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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,242

Sirtuins have long been implicated in playing a role in the longevity of various species, including our own, and researchers at the University of Rochester have now discovered more supporting evidence that they do.

What are sirtuins?

Sirtuins are a family of proteins that facilitate cellular function and have long been known to play a role in aging. In particular, they are responsible for functions such as gene expression and are involved in DNA repair. It has long been understood that sirtuins played a role in aging, but the key factor in how well they function is the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a coenzyme found in all living cells. NAD+ biology is central to deregulated nutrient sensing and a reason why we age, and sirtuins play a key role in this biology.

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Keith Comito, interviewed by Adam Ford at the Undoing Aging 2019 conference in Berlin, discusses why solving the diseases of old age is a powerful cause.

How can solving aging reduce suffering? What are some common objections to the ideas of solving aging? How does Anti-Aging stack up against other cause…

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Scientists at the University of Bristol have invented a new technology that could lead to the development of a new generation of smart surgical glues and dressings for chronic wounds. The new method, pioneered by Dr. Adam Perriman and colleagues, involves re-engineering the membranes of stem cells to effectively ‘weld’ the cells together.

Cell membrane re-engineering is emerging as a powerful tool for the development of next generation cell therapies, as it allows scientists to provide additional functions in the therapeutic , such as homing, adhesion or hypoxia (low oxygen) resistance. At the moment, there are few examples where the is re-engineered to display active enzymes that drive extracellular matrix production, which is an essential process in wound healing.

In this research, published in Nature Communications today, the team modified the membrane of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) with an enzyme, known as thrombin, which is involved in the wound healing process. When the modified cells were placed in a solution containing the blood protein fibrinogen, they automatically welded together through the growth of a natural hydrogel from the surface of the cells. The researchers have also shown that the resulting 3D cellular structures could be used for .

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In an effort to scale up the manufacture of biomaterials, researchers at UC Berkeley have combined bioprinting, a robotic arm, and flash freezing in a method that may one day allow living tissue, and even whole organs, to be printed on demand. By printing cells into 2D sheets and then freezing them as assembled, the new technique improves cell survival during both building and storage.

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Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have created the largest simulation to date of an entire gene of DNA, a feat that required one billion atoms to model and will help researchers to better understand and develop cures for diseases like cancer.

“It is important to understand DNA at this level of detail because we want to understand precisely how turn on and off,” said Karissa Sanbonmatsu, a structural biologist at Los Alamos. “Knowing how this happens could unlock the secrets to how many diseases occur.”

Modeling genes at the atomistic level is the first step toward creating a complete explanation of how DNA expands and contracts, which controls genetic on/off switching.

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A malaria vaccine which is being called the first to give partial protection against the disease, is being rolled out in Malawi. It works by training the immune system to attack the malaria parasite which is spread by mosquito bites. In a few weeks it will be rolled out in Kenya and then Ghana. BBC Newsday’s Lawrence Pollard spoke to Dr David Schellenberg who has been working on the development of the vaccine with the World Health Organisation in Geneva.

(Photo: Malawians going through a medical checkup by a paramedic Credit: MAURICIO FERRETTI/AFP/Getty Images)

2 minutes.

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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been a topic of great interest in the last decade or so due to their ability to improve tissue regeneration merely by their presence and the secreted signals they give out.

Adult MSCs have traditionally been used for regenerative medicine with hit-and-miss results, depending on the quality and age of the harvested MSCs. It has been discovered in recent years that the efficacy of these cells greatly depends on how damaged by aging they are, which explains why MSC therapy sometimes works very well in one person but not so much in another.

However, what about aged cells that are reprogrammed back to pluripotency then guided into becoming mesenchymal stem cells through cellular reprogramming?

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Earlier this year, we launched a new webinar series where our monthly patrons, the Lifespan Heroes, are given the opportunity to join live discussion panels with the researchers who are working on solving aging.

Our April 8th, 2019 episode saw Dr. Mike Lustgarten, Dr. Amy Proal, and Dr. Cosmo Mielke join hosts Dr. Oliver Medvedik and Steve Hill for a discussion about the microbiome and how it relates to aging.

The webinar discusses gut flora and the pro-aging effects of immune system burden, the link between bacterial burden and inflammation, and exercise and nutrition. There was also plenty of discussion about the immediately available practical measures that can improve the gut microbiome and thus control weight and promote health.

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