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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2472

He is the first patient to receive an experimental gene therapy as part of a clinical trial. Earlier this week, Sangamo Therapeutics injected Madeux with viruses containing a package of gene-editing material, according to the AP. The hope is that these viruses will enter Madeux’s cells, specifically liver cells, inject the missing gene at the right place in his DNA. Only about 1% of the liver’s cells need to be fixed, and give his liver the ability to produce the enzyme he has been missing all his life.

Brian Madeux’s life hasn’t been easy. So far, he’s had 26 operations to fix problems in everything from hernias to eyes. He has a rare disease called Hunter syndrome, which is caused by the lack of a gene that’s used to produce an enzyme that breaks down certain carbohydrates. As a result, the carbohydrates build up in his body’s cells causing all sorts of problems.

There is no cure. One way to deal with some of the symptoms is to receive regular doses of the missing enzyme, which may cost him in the US between $100,000 and $400,000 per year. Even then, the enzyme won’t reverse the damage made already and it won’t stop further deterioration that happens in the brain.

Continue reading “Doctors are gene editing inside the body of a living human for the first time” | >

There is no doubt that the arrival of rejuvenation biotechnology will not only change how we age but also how society works. Eradicating age-related diseases will lead to challenges for our society but we should be positive about change and a healthier future.

A very useful skill you get from the study of mathematics is the ability to skim details off a special case of a concept and get to the general case, which is the essence common to all special cases. This skill, far from being useful only in maths and science, can be applied to a variety of situations, including—perhaps surprisingly—rejuvenation advocacy.

Think about common objections to rejuvenation: won’t it cause overpopulation? Won’t it make it impossible to pay the pensions? Won’t it make it harder for the young to find a job? Won’t it change our perception of older people and our idea of family?

The answers to these questions are more complicated than just yes or no, but this is not what we’re concerned with here. All of these questions above are special cases of a more general case.

Continue reading “Breaking the System – Rejuvenation and Social Change” | >

T Cells are a major component of the formidable immune system that the body keeps at the ready to respond to the first sign of infection or disease. T cells detect if cells have been infected with a virus; upon detection, they trigger these cells’ ablation and destroy the virus.

Unfortunately, the T cells do not detect cancer cells, as these cells use various tricks to fool the immune system into believing that they are normal healthy cells. Thus, they hide in plain sight, and the T cells cannot seek and destroy them. A new study has found a possible solution to this problem.

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The success of a novel gene therapy for blindness caused by a genetic mutation paves the way for gene therapies which treat other forms of blindness as well as genetic therapies which treat other diseases.

After being treated with a novel gene therapy for blindness, patients who had lost their sight due to a genetic retinal disease could see well enough to navigate a maze, according to research presented today at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO 2017).

Novel Gene Therapy for Blindness

Patients in the study had a form of blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited degenerative retinal disease characterized by severe loss of vision at birth. This novel gene therapy for blindness is currently under review by the FDA for potential approval. There are no other FDA-approved treatments available for inherited retinal diseases.

Continue reading “Gene Therapy for Blindness May Soon Be Reality” | >

Can growth hormone (HGH) boosting gene therapy rejuvenate our bodies without side effects? One man has already started self-experimenting with a novel gene therapy to boost his flagging levels of HGH.

Summary: HGH (human growth hormone) promises to be easily boosted by plasmid-based gene therapy. Moreover, implanting cells which generate growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) mimics the bodies natural processes of producing HGH and thus may rejuvenate our bodies without side effects. One man is already self-experimenting and using gene therapy to boost his flagging HGH levels. This article first appeared on LongevityFacts.com. Follow us on Google+ | Facebook | Reddit. Author: Brady Hartman.

Can human growth hormone (HGH) boosting gene therapy rejuvenate our bodies without side effects?

One man certainly thinks so and has already started experimenting using a novel method to boost his flagging levels of growth hormone.

Continue reading “Can We Rejuvenate Our Bodies with HGH Boosting Gene Therapy?” | >

With everyone from Elon Musk to MIT to the US Department of Defense researching brain implants, it seems only a matter of time before such devices are ready to help humans extend their natural capabilities.

Now, a professor from the University of Southern California (USC) has demonstrated the use of a brain implant to improve the human memory, and the device could have major implications for the treatment of one of the US’s deadliest diseases.

Dong Song is a research associate professor of biomedical engineering at USC, and he recently presented his findings on a “memory prosthesis” during a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington D.C. According to a New Scientist report, the device is the first to effectively improve the human memory.

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#genetherapy #protein #biology #ageing

“Scientists create a chemical that can restore hair and give youthful energy,” the Daily Mail reports. FOXO4-DRI, a modified protein, has been successfully used to remove “broken ageing” cells. However, the research thus far has only been used with mice.

This study examined cells that have stopped dividing, called senescent cells. Senescent cells are believed to be responsible for ageing, along with age related diseases such as arthritis.

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Giving Tuesday is two weeks away, on November 28th. As manufactured celebrations go, I think we could do far worse than a holiday that encourages philanthropy. While most people are basically well-meaning, and I think would agree in principle that support for medical research is to the common good, we all lead busy lives and need prompting.

So here is a prompt, to remind you that we are all still aging, that aging causes an enormous toll of suffering and death, and that, absent progress, you too will be one of the victims. To offer material support to the research groups that are working to treat the causes of aging is not just the most compassionate thing you can do for the millions suffering today, it is also in your self-interest for tomorrow. If you are organized enough to save for retirement, because it will make your life easier decades from now, then you should also be organized enough to help establish the new medical technologies that will reduce or eliminate the age-related disease that also lies ahead, waiting.

The most effective way to help make progress through charitable contributions is to give to the SENS Research Foundation or their allies such as the Methuselah Foundation. This year we have put out a call for SENS Patrons, people willing to pledge a monthly contribution to the SENS Research Foundation. Josh Triplett, Christophe and Dominique Cornuejols, and Fight Aging! have put up a $36,000 challenge fund to encourage new supporters, and we will match the next full year of your donations if you sign up before the end of 2017.

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If you are a medical doctor and interested in an alternative career researching functional medicine and evaluating true rejuvenation therapies, this is for you!

Forever Healthy is a private non-profit initiative whose mission is to enable people to vastly extend their healthy lifespan and be part of the first generation to cure aging.

We support the development of rejuvenation therapies that undo the damage of aging by funding basic research, bringing together the world’s leading scientists at our Undoing Aging conference and helping startups that work on actual therapies for human use.

In addition, we are developing our ‘Personal Longevity Strategy’ which harnesses the enormous wealth of the world’s cutting-edge medical knowledge to empower people to make informed decisions about extending their healthy lifespan right now.

Continue reading “Now hiring for project ‘Personal Longevity Strategy’” | >

The plague death toll shows no sign of slowing as official figures reveal 165 have now lost their lives in Madagascar’s ‘worst outbreak in 50 years’.

Data shows a 15 per cent jump in fatalities over three days, with scientists concerned it has reached ‘crisis’ point and 10 countries now placed on high alert.

At least 2,034 people have been struck down by a more lethal form of the ‘medieval disease’ so far in the country off the coast of Africa, according to WHO statistics.

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