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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,253

Diabetes: A Next-Generation Therapy Soon Available?

Insulin, a hormone essential for regulating blood sugar and lipids, is normally produced by pancreatic β cells. In many people with diabetes, however, pancreatic cells are not (or no longer) functional, causing a chronic and potentially fatal insulin deficiency that can only be controlled through daily insulin injections. However, this approach has serious adverse effects, including an increased risk of life-threatening hypoglycaemia, and it does not restore metabolic balance. In order to improve therapy, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have identified a protein called S100A9 which, under certain conditions, seems to act as a blood sugar and lipid regulator while avoiding the most harmful side effects of insulin. This discovery, that can be read in Nature Communications, paves the way for better treatment of diabetes and could significantly improve the quality of life for tens of millions of people affected by insulin deficiency.

Today, insulin injections are essential for the survival of patients with type 1 diabetes or a severe form of type 2 diabetes. However, this treatment is not without risk: overdose can trigger hypoglycaemia, i.e. a drop in blood glucose levels that can lead to coma or even death. But underdosed, it can lead to equally dangerous hyperglycaemia. In addition, insulin is involved in the control of ketones, elements that are produced when the liver breaks down lipids in the absence of sufficient glucose reserves, which become toxic in too large quantities. In addition, long-term insulin treatments cause excess fat and cholesterol in the blood and therefore increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

As early as 2010, Roberto Coppari’s team, a professor at the Diabetes Centre of the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, highlighted the gluco- and lipid-regulatory properties of leptin, a hormone involved in hunger control. “However, leptin has proved difficult to use pharmacologically in human beings due to the development of leptin resistance,” says Roberto Coppari. “In order to overcome this problem, we shifted our focus on the metabolic mechanisms triggered by leptin rather than on the hormone itself.”

Humans have salamander-like ability to regrow cartilage in joints

Contrary to popular belief, cartilage in human joints can repair itself through a process similar to that used by creatures such as salamanders and zebrafish to regenerate limbs, researchers at Duke Health found.

Publishing online Oct. 9 in the journal Science Advances, the researchers identified a mechanism for cartilage repair that appears to be more robust in ankle joints and less so in hips. The finding could potentially lead to treatments for osteoarthritis, the most common joint disorder in the world.

“We believe that an understanding of this ‘salamander-like’ regenerative capacity in humans, and the critically missing components of this regulatory circuit, could provide the foundation for new approaches to repair joint tissues and possibly whole human limbs,” said senior author Virginia Byers Kraus, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the departments of Medicine, Pathology and Orthopedic Surgery at Duke.

Andrei Gudkov at Ending Age-Related Diseases 2019

We’re continuing to release talks from Ending Age-Related Diseases 2019, our highly successful two-day conference that featured talks from leading researchers and investors, bringing them together to discuss the future of aging and rejuvenation biotechnology.

Dr. Andrei Gudkov of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center gave a highly technical and in-depth presentation about the retrobiome, a specific subset of genetics that vary between mammalian species, as a key driver of aging. According to this model, as DNA damage accumulates, senescent cells are less efficiently disposed of by the immune system, strongly contributing to the familiar diseases of aging. He also discussed related topics, including how LINE1 (RTL1), a protein that is produced as part of the retrobiome, may be effective against cancer proliferation.

Gene Therapy To Engineer Healthy Longevity | Liz Parrish | TEDxOxford

NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. We’ve flagged this talk, which was filmed at a TEDx event, because it appears to fall outside TEDx’s content guidelines. Gene therapy remains an emerging field of study. The speaker’s claims only reflect her personal views which are not corroborated by scientific evidence. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf

Liz Parrish is the CEO of BioViva USA Inc, a company committed to increasing health span and combatting the biggest diseases of our time, the diseases of aging. Liz’s talk introduces us to our species’ age-long battle with disease, our successes and achievements, and our new modern enemies to ultimate health. By using the evidence of what science has achieved and what model organisms can tell us about our journey forward, Liz shows us that with the right mentality we can defeat our foes and obtain the “golden sceptre of health”. With the current advances in gene therapy, we are on the brink of living very different lives with an unlimited amount of genetic choices. Did you know that your age is the risk factor in mortality? Listen to this talk and prepare yourself for the future.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Insilico signs $200M AI drug discovery partnership with China’s CTFH

Shortly after publishing a paper demonstrating how its artificial intelligence programs could generate viable lead compounds in just a few weeks, Insilico Medicine has signed a dual-program discovery collaboration with Jiangsu Chia Tai Fenghai Pharmaceutical worth up to $200 million.

Focused on previously undruggable targets in triple-negative breast cancer, the deal includes an upfront payment along with potential milestones and sales-based royalties pegged to any eventual products.

“We are very pleased to establish the partnership with Insilico Medicine, entering the new era of AI-enabled drug development,” Wenyu Xia, general manager of the China-based pharma company, said in a statement. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with Insilico Medicine.”

Michael Kope — Extending Healthspan & Aging Well

Which disease will you die of first? If you survive that one, which disease is next in line? If we are kept alive but unwell and continue to practice medicine the way we do today, we will all get a long list of diseases — we are just going to be stacking up more and more layers of treatment, becoming more and more unhappy and spending more and more time at the doctors.

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Why a computer will never be truly conscious

Some researchers continue to insist that simulating neuroscience with computers is the way to go. Others, like me, view these efforts as doomed to failure because we do not believe consciousness is computable. Our basic argument is that brains integrate and compress multiple components of an experience, including sight and smell – which simply can’t be handled in the way today’s computers sense, process and store data.

Brains don’t operate like computers

Living organisms store experiences in their brains by adapting neural connections in an active process between the subject and the environment. By contrast, a computer records data in short-term and long-term memory blocks. That difference means the brain’s information handling must also be different from how computers work.