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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,898

Universal mechanism of regulation in plant cells discovered

All plant cells obtain their energy mainly from two organelles they contain—chloroplasts (responsible for photosynthesis) and mitochondria (responsible for the biochemical cycle of respiration that converts sugars into energy). However, a large number of a plant cell’s genes in its mitochondria and chloroplasts can develop defects, jeopardizing their function. Nevertheless, plant cells evolved an amazing tool called the RNA editosome (a large protein complex) to repair these kinds of errors. It can modify defective messenger RNA that result from defective DNA by transforming (deamination) of certain mRNA nucleotides.

Automatic error correction in plant cells

Automatic error correction in plants was discovered about 30 years ago by a team headed by plant physiologist Axel Brennicke and two other groups simultaneously. This mechanism converts certain cytidine nucleotides in the messenger RNA into uridine in order to correct errors in the chloroplast DNA or mitochondrial DNA. RNA editing is therefore essential to processes such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration in plants. Years later, further studies showed that a group of proteins referred to as PPR proteins with DYW domains play a central role in plant RNA editing. These PPR proteins with DYW domains are transcribed in the and migrate through the cells to chloroplasts and mitochondria. However, they are inactive on their way to these organelles. Only once they are within the organelles do they become active and execute their function at a specific mRNA site. How this activation works, however, has been a mystery until now.

Rates of Parkinson’s disease are exploding. A common chemical may be to blame

Most cases of Parkinson’s disease are considered idiopathic – they lack a clear cause. Yet researchers increasingly believe that one factor is environmental exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), a chemical compound used in industrial degreasing, dry-cleaning and household products such as some shoe polishes and carpet cleaners.

To date, the clearest evidence around the risk of TCE to human health is derived from workers who are exposed to the chemical in the work-place. A 2008 peer-reviewed study in the Annals of Neurology, for example, found that TCE is “a risk factor for parkinsonism.” And a 2011 study echoed those results, finding “a six-fold increase in the risk of developing Parkinson’s in individuals exposed in the workplace to trichloroethylene (TCE).”

Dr Samuel Goldman of The Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, California, who co-led the study, which appeared in the Annals of Neurology journal, wrote: “Our study confirms that common environmental contaminants may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s, which has considerable public health implications.” It was off the back of studies like these that the US Department of Labor issued a guidance on TCE, saying: “The Board recommends […] exposures to carbon disulfide (CS2) and trichloroethylene (TCE) be presumed to cause, contribute, or aggravate Parkinsonism.”

Could a Nasal Spray of Designer Antibodies Help to Beat COVID-19?

There are now several monoclonal antibodies, identical copies of a therapeutic antibody produced in large numbers, that are authorized for the treatment of COVID-19. But in the ongoing effort to beat this terrible pandemic, there’s plenty of room for continued improvements in treating infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

With this in mind, I’m pleased to share progress in the development of a specially engineered therapeutic antibody that could be delivered through a nasal spray. Preclinical studies also suggest it may work even better than existing antibody treatments to fight COVID-19, especially now that new SARS-CoV-2 “variants of concern” have become increasingly prevalent.

These findings come from Zhiqiang An, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and Pei-Yong Shi, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and their colleagues. The NIH-supported team recognized that the monoclonal antibodies currently in use all require time-consuming, intravenous infusion at high doses, which has limited their use. Furthermore, because they are delivered through the bloodstream, they aren’t able to reach directly the primary sites of viral infection in the nasal passages and lungs. With the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, there’s also growing evidence that some of those therapeutic antibodies are becoming less effective in targeting the virus.-Dr Francis Collins.

EU data watchdogs want ban on AI facial recognition

The EU’s data protection agencies on Monday called for an outright ban on using artificial intelligence to identify people in public places, pointing to the “extremely high” risks to privacy.

In a non-binding opinion, the two bodies called for a “general ban” on the practice that would include “recognition of faces, gait, fingerprints, DNA, voice, keystrokes and other biometric or behavioural signals, in any context”.

Such practices “interfere with and freedoms to such an extent that they may call into question the essence of these rights and freedoms,” the heads of the European Data Protection Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor said.

How vaccines stack up against CDC’s 5 variants of concern

In case you need the information.

The CDC designated the delta variant of the coronavirus — first identified in India — as a “variant of concern” June 15, reigniting attention on the race between vaccines and coronavirus variants.

