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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,811

Can Future Epidemics Be Predicted?

Like weather forecasting, disease forecasting needs to be statistical.

While we cannot predict in advance exactly how many hurricanes will occur this year or how bad they will be, we know with great confidence that climate change is a risk factor increasing the frequency and severity of hurricanes. Our knowledge of this and all the other risk factors for hurricanes allows us to make a statistical prediction for the coming season.

Similarly, we have known for decades that ther… See more.

I’ve written before about the need for infectious disease intelligence and whether or not we can insure against damages from future outbreaks. Both ideas assume that epidemics can, to some extent, be predicted. But can they?

The lack of control and idiosyncrasies of the current Covid-19 pandemic (like multiple “waves” of transmission), might cause some to wonder if predicting epidemics is a lost cause. A comparison of the performance of 27 individual models made by many of the best academic scientists showed high high variability in forecast skill across time, geospatial units, and forecast horizons. Only just more than half of the models evaluated showed better accuracy than simply assuming the number of cases per week will stay the same for the next 4 weeks.

The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 variant A.30 is heavily mutated and evades vaccine-induced antibodies with high efficiency

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, continues to rage in many countries, straining health systems and economies. Vaccines protect against severe disease and death and are considered central to ending the pandemic. COVID-19 vaccines (and SARS-CoV-2 infection) elicit antibodies that are directed against the viral spike (S) protein and neutralize the virus. However, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with S protein mutations that confer resistance to neutralization might compromise vaccine efficacy[1]. Furthermore, emerging viral variants with enhanced transmissibility, likely due to altered virus-host cell interactions, might rapidly spread globally. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants exhibit altered host cell interactions and resistance against antibody-mediated neutralization.

Cellular & Molecular Immunology (2021) Cite this article.

Brain Implant Gives Blind Woman Artificial Vision in Scientific First

A ‘visual prosthesis’ implanted directly into the brain has allowed a blind woman to perceive two-dimensional shapes and letters for the first time in 16 years.

The US researchers behind this phenomenal advance in optical prostheses have recently published the results of their experiments, presenting findings that could help revolutionize the way we help those without sight see again.

At age 42 Berna Gomez developed toxic optic neuropathy, a deleterious medical condition that rapidly destroyed the optic nerves connecting her eyes to her brain.

Prof Goya & Dr Katcher Lifespan Experiment Update Oct 2021 | Modern Healthspan

The non-E5 made rats healthier with a small increase in lifespan. The E5 part 2 is still ongoing with rats at 31 months that generally at most live 36 months.

In this video we give a brief update on the parallel experiments being conducted by Dr Katcher and Professor Goya. In these studies they are injecting E5 and young blood plasma into rats in repeatedly to see if the maximum lifespan can be extended.

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Papers mentioned in this video.
The original paper on BioXriv.
Reversing age: dual species measurement of epigenetic age with a single clock.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.07.082917v1
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Health claims Disclosure: Information provided on this video is not a substitute for direct, individual medical treatment or advice. Please consult with your doctor first. Products or services mentioned in this video are not a recommendation.

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Continue reading “Prof Goya & Dr Katcher Lifespan Experiment Update Oct 2021 | Modern Healthspan” | >

TheaGenesis: Awakening of the Living Earth

Nearly four billion years ago, life on Earth began with a single living cell containing a replicating molecule of DNA. From that point on, that original cell, the first to develop the awesome capacity for reproduction, divided and redivided and subdivided its protoplasm to fill the oceans with life. And since the Cambrian Explosion, half a billion years ago, complex organisms have proliferated and evolved into the myriad plants and animals, including ourselves, that now inhabit and comprise this beautiful planet. But no matter how many times a cell fissions in the process of embryological development, all the daughter cells collectively continue to comprise but one single organism. Thus the entire biosphere of Earth comprises the body of a single vast living being—Mother Earth Herself: Gaea.

#TheaGenesis #GaiaHypothesis #SyntellectEmergence

In order to understand the nature of Gaea, we must first understand our own origins. Each of us began our individual life as a single fertilized cell—a zygote…all the daughter cells collectively continue to comprise but one single organism.

Engineers devise a way to selectively turn on RNA therapies in human cells

Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a way to selectively turn on gene therapies in target cells, including human cells. Their technology can detect specific messenger RNA sequences in cells, and that detection then triggers production of a specific protein from a transgene, or artificial gene.

Because transgenes can have negative and even dangerous effects when expressed in the wrong , the researchers wanted to find a way to reduce off-target effects from gene therapies. One way of distinguishing different types of cells is by reading the RNA sequences inside them, which differ from tissue to tissue.

By finding a way to produce transgene only after “reading” specific RNA sequences inside cells, the researchers developed a technology that could fine-tune in applications ranging from regenerative medicine to cancer treatment. For example, researchers could potentially create new therapies to destroy tumors by designing their system to identify cancer cells and produce a toxic protein just inside those cells, killing them in the process.

Leprosy Found in Wild Chimpanzees for the First Time

Researchers have confirmed cases of the disease among two unconnected West African populations of chimpanzees, in Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast.

Analysis published in the journal Nature shows the strains of leprosy are different, and both are uncommon among humans.

The origins of the infections are unclear, but the research team – led by the University of Exeter and the Robert Koch Institute – say the findings show leprosy is probably circulating in more wild animals than was previously suspected, either as a result of exposure to humans or other unknown environmental sources.

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