of the human population. By doing so, the results are made more clinically relevant, elevating the study to one of the most significant investigations into aging and lifespan to date.

My output on my personal blog has been low lately. That’s largely because I’m pushing hard to finish a complete draft of my book on biostasis. If I can keep up the pace, I expect to finish a draft around the end of the year or in January 2025. The blog entries I have written have been on our group blog for Biostasis Technologies. Subscribers will probably enjoy my October 29 entry:

I look at the origins of effective accelerationism (e/acc) and its unacknowledged roots in extropian transhumanism as well as in several Singularitarian writers. Noah Smith has noted the “extropian enthusiasm” of e/acc. The original essays by the e/acc founders can be difficult to distill down so I outline the basics of e/acc and then survey the many flavors of accelerationism. I point out errors in e/acc’s contrast with transhumanism. That is followed by a critique of the injunction to “follow the will of the universe.” Despite errors and shortcomings I conclude that e/acc is more right than wrong. From the perspective of the central important of life extension, I outline what might be called long/acc or longevity accelerationism.

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Explore how University of Washington research on activating hypothalamic brain cells could unlock new anti-aging therapies and extend lifespan.