The new classification comes amid mounting evidence that the variant spreads more easily than existing strains and causes more severe infections, the CDC said in a June 15 statement to Becker’s. People infected by the delta variant may have twice the risk of hospitalization of people infected with the alpha variant first identified in the U.K., according to research released this week from Scotland. In May, the U.K.’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies also said the delta variant could be up to 50 percent more transmissible than alpha, which is currently the dominant strain in the U.S., though research is still preliminary.

The delta variant now accounts for about 10 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and could become the nation’s dominant strain by this fall, according to Scott Gottlieb, MD, a former FDA commissioner who now serves on Pfizer’s board of directors.

NASA inches closer to printing artificial organs in space

In America, at least 17 people a day die waiting for an organ transplant. But instead of waiting for a donor to die, what if we could someday grow our own organs?

Last week, six years after NASA announced its Vascular Tissue Challenge, a competition designed to accelerate research that could someday lead to artificial organs, the agency named two winning teams. The challenge required teams to create thick, vascularized human organ tissue that could survive for 30 days.

The two teams, named Winston and WFIRM, both from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, used different 3D-printing techniques to create lab-grown liver tissue that would satisfy all of NASA’s requirements and maintain their function.

“We did take two different approaches because when you look at tissues and vascularity, you look at the body doing two main things,” says Anthony Atala, team leader for WFIRM and director of the institute.

The two approaches differ in the way vascularization—how blood vessels form inside the body—is achieved. One used tubular structures and the other spongy tissue structures to help deliver cell nutrients and remove waste. According to Atala, the challenge represented a hallmark for bioengineering because the liver, the largest internal organ in the body, is one of the most complex tissues to replicate due to the high number of functions it performs.

Researchers used 3D-printing to create human liver tissue that could soon be tested on the International Space Station.

Continue reading “NASA inches closer to printing artificial organs in space” | >

Insulin Sensitivity Is A Hallmark Of Longevity

HOMA calculator: https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/homa-ir.

Papers referenced in the video:
Growth hormone-releasing hormone disruption extends lifespan and regulates response to caloric restriction in mice.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24175087/

Glucose regulation and oxidative stress in healthy centenarians.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12543271/

Distribution of blood glucose and prevalence of diabetes among centenarians and oldest-old in China: based on the China Hainan Centenarian Cohort Study and China Hainan Oldest-old Cohort Study.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32643047/

Prevalence and Ethnic Pattern of Diabetes and Prediabetesin China in 2013
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28655017/

Families enriched for exceptional longevity also have increased health-span: findings from the long life family study.

Continue reading “Insulin Sensitivity Is A Hallmark Of Longevity” | >

Experts predict that well be able to live up to 20% longer over the next 100 years. Heres how humans are trying to live forever

Experts predict that we’ll be able to live up to 20% longer over the next 100 years. Here’s how humans are trying to live forever. Andrea Schmitz and Benji Jones Apr 3, 2019, 12:00 PM @ These potential treatments for aging could unlock cures to a range of age-related illnesses, from cancer to heart disease – Charlotte Hu Aug 20, 2018, 1:21 PM @ Animals that defy the rules of aging — like naked mole rats — could help scientists unravel the secrets to longevity – Charlotte Hu Aug 15, 2018, 2:54 PM @ Everything you thought you knew about aging is wrong – Erin Brodwin Apr 27, 2016, 12:13 PM *© 2021 Insider Inc. @ Other very important information, images, YouTube Videos (Ray Kurzweil – Physical Immortality – 3 de jan. de 2017 & Ray Kurzweil + Disruptive Technologies and Dangerous Ideas – 5 de dez. de 2017), websites, social networks and links.

How mRNA technology is altering vaccine treatments

“Well, it has to do with our technology,” said Hoge. “We use something called messenger RNA, or mRNA for short. It’s really just an instruction molecule, kind of like a software program for your cells. It just sends instructions about what the virus looks like to your immune system. So just like a software program, or a Word document, we can simply edit something, change it, and then manufacture it very, very quickly.”

He makes it sound so easy, but it’s taken more than a decade of research, and many technological hurdles. Now, the company has some big plans. “We’ve had an incredible year using messenger RNA to fight a pandemic,” Hoge said. “But we think we’re just starting in the infectious disease space, And so, there’s a large number of other vaccines we’re bringing forward.”

Moderna’s research pipeline includes everything from an HIV vaccine, to heart disease treatments, to vaccines for different kinds of cancer, including lymphoma and melanoma.

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