Lifeboat Foundation

Particle accelerators are crucial tools in a wide variety of areas in industry, research, and the medical sector. The space these machines require ranges from a few square meters to large research centers. Using lasers to accelerate electrons within a photonic nanostructure constitutes a microscopic alternative with the potential of generating significantly lower costs and making devices considerably less bulky.

Until now, no substantial energy gains have been demonstrated. In other words, it has not been shown that electrons really have increased in speed significantly. A team of laser physicists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has now succeeded in demonstrating the first nanophotonic electron accelerator – at the same time as colleagues from Stanford University.

Now Edelbroek is CEO of SpaceBorn United, a biotech startup seeking to pioneer the study of human reproduction away from Earth. Next year, he plans to send a mini lab on a rocket into low Earth orbit, where in vitro fertilization, or IVF, will take place. If it succeeds, Edelbroek hopes his work could pave the way for future space settlements.

“Humanity needs a backup plan,” he says. “If you want to be a sustainable species, you want to be a multiplanetary species.”

Beyond future space colonies, there is also a more pressing need to understand the effects of space on the human reproductive system. No one has ever become pregnant in space—yet. But with the rise of space tourism, it’s likely that it will eventually happen one day. Edelbroek thinks we should be prepared.

Hailed as a “true breakthrough”, a new personalised cancer vaccine could soon be made available to patients. Today medical expert Dr Nick Coatsworth explains how the treatment works. Subscribe and 🔔: http://9Soci.al/KM6e50GjSK9 | Get more breaking news at 9News.com.au: http://9Soci.al/iyCO50GjSK6

FOLLOW 9News Australia.
► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/9News/
► Twitter: https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS
► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/9news/

Continue reading “New personalised cancer vaccine could soon be made available” »

Breast cancer specialists and OB-GYNs say that there’s one thing to never, ever do if you want to lower your risk of breast cancer.

One of the most popular dog breeds is the Golden Retriever. Unfortunately, these dogs are also at high risk for developing cancer. New research has investigated genetic factors that may be able to extend the lives of these beloved dogs. This work focused on longevity genes instead of those that have been associated with cancer, and led to the identification of gene variants that could extend the dogs’ lifespan by as much as two years. The findings have been reported in GeroScience.

While most golden retrievers are predisposed to cancer, some of these dogs can live to be as old as 15 or 16 years. So the researchers thought that there might be genetic factors that were mitigating the effect of the cancer-related genes, noted co-corresponding study author Robert Rebhun, Maxine Adler Endowed Chair in oncology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The gene that had this effect was HER4.

The human brain is made up of two kinds of matter: the nerve cell bodies (gray matter), which process sensation, control voluntary movement, and enable speech, learning and cognition, and the axons (white matter), which connect cells to each other and project to the rest of the body.

Historically, scientists have concentrated on the gray matter of the cortex, figuring that’s where the action is, while ignoring white matter, even though it makes up half the brain. Researchers at Vanderbilt University are out to change that.

For several years, John Gore, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, and his colleagues have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to detect blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signals, a key marker of brain activity, in white matter.

Influenza viruses are believed to have sparked at least 14 human pandemics in the past 500 years; the most devastating of which began in 1918. Yet, despite intense study and considerable advances in public health, virus surveillance and virology, there is no simple answer to this pressing question: when and how will the next flu pandemic arise?

NIAID scientists including Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., consider the many potential pathways to future influenza pandemics in a new viewpoints essay in Science Translational Medicine. There are no hard and fast ‘rules’ specifying, for example, what characteristics a given avian influenza virus must possess to allow it to efficiently infect… More.

Influenza pandemics have emerged for centuries but still cannot be accurately predicted.

A NIAID-funded study suggests a strategy to mitigate harmful side effects of nanoparticles in medicine. The researchers showed in animal models that a lab-made molecule safely prevented nanomedicines from activating a set of immune-system proteins called the complement system and causing negative side effects. This is significant because when nanoparticles activate complement, the resulting immune response can not only cause an adverse reaction, but also reduce the efficacy of nanomedicines.