From bionic eyes to gene editing, how can we use science to bring back sight?
- By Everyday Einstein Sabrina Stierwalt on November 17, 2018
Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,662
Multi-dose capsule gets tested on humans for first time
Taking one or more pills every day can be a hassle, with many people either forgetting or just not bothering. There could soon be an alternative, however. An experimental system that packs a week’s worth of timed-release doses into one capsule has shown promising results in its first clinical study.
Fisetin—a new senolytic
More information on the search for natural senolytics (that clear the senescent cells and potentially make us younger)- on ficetin, found in abundance for example in strawberries, a newly published study and discussion in the blog of Josh Mitteldorf. But we still would have to consume around 20 kg strawberries for two consecutive days to reach the dose used in the happy longer living mice!
Senolytic drugs have been the most promising near-term anti-aging therapy since the ground-breaking paper by van Deursen of Mayo Clinic published in 2011 . The body accumulates senescent cells as we age, damaged cells that send out signal molecules that in turn modify our biochemistry in a toxic, pro-inflammatory direction. Though the number of such cells is small, the damage they do is great. Van Deursen showed that just getting rid of these cells could increase lifespan of mice by ~25%. But he did it with a trick, using genetically engineered mice in which the senescent cells had a built-in self-destruct switch.
After that, the race was on to find chemical agents that would do the same thing without the genetically engineered self-destruct. They must selectively kill senescent cells, while leaving all other cells unharmed. It’s a tall order, because even a little residual toxicity to normal cells can be quite damaging. Before last week, the two best candidates were FOXO4-DRI and a combination of quercetin with dasatinib .
I’ve written in the past ( here and here ) that senolytic drugs are our best prospect for a near-term lift on the road to anti-aging medicine.
CDC Doctors Say Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Is on the Rise
For now, the best advice that doctors have is to wash your hands to avoid transmitting infections — a small precaution to avoid the long-term after-effects of AFM.
“We have had a couple people who’ve had some pretty good recovery,” Marcus says. “Most people have had a little bit of recovery, but unfortunately, we haven’t seen anybody who’s had a full recovery from this. It’s really discouraging.”
Scorpion Venom Shuttles Drugs to the Brain
And you thought needles were scary: Researchers are using scorpion venom to transport drugs to the brain.
The Peptides and Proteins lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) modified the amino acid chain chlorotoxin—present in scorpion venom—to carry medicine across humans’ blood-brain barrier (BBB).
An important mechanism for protecting the brain from harmful substances, the roadblock also prevents medication used to treat neurological diseases and tumors from entering the organ.
By solving a mystery of gene repair, scientists uncover an exception to biology’s rules
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About 15 years ago, UNC Lineberger’s Dale Ramsden, Ph.D., was looking through a textbook with one of his students when they stumbled upon a scientific mystery.
A small line in the book indicated that a protein that helps repair major breaks in our genetic code did so by adding DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, as expected. However, there were hints that it could also add RNA, or ribonucleic acid, at least in a test tube. It seemed unlikely that this would occur during repair of DNA in living cells, since RNA is normally used only as a messenger to carry information from the genetic code to make proteins.
“You would think they must only add DNA during repair of our genetic code, because that’s the core of the central dogma of life; genetic information has to be DNA all the time,” said Ramsden, who is a professor in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be. That’s what we’re taught in school.”