Lifeboat Foundation

New funding awarded by DARPA on new spinal implants; this should make some commercial pilots that I know happy.

Carmel, IN-based startup Nanovis is no stranger to nabbing research grants. It’s just nabbed one from the National Institutes of Health for preclinical research on the use of its porous Forticore interbody fusion devices in combination with nanotube technology. The combination is expected to result in a surface that mimics nature and encourages regeneration around an implant.

Nanovis has previously gotten 8 competitive peer-reviewed grants from the NIH and other research organizations; this is its second NIH grant. In September 2014, it got FDA clearance for its FortiCore interbody fusion devices and then last October it launched an expanded FortiCore line.

Continue reading “NIH awards grant to upstart for nanotech, regenerative spinal implants” »

Cool beans.

Using a bionic fingertip, an amputee for the first time has been able to feel rough and smooth textures in real-time, as though the fingertip were naturally connected to his hand.

Continue reading “Bionic fingertip lets amputee feel textures” »

It might sound like Science Fiction, but robots are helping a local hospital fight infections.

Jeff Goodell is a braver person than me. Goodell reports that the driverless car “still drives like a teenager” Personally, I would worry more about the ability to hack these cars in the middle of a major US highway going 60 to 70 mph and hackers abruptly shutting off the engine.

Self-driving cars, war outsourced to robots, surgery by autonomous machines – this is only the beginning.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the first human genome was sequenced – a massive, globally orchestrated scientific undertaking that took years and some US$3 billion to achieve.

Since then, rapid advancements in genetic technology and techniques have seen the cost and time required for genome sequencing drop dramatically, leading to this week’s remarkable announcement: the first whole genome sequencing service for consumers that costs less than $1,000.

At just $999, myGenome, from US-based genetics startup Veritas Genetics, is being billed by its makers as the first practical and affordable way for people to access unparalleled personal data on their individual genetic code. The company claims its personalised service offers an accessible way to keep tabs on your current health, keep you abreast of any potential future issues, and even know what inherited genetics you might pass onto your children.

Continue reading “You can now sequence your entire genome for under $1,000” »

I have spent the last 30 years in various aspects of the biopharmaceutical industry, which for the most part has been a very rewarding experience.

However, during this time period, having been immersed many different components of therapeutic development and commercialization, one thing has always bothered me: a wide array of promising research never makes it off the bench to see the translational light of day, and gets lost in the historical scientific archives.

I always believed that scientific progress happened in a very linear narrative, with each new discovery supporting the next, resulting ultimately in an eventual stairway of scientific enlightenment.

Continue reading “Death Reversal — The Reanima Project — Research Whose Time Has Come” »

The researcher says he is only holding off cloning people for fear of the public reaction.

Further support for SENS strategy. Senolytics improve vascular biomarkers in mice. This is exactly the work my project MMTP is working on, we are looking at conducting robust lifespan studies for Senolytics including the two compounds used here.

The next step will be to test Senolytics with MSC stem cells to see if we can further improve on vascular aging and pathology such as atherosclerosis.

We are launching a fundraiser on lifespan.io in April to get this work done, please support us!

“Lung cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Manitoba”, said Dr. Sri Navaratnam, president and CEO of CancerCare Manitoba. They all are carbohydrate-containing foods with a high glycemic index (GI).

Almost two years ago, the American Lung Association launched LUNG FORCE, an initiative to defeat lung cancer and rally Americans to raise their voices in support of a cure.

Eating a lot of white bread, processed breakfast cereals, cakes and biscuits may increase your risk for lung cancer, warns a new study. Why? However, they recommend individuals to limit food items high in GI such as white bread, corn flakes, bagels and puffed rice. The study results encompass 1,905 cases and 2,413 controls.

Continue reading “High Glycemic Index Associated With Increased Risk of Lung Cancer” »