Lifeboat Foundation

A research team headed by Professor Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created complete models of human embryos from stem cells cultured in the lab – and managed to grow them outside the uterus up to day 14. As reported today in Nature, these synthetic embryo models had all the structures and compartments characteristic of this stage, including the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac and other external tissues that ensure the models’ dynamic and adequate growth.

Longevity. Technology: Cellular aggregates derived from human stem cells in previous studies could not be considered genuinely accurate human embryo models, because they lacked nearly all the defining hallmarks of a post-implantation embryo. In particular, they failed to contain several cell types that are essential to the embryo’s development, such as those that form the placenta and the chorionic sac. In addition, they did not have the structural organization characteristic of the embryo and revealed no dynamic ability to progress to the next developmental stage.

Given their authentic complexity, the human embryo models obtained by Hanna’s group may not only provide an unprecedented opportunity to shed new light on the embryo’s mysterious beginnings, but open the door to new technologies for growing transplant tissues and organs.

Weathered or unhealthy skin is emerging as a major risk factor for almost every single age-related disease, from Parkinson’s to type 2 diabetes.

Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Vijay Pande, who oversees the firm’s health and bio fund, joins Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow to discuss his AI strategy, and how generative AI can help safely engineer medicines at scale, support doctors and patients, and drive greater efficiency and better outcomes.
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Will we ever decipher the language of molecular biology? Here, I argue that we are just a few years away from having accurate in silico models of the primary biomolecular information highway — from DNA to gene expression to proteins — that rival experimental accuracy and can be used in medicine and pharmaceutical discovery.

Since I started my PhD in 1996, the computational biology community had embraced the mantra, “biology is becoming a computational science.” Our ultimate ambition has been to predict the activity of biomolecules within cells, and cells within our bodies, with precision and reproducibility akin to engineering disciplines. We have aimed to create computational models of biological systems, enabling accurate biomolecular experimentation in silico. The recent strides made in deep learning and particularly large language models (LLMs), in conjunction with affordable and large-scale data generation, are propelling this aspiration closer to reality.

LLMs, already proven masters at modeling human language, have demonstrated extraordinary feats like passing the bar exam, writing code, crafting poetry in diverse styles, and arguably rendering the Turing test obsolete. However, their potential for modeling biomolecular systems may even surpass their proficiency in modeling human language. Human language mirrors human thought providing us with an inherent advantage, while molecular biology is intricate, messy, and counterintuitive. Biomolecular systems, despite their messy constitution, are robust and reproducible, comprising millions of components interacting in ways that have evolved over billions of years. The resulting systems are marvelously complex, beyond human comprehension. Biologists often resort to simplistic rules that work only 60% or 80% of the time, resulting in digestible but incomplete narratives. Our capacity to generate colossal biomolecular data currently outstrips our ability to understand the underlying systems.

By improving hospital care pathways, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center successfully reduced inpatient opioid use by 50% after pancreatic cancer surgery and cut the median opioid prescription volumes at discharge to zero. This approach, described in a study published in JAMA Surgery, could help reduce the risk of long-term opioid dependence in patients.

In this cohort study, which involved 832 patients undergoing pancreatic resection surgery, the researchers investigated how making incremental modifications to post-surgery procedures affected the amounts of opioids used by inpatients and at the point of discharge.

In less than four years, the total inpatient oral morphine equivalents (OME) decreased from a median of 290 mg to 129 mg, while OME at discharge decreased from a median of 150 mg to 0 mg. Over 75% of patients were discharged with ≤ 50 mg OME, which is fewer than 10 pills.

In new research published in BMC Medicine, the authors recruited a large cohort of participants in order to assess how plant-based foods affect aging trajectories [1].

Previous research has shown that consumption of plant-based foods is associated with healthy aging [2,3]. It can also help to decrease the risk of mortality [4], prevent the development of chronic diseases [5,6], and improve neurological health, such as by lowering the risk of dementia [7] and cognitive impairment [8].

This new study aimed to determine the influence of a plant-based diet on the aging trajectory of the middle-aged Asian population. Researchers recruited over 10,000 people 50 years and older in Taiwan. Participants provided health data four times during the eight years after enrollment, underwent physical examinations, and filled out relevant questionnaires.

AAV development for cell and gene therapy in 2023 is being impacted by manufacturing and regulation challenges, however advancing technologies offer opportunity, according to leaders in the field.

As proven by recent regulatory approvals sweeping the cell and gene therapy industry, particularly within Europe and the US, these pioneering treatments have demonstrated great capacity in helping to resolve hard-to-treat diseases.

Recently, we spoke to Shai Efrati MD, Chair of Aviv Clinics’ Medical Advisory Board and Founder and Director of the world-leading Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, about the longevity and healthspan benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The Aviv Medical Program is designed for individuals experiencing cognitive and physical decline because of a variety of conditions, including stroke, post-COVID and age-related cognitive decline, Aviv also has an increasing number of clients who wish to improve their cognitive and physical performance and increase their healthspan.

One of Aviv’s patients is Patti Finnegan, a senior living in The Villages in Florida, and we sat down with her to find out what HBOT entails for the patient.

Longevity. Technology: At Longevity. Technology, we often cover therapies and treatments that have been developed or launched, discussing the science behind them and the possible results for the patient. What is less common, however, is to hear from the patients themselves – how did they find the experience and has it made a difference? What starts in a test tube or a white board ends up in a person, so it is important to retain a focus on the end user; after all, while patient population data is important, improving outcomes for actual people is the key goal behind longevity science – real people living longer, healthier lives.

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