Lifeboat Foundation

Urolithin A, a metabolite of biomolecules found in pomegranates and other fruits, could help slow certain aging processes. EPFL spin-off Amazentis, in conjunction with EPFL and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, has published a paper Metabolism outlining the results of their clinical trial.

It is a fact of life that skeletal muscles begin to lose strength and mass once a person reaches the age of 50. A recent clinical trial involving two EPFL entities — spin-off Amazentis and the Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology (LISP) — showed that urolithin A, a compound derived from biomolecules found in fruits such as pomegranates, could slow down this process by improving the functioning of mitochondria — the cells’ powerhouses. A joint paper presenting the results of the trial also demonstrates that ingesting the compound poses no risk to human health.

Slowing mitochondrial aging.

Many people are using DNA testing to pass brick walls in their family trees. When you’ve reached a dead end, DNA testing may help you research further.

Liz Parrish, BioViva Sciences Inc CEO, chats with James Strole, Director of the Coalition for Radical Life Extension, about what she’s bringing to RAADfest 2019: gene therapies as regenerative treatments on human patients.

Hear what she has to share, and meet her at RAADfest 2019, October 3–6, Las Vegas, NV.

For more info and to register: http://www.raadfest.com/

Hallucinations are spooky and, fortunately, fairly rare. But, a new study suggests, the real question isn’t so much why some people occasionally experience them. It’s why all of us aren’t hallucinating all the time.

In the study, Stanford University School of Medicine neuroscientists stimulated nerve cells in the visual cortex of mice to induce an illusory image in the animals’ minds. The scientists needed to stimulate a surprisingly small number of nerve cells, or neurons, in order to generate the perception, which caused the mice to behave in a particular way.

“Back in 2012, we had described the ability to control the activity of individually selected neurons in an awake, alert animal,” said Karl Deisseroth, MD, Ph.D., professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “Now, for the first time, we’ve been able to advance this capability to control multiple individually specified cells at once, and make an animal perceive something specific that in fact is not really there—and behave accordingly.”

https://www.prweb.com/releases/regenerage_international_iime…449142.htm

In a recent study, a group of researchers from Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Feinberg School of Medicine, and Tel Aviv University examined astrocytes in mice and found that these cells exhibited a senescent phenotype that led to neurodegeneration and neurotoxicity [1].

Age-dependent increase in senescent astrocytes adjacent to Aβ plaques

Cellular senescence, discovered in 1961 by Leonard Hayflick and Paul Moorhead, is a state in which cells no longer perform their functions, instead emitting harmful chemicals that turn other cells senescent… These cells are caused primarily by telomere shortening and DNA damage, they are known to contribute to many diseases, and this is not the first study that links them to neurodegeneration.

The rules about what makes a good magnet may not be as rigid as scientists thought. Using a mixture containing magnetic nanoparticles, researchers have now created liquid droplets that behave like tiny bar magnets.

Magnets that generate persistent magnetic fields typically are composed of solids like iron, where the magnetic poles of densely packed atoms are all locked in the same direction (SN: 2/17/18, p. 18). While some liquids containing magnetic particles can become magnetized when placed in a magnetic field, the magnetic orientations of those free-floating particles tend to get jumbled when the field goes away — causing the liquid to lose its magnetism.

Continue reading “Permanent liquid magnets have now been created in the lab” »

A stealthy new drug-delivery system disguises chemotherapeutics as fat in order to outsmart, penetrate and destroy tumors.

Thinking the drugs are tasty fats, tumors invite the drug inside. Once there, the targeted drug activates, immediately suppressing tumor growth. The drug also is lower in toxicity than current chemotherapy drugs, leading to fewer side effects.

“It’s like a Trojan horse,” Northwestern University’s Nathan Gianneschi, who led the research. “It looks like a nice little fatty acid, so the tumor’s receptors see it and invite it in. Then the drug starts getting metabolized and kills the tumor cells.”

Dr. Wim Melis from the University of Greenwich is working on deconstructing and reconstructing audio signals with extremely high accuracy.

Audio is captured and, from there, converted into a spiking signal—the type the brain uses. This is then fed into the brain and reconstructed as a 90–100 percent replica of the original sound.

Current technologies, known as cochlear implants, only achieve a fraction of this. They do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain, whereas hearing aids make sounds louder.