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Could a vaccine developed at Duke University prevent future coronavirus pandemics?

The Duke team tested the nanoparticle vaccine by injecting it into macaque monkeys, finding that it provides total protection against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Additionally, the vaccine created antibodies against SARS, bat coronaviruses and the more contagious variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.


May 17—Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses, according to a study published last week in Nature, a leading scientific journal. The vaccine, which was developed at Duke’s Human Vaccine Institute, uses nanoparticles to show the immune system 24 copies of a specific part of the virus’ spike protein that attaches to human cells. An additional substance promotes the creation of antibodies that attack that part of the virus.

Is Ageing a disease and can it be CURED? Andrew Steele interview

Hey guys — you might like this interview I did with Alex Steele about counter-ageing and the quest for biological immortality (focused around his new book ‘Ageless: The New Science of Getting Old Without Getting Older’. If you do very grateful for any subs to help support the channel!


I speak with Andrew Steele; author, scientist and anti-ageing campaigner about his book Ageless: The New Science of Getting Old Without Getting Older”. Interview covers why humans age, the growing anti-ageing movement, scientific progress over the past decade and potential anti-ageing treatments.

You can buy Andrew’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ageless-Science-Getting-Older-Without/dp/152660826X

Creating a safe CAR T-Cell therapy to fight solid tumors in children

Scientists modify CAR T-Cell therapy, making it more effective and less toxic, for possible use in solid tumors such as neuroblastoma.


Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy — CAR T — has revolutionized leukemia treatment. Unfortunately, the therapy has not been effective for treating solid tumors including childhood cancers such as neuroblastoma. Preclinical studies using certain CAR T against neuroblastoma revealed toxic effects. Now, a group of scientists at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have developed a modified version of CAR T that shows promise in targeting neuroblastoma, spares healthy brain tissue and more effectively kills cancer cells. Their study was published today in Nature Communications. While this work is in the preclinical phase, it reveals potential for lifesaving treatment in children and adults with solid tumors.

Shahab Asgharzadeh, MD, a physician scientist at the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute of CHLA, is working to improve the lifesaving CAR T-cell therapy, in which scientists take a patient’s own immune system T-cells and engineer them to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

“The CAR T therapy works in leukemia,” he says, “by targeting a unique protein (or antigen) on the surface of leukemia cells. When the treatment is given, leukemia cells are killed. CAR T turns the patient’s immune system into a powerful and targeted cancer-killer in patients with leukemia. This antigen is also on normal B cells in the blood, but this side effect can be treated medically.”

Windows 10 has a built-in ransomware block, you just need to enable it

Not the usual medical or science, but it may help someone.


Windows 10 comes with its own baked-in antivirus solution called Windows Defender, and it is enabled by default when setting up a new PC. At the very least, that affords you some basic protection against the many malware threats out in the wild. But did you know there is an added optional layer that can keep your pictures, videos, work documents, and other files safe in the event of a ransomware infection? The caveat is that you have to manually enable ransomware protection in Windows 10.

Or more specifically, a feature called ‘Controlled folder access.’

Biotech cos Tzar Labs and Epigeneres to launch early-detection cancer tests

Tzar Labs, a molecular diagnostic company, and Mumbai-based Epigeneres Biotechnology, have claimed a breakthrough with their RNA-marker based technology for early detection of cancer rooted in stem cell biology. The blood tests, which can help determine whether cancer is absent, imminent, or present and also detect the different stages of the disease; will be launched by the end of this year.

Ashish Tripathi, founder and CEO of Tzar Labs, said that they are awaiting the regulatory approvals, and are building the first laboratory in Mumbai now. “We want to have labs in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad to begin with. To scale this, we need to add more labs and collection centres. We plan to launch the test in the market by the last quarter of 2020 calendar year.” Tripathi added that they would keep prices low, but did not divulge how much it could cost the end-user.

The blood test gives results in 72 hours now and can tell if one has cancer or has a chance of getting it. It is also able to say where the cancer is growing. They do an RNA mutation analysis for any organ in the body from a blood test. The company has recently conducted 1000 person clinical study, which has been peer reviewed by Stem Cell Reviews and Reports (SCRR), one of the leading global science journals in Stem Cell technology, published by Springer Science.

Didier Coeurnelle: update on rats lifespan experiments

The third episode of our podcast, ImmortaliCast, is now available! We interviewed Didier Coeurnelle, chair and co-founder of HEALES, and Marion Steenacker, biologist from HEALES, who updated us on the partial results from the lifespan experiments on rats conducted by Harold Katcher and Rodolfo Goya and funded by HEALES. Didier also discusses the more important trends in the rejuvenation field, and the other activities and goals of HEALES.

You can watch this episode via YouTube or on the main podcast platforms:

#science #rejuvenation #aging #medicine #health #heales #lifespan #biology #plasma #HaroldKatcher #RodolfoGoya


In this interview for the podcast ImmortaliCast, Didier Coeurnelle, chair and co-founder of HEALES (https://heales.org/), and Marion Steenacker, biologist from HEALES, update us on the partial results from the lifespan experiments on rats conducted by Harold Katcher and Rodolfo Goya and funded by HEALES (https://heales.org/2020/12/22/studies-financed-by-heales-eff…er-2020/). Didier also discusses the more important trends in the rejuvenation field, and the other activities and goals of HEALES.

The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant:

The chip shortage could lead to an era of hardware innovation

It’s bad out there for customers of electronic parts and components. The semiconductor shortage is so severe it’s being covered by mainstream media; meanwhile, various politicians have tasked their aides with looking at the global supply chain. Indeed, in the short term, the dearth of chips is already leading to product delays, companies redesigning their parts, and higher device prices. But over the long term, it could usher in a complete rethink of the way electronics parts are designed.

Peggy Carrieres, VP of global sales development and supplier enablement at Avnet, told me she expects the shortage to contribute to engineers reducing the number of physical components used and turning instead to software to handle functions that had historically been done in hardware. The shortages tied to the pandemic are an accelerator for this shift, but it has been happening for years as the industry adjusts to the end of Moore’s Law and the ability to eke out more performance at lower costs.

I had reached out to Avnet because I was interested in what it was seeing from its customers as the chip shortage dragged on. Avnet is a distributor, so it acts as a middleman between electronics components suppliers and the end customers of those parts. Someone building a new electronic device could work with Avnet to source the parts from an existing design, for example, or to build a design out of available parts that fit within a specific price.

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