Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have found two different neural paths responsible for decision-making processes in humans, related to accuracy and speed. The results of this research could help scientists create better treatment for patients suffering from neurological disorders. ( Oli Scarff | Getty Images )

Two new mechanisms responsible for the balance between speed and accuracy in the humans’ decision-making process have been identified. Researchers have brought new insight on how quickly a decision can be made and on the amount of information necessary to make it.

The research, conducted by scientists from the Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford, was published in the journal eLife, and it explains in greater detail a type of brain wiring that could be employed in treating neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.

Continue reading “Two Brain Networks Crucial To Decision-Making Identified” »

Schwann cells (SCs) myelinate peripheral nerve axons and offer opportunities for the treatment of injuries and demyelinating diseases but reliable and renewable sources of these cells are hard to come by.

Synbio research at work and discovery.

Study of synthetic essential genes identifies a novel pathway in prostate cancer and suggests a framework for the discovery of targets in cancers harboring tumor-suppressor deficiencies.

Rules placed on Synbio in India; wonder who is next?

The technology could help produce drugs, vaccines, fuel components and other chemicals.

: India is taking its first steps to evolve a policy on synthetic biology, an emerging science through which new life forms can potentially be made in labs and existing life forms, such as bacteria and other microbes, tweaked to produce specific proteins or chemically useful products.

Continue reading “India to frame policy on synthetic biology” »

Some people have mutations that greatly lower their cholesterol. Tests in mice suggest gene editing could give the rest of us the same protection.

In severe cases, a dog can develop pneumonia and even die.

New study raises questions over using young blood transfusions as a therapy for aging.

There has been a lot of interest in the potential for transfusions of young blood to rejuvenate the old. However a recent study raises some intriguing questions.

Over the past several years, DARPA-funded researchers have pioneered RNA vaccine technology, a medical countermeasure against infectious diseases that uses coded genetic constructs to stimulate production of viral proteins in the body, which in turn can trigger a protective antibody response. As a follow-on effort, DARPA funded research into genetic constructs that can directly stimulate production of antibodies in the body.^, DARPA is now launching the Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) program, aimed at developing that foundational work into an entire system capable of halting the spread of any viral disease outbreak before it can escalate to pandemic status. Such a capability would offer a stark contrast to the state of the art for developing and deploying traditional vaccines—a process that does not deliver treatments to patients until months, years, or even decades after a viral threat emerges.

“DARPA’s goal is to create a technology platform that can place a protective treatment into health providers’ hands within 60 days of a pathogen being identified, and have that treatment induce protection in patients within three days of administration. We need to be able to move at this speed considering how quickly outbreaks can get out of control,” said Matt Hepburn, the P3 Program Manager. “The technology needs to work on any viral disease, whether it’s one humans have faced before or not.”

Recent outbreaks of viral infectious diseases such as Zika, H1N1 influenza, and Ebola have cast into sharp relief the inability of the global health system to rapidly contain the spread of a disease using existing tools and procedures. State-of-the-art medical countermeasures typically take many months or even years to develop, produce, distribute, and administer. These solutions often arrive too late—if at all—and in quantities too small to respond to emerging threats. In contrast, the envisioned P3 platform would cut response time to weeks and stay within the window of relevance for containing an outbreak.

DNA — now with a new base pair! (credit: Romesberg Lab)

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed the first stable semisynthetic organism — a bacterium with two new synthetic bases (called X and Y) added to the four natural bases (A, T, C, and G) that every living organism possesses. Adding two more letters to expand the genetic alphabet can be used to make novel proteins for new therapeutics, according to the researchers.

All life as we currently know it contains just four bases that pair up to form two “base pairs” — the rungs of the DNA ladder — which are simply rearranged to create different organisms.

Continue reading “First stable semisynthetic organism created” »