Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical – Page 63

Can psychedelic mushrooms turn back the clock? Study suggests psilocybin preserves telomere length

A compound found in psychedelic mushrooms may have antiaging properties. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found that psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, may extend both cellular and organismal lifespans.

The findings, published in the journal npj Aging, show that psilocybin reduced multiple hallmarks of aging in cells while also improving survival in aged mice.

“There have been a number of clinical studies that have explored the therapeutic potential of psilocybin in psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety; however, few studies have evaluated its impacts outside the brain,” said Dr. Louise Hecker, associate professor of medicine— at Baylor and senior author of the study.

Treating postoperative delirium as preventable ‘acute brain failure’: Low-cost interventions could have major impact

A new large-scale study spotlights postoperative delirium as a preventable and high-impact complication which is driven by patient frailty and surgical stress—and one that can be addressed through low-cost, evidence-based interventions.

The findings, which appear in JAMA Network Open, provide a call to action for clinicians, health systems, patients, and families to prioritize brain health throughout perioperative care.

“Postoperative delirium isn’t a minor complication—it’s analogous to acute brain failure, a medical emergency that should be recognized and addressed,” said Laurent Glance, MD, a professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and senior author of the study.

Divide-and-conquer strategy with engineered ossification center organoids for rapid bone healing through developmental cell recruitment

Critical-sized bone defects are a clinical challenge, with long-term recovery often leading to delayed union or nonunion. Here, Zhang et al. report an engineered ossification center-like organoid which recruits Krt8+ skeletal stem cells and reduces Has1+ fibrotic cells, mimicking developmental bone formation for regeneration of critical-sized bone defects.

Scientists create biological ‘artificial intelligence’ system

Australian scientists have successfully developed a research system that uses ‘biological artificial intelligence’ to design and evolve molecules with new or improved functions directly in mammal cells. The researchers said this system provides a powerful new tool that will help scientists develop more specific and effective research tools or gene therapies.

Named PROTEUS (PROTein Evolution Using Selection) the system harnesses ‘directed evolution’, a lab technique that mimics the natural power of evolution. However, rather than taking years or decades, this method accelerates cycles of evolution and natural selection, allowing them to create molecules with new functions in weeks.

This could have a direct impact on finding new, more effective medicines. For example, this system can be applied to improve gene editing technology like CRISPR to improve its effectiveness.

Development and Validation of a Simple and Cost-Effective LC-MS/MS Method for the Quantitation of the Gut-Derived Metabolite Trimethylamine N-Oxide in Human Plasma of Healthy and Hyperlipidemic Volunteers

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a gut microbial metabolite of dietary precursors, including choline and carnitine. Elevated levels of TMAO in human plasma have been associated with several diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, neurological disorders, and cancer. This has led to an increased interest in the accurate determination of TMAO in human blood, for which a reliable, cost-effective and sensitive analytical method should be established. LC-MS/MS has emerged as a powerful tool for the determination of TMAO due to its high sensitivity, specificity, and ability to handle complex matrices. Herein, we describe the development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the determination of TMAO in human blood plasma.

Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice

Psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by hallucinogenic mushrooms, has received attention due to considerable clinical evidence for its therapeutic potential to treat various psychiatric and neurodegenerative indications. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain enigmatic, and few studies have explored its systemic impacts. We provide the first experimental evidence that psilocin (the active metabolite of psilocybin) treatment extends cellular lifespan and psilocybin treatment promotes increased longevity in aged mice, suggesting that psilocybin may be a potent geroprotective agent.

Kato, K., Kleinhenz, J.M., Shin, YJ. et al. Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice. npj Aging 11, 55 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-025-00244-x.

Download citation.

/* */