NASA has revealed plans to grow bioprinted cancer cells in space in a bid to advance cancer research.
Utilizing the microgravity environment, NASA hopes to the cell structures will grow in a more natural spherical shape. Since, back on earth in vitro the cells have only able been able to grow in two-dimensional layers. However to harness the cells without the presence of gravity, NASA is hoping to employ magnets.
The concept of repairing age-related damage to prevent diseases is now mainstream and openly talked about by most acadmics.
Earlier this year the second Scripps Florida Symposium was held and now this open access paper reports on the event. The title of of the event was ‘Advances in Therapeutic Approaches to Extend Healthspan’ and was held on January 22nd–25th, 2017 at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida.
It is once again very refreshing to see that the focus of the researchers here is now firmly on intervening on the various aging processes in order to prevent or treat age-related diseases. Less than a decade ago suggesting addressing the aging processes to treat disease as a preventative form of medicine would have jepordised the chances of funding, or even damaged a researcher’s career prospects. Now the majority of researchers are engaged in exploring the potential of increasing healthspan (the period of life spent free of age-related disease) with the aim of delaying or preventing age-related diseases.
The taboo of talking about doing something about aging
Whilst there is still resistance in academia to talk in public about the potential of these therapies leading to not only healthier but also longer lives, it is nonetheless a step in the right direction. The discussion has changed dramatically in the last decade and the taboo of targeting the aging process has largely been banished, this in our view is a good thing. Only the most conservative scientists cling to the idea that nothing can be done about aging despite the mountains of evidence suggesting otherwise.
We teamed up the MMTP last week and did a special longevity live panel on Facebook with Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Dr. Alexandra Stolzing, Dr. Oliver Medvedik and guests. Check it out.
We teamed up with the MMTP for their “How to Promote Longevity?” Live Panel. Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Dr. Alexandra Stolzing and Dr. Oliver Medvedik and guests discuss the latest research and progess in rejuvenation biotechnology.
Interview with Dr. Jose Luis Cordeiro at the International Longevity and Cryopreservation Summit in Madrid.
During the recent International Longevity and Cryopreservation Summit in Madrid, LEAF Board member Elena Milova had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Jose Luis Cordeiro new fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) and long-term proponent of innovation technologies in many fields. Jose shared his vision on how public perception of rejuvenation technologies is changing over time and what are the main outcomes of the groundbreaking show he and his team managed to organize.
Dr. Cordeiro got his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA, with a minor in Economics and Languages. He is President Emeritus of the Future World Society (Venezuela) and since its foundation about two decades ago Jose managed to become an influential futurist. He is a founding faculty at NASA created Singularity University in Silicon Valley. The goal of the research centre is to tackle global problems such as health, nutrition, poverty and education using the medium of technology. He is also on the board of directors for the Lifeboat Foundation. Jose is part of Fundacion VidaPlus, promoting rejuvenation technologies as well as cryonics, as he believes that people who are too old to make use of the emerging biotechnologies should be granted a plan B in form of cryopreservation. Apart from traveling all over the world to promote innovative ideas in his inspiring talks, Jose has written more than 10 books and co-written over 20 more in five languages, including sections of the State of the Future by the Millennium Project. His extensive associations and achievements are far too numerous to list in this short article, and we invite you to read more about Jose here and also watch his awesome TEDx talk here.
B rain surgery is one of the most delicate, invasive procedures in medicine. Many times, anesthesia is not involved; sometimes, an electrode is inserted into the brain for deep brain stimulation.
Research published Thursday in the journal Cell promises a safer alternative to these otherwise intrusive ways to get in your head: stimulating neurons deep in the brain without any invasive procedures. The procedure, called temporal interference stimulation, is the latest invention of MIT neuroscientist and engineer Edward Boyden.
“Brief stimulation of the brain can actually cause the brain to clean up the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s Disease,” Boyden tells Inverse. He feels that his new technology can help with a number of neurological conditions without many of the hazards inherent to invasive techniques.
Could AI soon diagnose cancer? New system that ‘doctors can rely on’ is 93% accurate in identifying tumours.
By Richard Gray for MailOnline
Increasing autophagy in macrophages is a promising avenue of research aiming at heart disease and other age-related diseaeses.
Today we thought it was a good time to take a look at a new study that demonstrates that increasing autophagy is a good approach to slowing aging and could be the foundation for a variety of therapies to treat age-related diseases.
What is Autophagy?
Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system that delivers unwanted cell components to a type of cellular garbage disposal system, known as the lysosome. The lysosome uses powerful enzymes that break down the unwanted material for recycling. However, as we age the lysosomes become clogged up with materials that are so fused together not even the potent enzymes can destroy them and this causes the lysosomes to become dysfunctional and eventually the cell dies. This is a particular problem for long lived cells with a very low rate of replacement such as the heart, the back of the eye, nerve cells and other cells that rarely divide if at all. Ultimately as more and more cells become dysfunctional over time due to lysosome dysfunction, tissue function become impaired and age-related disease sets in.
