Lifeboat Foundation

A group of University of Chicago scientists has uncovered a previously unknown way that our genes are made into reality.

Rather than directions going one-way from DNA to RNA to proteins, the latest study shows that RNA itself modulates how DNA is transcribed—using a chemical process that is increasingly apparent to be vital to biology. The discovery has significant implications for our understanding of human disease and drug design.

“It appears to be a fundamental pathway we didn’t know about. Anytime that happens, it holds promise to open up completely new directions of research and inquiry,” said Prof. Chuan He, a world-renowned chemist.

Human skin is a fascinating multifunctional organ with unique properties originating from its flexible and compliant nature. It allows for interfacing with external physical environment through numerous receptors interconnected with the nervous system. Scientists have been trying to transfer these features to artificial skin for a long time, aiming at robotic applications.

Robotic systems heavily rely on electronic and magnetic field sensing functionalities required for positioning and orientation in space. Much research has been devoted to implementation of these functionalities in a flexible, compliant form. Recent advancements in flexible sensors and organic electronics have provided important prerequisites. These devices can operate on soft and elastic surfaces, whereas sensors perceive various physical properties and transmit them via readout circuits.

To closely replicate natural skin, it is necessary to interconnect a large number of individual sensors. This challenging task became a major obstacle in realizing electronic skin. First demonstrations were based on an array of individual sensors addressed separately, which unavoidably resulted in a tremendous number of electronic connections. In order to reduce the necessary wiring, important technology had to be developed—namely, complex electronic circuits, current sources and switches had to be combined with individual magnetic sensors to achieve fully integrated devices.

A new type of immune cell which kills most cancers has been discovered by accident by British scientists, in a finding which could herald a major breakthrough in treatment.

Researchers at Cardiff University were analysing blood from a bank in Wales, looking for immune cells that could fight bacteria, when they found an entirely new type of T-cell.

That new immune cell carries a never-before-seen receptor which acts like a grappling hook, latching on to most human cancers, while ignoring healthy cells.

A recent study has taken an in-depth look at the age-related changes that occur in the microbiome, particularly in regards to bacterial populations.

A detailed look at bacterial populations in the gut microbiome

The publication contains multiple graphs that track age-related changes to various bacterial populations in the gut. These graphs show a common trend: the abundance of these bacterial species increases with aging but then falls significantly in extreme old age. On these charts, Groups 1–5 contain various ages of children, Group 6 consists of 19- to 29-year-olds, and each following group is ten years older than the previous, with Group 14 containing 99- to 110-year-olds.

“The thing I find rewarding about coding: You’re literally creating something out of nothing. You’re kind of like a wizard.”

When the smiley-faced robot tells two boys to pick out the drawing of an ear from three choices, one of the boys, about 5, touches his nose. “No. Ear,” his teacher says, a note of frustration in her voice. The child picks up the drawing of an ear and hands it to the other boy, who shows it to the robot. “Yes, that is the ear,” the ever-patient robot says. “Good job.” The boys smile as the teacher pats the first boy in congratulations.

The robot is powered by technology created by Movia Robotics, founded by Tim Gifford in 2010 and headquartered in Bristol, Connecticut. Unlike other companies that have made robots intended to work with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such Beatbots, Movia focuses on building and integrating software that can work with a number of humanoid robots, such as the Nao. Movia has robots in three school districts in Connecticut. Through a U.S. Department of Defense contract, they’re being added to 60 schools for the children of military personnel worldwide.

Continue reading “Profile: Christian Wanamaker Teaches Robots to Learn How to Help Students” »

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“This research showed us that we also need to pay attention to other processes that take place following a heart attack, including inflammation and impairment in contractility. Because Chicago Sky Blue is non-toxic, we think it might be tested to prevent further damage following the initial injury of a heart attack,” Tzahor told Israel21c.

Thus, even when heart muscle cells are permanently damaged, Chicago Sky Blue has the potential to improve cardiac function and help boost cardiac repair, according to the research.

Continue reading “Israeli researchers discover ‘blue dye’ to repair hearts after attack” »

Placebo effects, exercise highs, getting sick when you’re stressed out—the popular press and the scientific literature alike are replete with examples of how the mind or mental processes influence our health and well-being. This “mind-body connection” is essential for normal organ function and also is viewed as the basis for psychosomatic disorders. Yet the concept that our thoughts can influence the function of a variety of organ systems is often viewed with some skepticism,…

Recent experiments have begun mapping the neuronal connections between mind and body like never before.

New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.

Used for fast food frying, added to packaged foods, and fed to livestock, soybean oil is by far the most widely produced and consumed edible oil in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In all likelihood, it is not healthy for humans.

It certainly is not good for mice. The new study, published this month in the journal Endocrinology, compared mice fed three different diets high in fat: soybean oil, soybean oil modified to be low in linoleic acid, and coconut oil.

In mouse studies, a “methylation clock” on the ELOVL2 gene ticks toward impaired vision, but when gene expression was boosted, age-related visual function improved.

A lengthy-named gene called Elongation of Very Long Chain Fatty Acids Protein 2 or ELOVL2 is an established biomarker of age. In a new paper, published online January 14, 2020 in the journal Aging Cell, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine say the gene appears to play a key role in age-associated functional and anatomical aging in vivo in mouse retinas, a finding that has direct relevance to age-related eye diseases.

Specifically, the research team, led by senior author Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD, assistant professor in the Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology at UC San Diego Shiley Eye Institute, found that an age-related decrease in ELOVL2 gene expression was associated with increased DNA methylation of its promoter. Methylation is a simple biochemical process in which groups of carbon and hydrogen atoms are transferred from one substance to another. In the case of DNA, methylation of regulatory regions negatively impacts expression of the gene.

Continue reading “Researchers Identify Gene with Functional Role in Aging of Eye” »