Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers in the US have been testing a new type of antidepressant medication on rats, and say it’s able to treat the symptoms of depression in less than a day, compared to the three to eight weeks it takes current drugs to work. If the results can be replicated in humans, the drug could offer a much more effective option than treatments such as Prozac and Lexapro, which are only effective in only a third of patients who have been diagnosed with depression.

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More interesting developments on the regenerative medicine front this time from UCSF and Villeda. B2M is a downstream consequence of too much TGF-b1 as demonstrated in the recent Conboy regeneration test. This is more validation that cell and tissue regeneration is very near future and should translate to humans.

At UC San Francisco, we are driven by the idea that when the best research, the best teaching and the best patient care converge, we can deliver breakthroughs that help heal the world.

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Genome editing by engineered Cas9 systems (credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers) CRISPR/Cas systems for genome editing have revolutionized biological research over the past three years, and their ability to make targeted changes in DNA sequences in living cells with relative ease and affordability is now being applied to clinical medicine and will have a significant impact on advances in drug and other therapies, agriculture, and food products.

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A good summary of the crisis in research and the broken paradigm the medical world is currently stuck in from Josh Mitteldorf’s excellent blog.

Capital shuns risk. — The essence of science is exploration of the unknown. Science and Capitalism is not exactly a match made in heaven. Government and foundation funding has always been behind the curve of innovation, but the recent contraction in US science funding has engendered an unprecedented intensity of competition. This has translated into a disastrous attitude of risk aversion. A “hard-headed” business model prevails at the funding agencies, and they are now funding only those projects that they deem “most likely to succeed.”

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This is the story of the most important biological discovery of the last 10 years. Will it be used for good, or evil, or everything in between?

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One of the most basic yet important surgical skills to keep a patient alive and intact may be closing wounds. It seems that doctors will now get the job done with more ease thanks to new, nontoxic surgical glue that instantly seals a bleeding wound and helps it heal without a scar or inflammation.

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Lightweight composite metal foams like this one have been found effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high impact collisions — holding promise for use in nuclear safety, space exploration, and medical technology applications (credit: Afsaneh Rabiei, North Carolina State University)

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Irina Conboy is making some amazing advances in aging and rejuvenation research at Berkley. The Conboy lab has been steadily making progress in regenerative medicine and is potentially a few years from having something viable in terms of regenerative medicine. It would be amazing if the community could get behind a single breakthrough project like Irina is working on and making sure this technology arrives soon.

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By using nanopores to read and write DNA, we’re beginning to unlock the mysteries of our own biology! — B.J. Murphy for Serious Wonder.

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