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The Clock Foundation Offers $175 Methylation Tests

By Joe Bennett.

Methylation tests have proven themselves to be the world’s most accurate form of biological age tests, along with being the most accurate form of life expectancy prediction to date. Unfortunately up until very recently these tests have largely been confirmed to only be available to those in the scientific community, or those with especially deep pockets. However, this is no longer the case, as this Christmas Steve Horvath’s Clock Foundation is offering a DNA methylation age test (often referred to as a GrimAge test) for the unbelievably low price of $175. This is a remarkably low price considering that last year these tests would normally be at least $450, and were not widely available at the best of times.

Scientists discover ‘single concise’ phenomenon that determines how long you’ll live

Research has shown that people with shorter genes age faster, die sooner and are more prone to disease, and this applies to all animals — scientists found that longer and shorter genes linked to longer and shorter lifespans, respectively Scientists have discovered a “single concise” phenomenon that will be able to determine how long you will live, according to new research.

One-Minute Bursts of Activity During Daily Tasks Could Prolong Your Life

Summary: Three to four one-minute bouts of vigorous physical activity a day, such as running for a bus or walking fast to complete tasks reduces the risk of all-cause and cancer-related death by 40%, and a 49% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Source: University of Sydney.

In good news for those who don’t like playing sport or going to the gym, new research finds just three to four one-minute bursts of huffing and puffing during daily tasks is associated with large reductions in the risk of premature death, particularly from cardiovascular disease.

Scientists Discover a Unique Gut Bacteria That May Cause Arthritis

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found that a unique bacteria found in the gut may be responsible for causing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who are already predisposed to the autoimmune disease.

A group of researchers from the Division of Rheumatology worked on the study under the leadership of Kristine Kuhn, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor of rheumatology. The study was recently published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Meagan Chriswell, a medical student at CU, is the paper’s lead author.

“Work led by co-authors Drs. Kevin Deane, Kristen Demoruelle, and Mike Holers here at CU helped establish that we can identify people who are at risk for RA based on serologic markers, and that these markers can be present in the blood for many years before diagnosis,” Kuhn says. “When they looked at those antibodies, one is the normal class of antibody we normally see in circulation, but the other is an antibody that we usually associate with our mucosa, whether it be the oral mucosa, the gut mucosa, or the lung mucosa. We started to wonder, ‘Could there be something at a mucosal barrier site that could be driving RA?’”

3 Lessons From Digital Natives to Boost Companies’ Transformation Journeys

Check out the on-demand sessions from the Low-Code/No-Code Summit to learn how to successfully innovate and achieve efficiency by upskilling and scaling citizen developers. Watch now.

Effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic disruption still loom large over businesses around the world.

Digital-native organizations (DNOs) already using cloud infrastructures and mobile apps to conduct business with customers adapted quickly to the new digital normal. However, despite their best efforts, some established enterprises remain stuck in their digital transformations and cloud adoption journeys. Companies that have struggled to adapt face a huge — and perhaps existential — challenge on how to remain relevant in this new digitally-oriented world.

EctoLife: The World’s First Artificial Womb Facility

The world’s first artificial womb facility, EctoLife, will be able to grow 30,000 babies a year. It’s based on over 50 years of groundbreaking scientific research conducted by researchers worldwide.

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How AI found the words to kill cancer cells

Using new machine learning techniques, researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF), in collaboration with a team at IBM Research, have developed a virtual molecular library of thousands of “command sentences” for cells, based on combinations of “words” that guided engineered immune cells to seek out and tirelessly kill cancer cells.

The work, published online Dec. 8, 2022, in Science, represents the first time such sophisticated computational approaches have been applied to a field that until now has progressed largely through ad hoc tinkering and engineering cells with existing—rather than synthesized—molecules.

The advance allows scientists to predict which elements—natural or synthesized—they should include in a cell to give it the precise behaviors required to respond effectively to complex diseases.

Alzheimer’s tied to cholesterol, abnormal nerve insulation

Earlier research by Dr. Li-Huei Tsai of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and others found that APOE4 might raise Alzheimer’s risk by altering lipid metabolism in certain brain cells. But the underlying details of the process remained unclear.

To build on these findings, the team conducted a multi-pronged study that assessed gene activity of all major cell types in post-mortem human brain tissue from 32 men and women who had one, two, or no copies of the APOE4 gene. Results were published in Nature on November 24, 2022.

The researchers found that APOE4 affected gene expression across all measured cell types. The team then took a closer look at genes related to cholesterol and other lipids. Cholesterol-manufacturing genes were overly expressed, and cholesterol-transporting genes dysregulated, in brain cells called oligodendrocytes with the APOE4 gene. Oligodendrocytes are found in the brain and spinal cord. They make and maintain a fatty substance called myelin that surrounds and insulates long nerve fibers. The abnormalities were more extreme in oligodendrocytes with two copies of APOE4 rather than one.

Double embryo transfer in assisted reproduction found to increase the risk of complications in single births

The risk of complications in assisted reproduction is higher when two embryos are transferred, instead of one embryo. This has been shown in a study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, which included all births in Sweden 2007–2017.

Fertility treatments using assisted reproduction in Sweden are among the safest in the world regarding risks for the mother and children. A national recommendation to only transfer one embryo in assisted reproduction was introduced in 2003, aiming to decrease the risk of multiple pregnancies and their related complications during and delivery.

In certain cases, two are still transferred in order to increase the chance of pregnancy while the risk of multiple pregnancy remains low. Thus, many of the treatments with double embryo transfer result in single pregnancies. Many patients wish to have two embryos transferred to increase their chances of pregnancy, but there is a lack of data on potential risks with transferring two embryos when the treatment results in the of a single child.