Scientists will soon have the tools to rewrite the book of life, and in doing so, edit out sections that cause disease, piece by piece. But is the technology safe and will all of us get the benefits, or will it be the preserve of those who can afford it?
Posted in biotech/medical, information science, robotics/AI
A new type of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, developed by the Mayo Clinic and the Google Research Brain Team, can potentially pave the way toward more directed brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other movement-related disorders.
According to researchers, this algorithm can more accurately determine the interaction between different regions of the brain — data that will be key for improving the way brain stimulation devices are used in the real world for treating Parkinson’s.
“Our findings show that this new type of algorithm may help us understand which brain regions directly interact with one another, which in turn may help guide placement of electrodes for stimulating devices to treat network brain diseases,” Kai Miller, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic and the first author of the study, said in a press release.
Also, consider that some people with medical conditions may not be comfortable making eye contact.
“In the past, it has been assumed that eye contact creates synchrony, but our findings suggest that it’s not that simple,” says senior author Thalia Wheatley, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth, and principal investigator of the Dartmouth Social Systems Laboratory.
Summary: Study reveals a correlation between instances of eye contact and higher levels of engagement during conversations.
Source: Dartmouth College
Making eye contact repeatedly when you’re talking to someone is common, but why do we do it? When two people are having a conversation, eye contact occurs during moments of “shared attention” when both people are engaged, with their pupils dilating in synchrony as a result, according to a Dartmouth study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Eye contact is really immersive and powerful,” says lead author Sophie Wohltjen, a graduate student in psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth.
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Levine’s Biological age calculator is embedded as an Excel file in this link from my website:
DNA methylation GrimAge strongly predicts lifespan and healthspan.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30669119/
Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6197652/
Dietary intakes of flavonols, flavones and isoflavones by Japanese women and the inverse correlation between quercetin intake and plasma LDL cholesterol concentration.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10958819/
NAD and the aging process: Role in life, death and everything in between.
The newly formed biotech start up Halo Therapeutics, spun out from the University of Bristol, has become the latest company to join the Science Creates ecosystem.
The team is targeting new treatments for coronavirus as they expand on their exciting recent breakthrough discovery, which was published in Science Magazine.
The context
New antiviral drugs offer the hope of broadening the range of treatments available to treat COVID-19. The recent findings by the Halo Therapeutics team have demonstrated that exposing the SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) virus to a free fatty acid called linoleic acid locks the virus’s spike protein into a closed, non-infective form stopping it in its tracks.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improved cerebral blood flow by up to 23%, alleviating vascular dysfunction and amyloid burden in elderly patients. The treatment also improved memory by 16.5%.
CNN Business asked CEOs at more than a dozen major US companies — including GM, Citi, New Balance, Petco, LinkedIn and Zillow — to tell us about the lessons they’ve learned during the pandemic and what they think the future of work will look like. This is what they had to say.
“Identification of these compounds means that we are one step closer to being able to molecularly diagnose dementia,” said senior author of the study, Professor Mitsuhiro Yanagida, who leads the G0 Cell Unit at OIST.
Summary: Researchers identified 33 metabolic compounds in blood samples that differed between those with dementia and cognitively healthy older adults. 7 of the metabolites were elevated in dementia patients, while 26 were at lower levels compared to samples of those without dementia. Elevating levels of those metabolites could have a neuroprotective effect against dementia.
Source: OIST
Scientists in Japan have identified metabolic compounds within the blood that are associated with dementia.
The study revealed that the levels of 33 metabolites differed in patients with dementia, compared to elderly people with no existing health conditions. Their findings, published this week in PNAS, could one day aid diagnosis and treatment of dementia.
“We think that this indicates that gut bacteria and fungi influence anti-tumor immune responses in many, if not all, types of cancer.”
Cedars-Sinai Cancer researchers have discovered that intestinal microorganisms help regulate anti-tumor immune responses to radiation treatments, and that fungi and bacteria have opposing effects on those responses. The study, conducted in laboratory mice 0 illuminates a path toward improving the effectiveness of radiation and immune-based treatments for patients with melanoma, breast and many other cancers.
The study, published on Aug. 13 in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Cell, builds on prior studies that focused on the role of intestinal bacteria in influencing immune responses to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Here the investigators sought to determine what role both bacteria and fungi in the gut might play in the response to radiation therapy.
Trillions of microorganisms live in normal human intestines. These so-called commensal microorganisms are “friendly” bacteria and fungi that help process nutrients and play key roles in regulating the immune system in everything from infections to allergies. The research team found that reducing levels of commensal fungi in the intestines enhanced the anti-tumor immune response in the mice following radiation therapy. Conversely, they showed that depletion of commensal bacteria reduced the anti-tumor response.
The Crew Dragon orbital mission is doubling as a massive fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
