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Biological space race: NASA doctor reveals the future of genetically edited astronauts

One of the scientists prodding and poking the Kelly brothers is Prof Christopher E Mason, the lead geneticist on the Twins Study. Mason’s lab at Cornell University is nothing if not ambitious. Its work centres on a “500-year plan for the survival of the human species on Earth, in space, and on other planets.”

As well as studying what happens to astronauts, it involves laying the genetic groundwork for humans to live among the stars. Mason envisions a future in which the human genome can be bioengineered to adapt to almost any environment, augmented with genes from other species that allow us to explore and settle the farthest corners of the Universe.

Scientists produce first genetically engineered marsupials

We probably at this point should make all animals immortal: 3.


The advance promises to unlock new insights into human biology and disease, aiding in the study of everything from the developing immune system to tissue regeneration to skin cancer.

“Studying biodiversity is not just about exploring the biology of a bunch of interesting organisms, but ultimately for a better understanding of human biology,” developmental biologist and lead study author Hiroshi Kiyonari said via email.

Five years ago, his team began to systematically work out the problem that had so long plagued the opossum field. The first barrier was to collect zygotes (fertilized eggs) at the right time. Ideally, that would be before they began dividing, when they are still a single cell. If you inject CRISPR at this stage, you can be sure all the resulting animals’ cells will carry whatever DNA changes you make. Doing it later can mean some cells but not others will be edited — a less ideal outcome known as mosaicism. Another benefit of collecting fertilized eggs as early as possible is that the shell coat hasn’t had time to thicken.

Our Theory Of Aging & Blood Dilution w/ Saline & Albumin | Drs. Irina & Mike Conboy Interview Ep 1

In this video, Drs Irina and Mike Conboy talk about their theory of why we age and introduce Neutral Blood Exchange, which came from their original parabiosis experiments documented in a 2005 paper.

Our guests today are Drs. Irina and Michael Conboy of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California Berkeley. their discovery of the rejuvenating effects of young blood through parabiosis in a seminal paper published in Nature in 2005 paved the way for a thriving field of rejuvenation biology. The Conboy lab currently focuses on broad rejuvenation of tissue maintenance and repair, stem cell niche engineering, elucidating the mechanisms underlying muscle stem cell aging, directed organogenesis, and making CRISPR a therapeutic reality.

Papers mentioned in this video.
Plasma dilution improves cognition and attenuates neuroinflammation in old mice.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33191466/
Rejuvenation of three germ layers tissues by exchanging old blood plasma with saline-albumin.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32474458/
Rejuvenation of aged progenitor cells by exposure to a young systemic environment.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15716955/

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Dr. Jean M. Hebert, Ph.D. — Replacing Aging — Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Replacing Aging — Dr. Jean M. Hebert, Ph.D. Albert Einstein College of Medicine.


Dr. Jean M. Hebert, Ph.D. (https://einsteinmed.org/faculty/9069/jean-hebert/) is Professor in the Department of Genetics and in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

He’s also the author of the book Replacing Aging, which describes how regenerative medicine will beat aging.

With a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Hebert’s current lab’s projects fall into two groups.

First, they focus on using the mouse neocortex as a platform for testing the ability of multi-cell type grafts (increasingly resembling normal neocortex) to integrate with host tissue.

$315M Biotech Company Emerges From Stealth

“Prime Editing is a wonderful example of the revolution in genetic medicine that we are living through,” said Robert Nelsen, co-founder and Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners, one of several companies to fund Prime Medicine. “Gene editing technologies like this, when mature, could totally change our conception of what’s possible in treating disease.”

“This is an opportunity to take a giant step toward cures for a much wider range of diseases than previously possible,” said Stephen Knight, President and Managing Partner of F-Prime Capital, another backer of the new company.

The funds raised will be used to continue building the company, expand the capabilities of its technology platform and rapidly advance towards clinical indications. By the end of 2021, Prime Medicine expects to employ more than 100 people full-time.

Howard Leonhardt — Founder, Leonhardt Ventures — Bioelectrics & Biologics For Regeneration & Healing

Investing in the convergence of bioelectrics & biologics for regeneration & healing — howard J. leonhardt, founder, leonhardt ventures.


Howard Leonhardt is the Founder of Leonhardt Ventures, the world’s first Innovation Accelerator focused on the convergence of bioelectrics & biologics for organ regeneration and tissue healing.

Howard is an accomplished inventor and serial entrepreneur, with 21 U.S. patents, over 100 patent claims for products for treating cardiovascular disease, and has over 40 new patent claims pending. His TALENT (Taheri-Leonhardt) stent graft, developed in the early 1990′s, holds a leading world market share for repairing aortic aneurysms without surgery.

Howard’s inventions to date have been involved in treated over 500000 patients in 60 countries.

Howard is co-leader of Startup California and Founder and Chairman of The California Stock Exchange TM (Cal-X) preparing to be the first social good impact stock exchange currently operating the Cal-X 30 Social Good Impact fund. He founded Cal-X Crowdfund Connect, a crowdfunding campaign management company, and Cal-X Stars Business Accelerator, Inc., a business incubator and accelerator focused on cardiovascular life sciences and social good impact innovations.

Researchers Create New CRISPR Genetic Tools to Help Contain Mosquito Disease Transmission

University of California San Diego scientists have now developed several genetic editing tools that help pave the way to an eventual gene drive designed to stop Culex mosquitoes from spreading disease. Gene drives are designed to spread modified genes, in this case those that disable the ability to transmit pathogens, throughout the targeted wild population.


Genetics toolkit targets less researched Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus and avian malaria.

Since the onset of the CRISPR genetic editing revolution, scientists have been working to leverage the technology in the development of gene drives that target pathogen-spreading mosquitoes such as Anopheles and Aedes species, which spread malaria, dengue, and other life-threatening diseases.

Much less genetic engineering has been devoted to Culex genus mosquitoes, which spread devastating afflictions stemming from West Nile virus—the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States—as well as other viruses such as the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and the pathogen causing avian malaria, a threat to Hawaiian birds.

Gene research uncovers promising combination therapy for triple negative breast cancer

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women around the world, responsible for 1700 deaths every day. Although the vast majority of breast cancers are treatable, the most aggressive subtype—triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) – has a high recurrence rate, a high potential for metastasis and shows resistance to conventional treatments, leading to very poor prognosis and survival outcomes. A team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) conducted a preclinical study and discovered a novel targeted combination therapy that efficiently reduced tumor growth in metastatic breast cancer. Published in Nature Communications, their findings could lead to the development of a novel first line targeted therapy for the treatment of TNBC, with the prospect of rapidly transitioning to clinical trials in humans.

“There is no targeted therapy for TNBC. Chemotherapy treatment can even enrich these tumors in and be detrimental to the patient, as we have shown in a previous study,” says Dr. Jean-Jacques Lebrun, senior scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the RI-MUHC and principal investigator of the study. “Filling that huge medical gap was our motivation in conducting this study.”

While most breast cancers have one of three main receptors that are like entrance gates for treatments—estrogen, progesterone and a protein called human epidermal growth factor (HER2) – TNBC has none, thus the name triple negative . Using state-of-the-art technologies such as and genome-wide molecular approaches, the team identified two pathways which could be targeted in a therapeutic strategy.

Gene editing ‘blocks virus transmission’ in human cells

“Once the virus is recognised, the CRISPR enzyme is activated and chops up the virus,” she said.


Paris (AFP)

Scientists have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to successfully block the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infected human cells, according to research released Tuesday that could pave the way for Covid-19 treatments.

Writing in the journal Nature Communications, researchers in Australia said the tool was effective against viral transmissions in lab tests, adding that they hoped to begin animal trials soon.