Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 1999 this can lead to genetic editing that allows people to handle even a nuclear fallout level of radiation and even allow them to handle outer space better.

Rockville, MD — No, it’s not the cockroach, but rather a strain of pink bacteria that can survive 1.5 million rads of gamma irradiation — a dose 3,000 times the amount that would kill a human. This dose of radiation shreds the bacteria’s genome into hundreds of pieces. The organism’s remarkable ability to repair this DNA damage completely in a day and go on living offers researchers tantalizing clues to better understanding the mechanism of cellular repair. Advances in this area could in turn improve our understanding of cancer which is frequently caused by unrepaired DNA damage. Genetically engineering the microbe could lead to improved ways to cleanup pollution and to new industrial processes.

U.S. Department of Energy-funded researchers at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) describe the complete genetic sequence of the bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans in the November 19 issue of Science.

“This is a significant accomplishment,” Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson said. “The Department of Energy began microbial genome work to support bold science and to help meet our unique environment and energy mission needs. Besides the insights into the way cells work, this new research may help provide a new safe and inexpensive tool for some of the nation’s most difficult cleanup challenges.”

On the one hand, from the dawn of civilization humans have dreamed of immortality. On the other hand, from the dawn of civilization a myriad of anti-aging remedies turned out to be empty promises. Even worse, they often shorten lifespan. Two notable examples are antioxidants and human growth hormone. The idea that free radicals, or reactive oxygen species (ROS), cause aging was based on a “wild guess,” as Harman, a father of the ROS theory, acknowledged when he titled his paper, “I thought, thought, thought for four months in vain and suddenly the idea came” [116]. The idea is simple and intuitive, and it was widely accepted based on circumstantial evidence. In fact, ROS are inevitable products of metabolism, and they do damage biomolecules. Moreover, excessive ROS can shorten lifespan. Similarly, the atomic bomb can shorten life span. Yet this does not mean that either atomic bombs or oxidants are the cause of normal aging as we know it.

Numerous experiments support the ROS theory. However, key experiments ruled the ROS theory out (see for references [2, 117 – 122]. To make a long story short, antioxidants could in theory prolong lifespan if mTOR-driven (quasi-programmed) aging were suppressed and we lived long enough to die from ROS-induced post-aging syndrome (I will discuss the nuances in the forthcoming article “ROS and aging revisited”). Indeed, ROS will kill any organism eventually. However, organisms normally die from mTOR-driven, age-related diseases (aging as we know it) before ROS can kill them (see for discussion [2]). As an analogy, consider most of the passengers on the Titanic. Would antioxidant treatment have been useful to them for life extension? The best way to extend life for members of that group would have been to carry more life boats. Only after their safe rescue could one expect antioxidants to potentially increase their life further. Similarly, only after rescue from the quasi-program of aging may antioxidants potentially have an impact.

Using non-invasive techniques to manipulate our emotions, it might be possible to curtail the screaming horrors that plague our sleep.

A study conducted on 36 patients diagnosed with a nightmare disorder showed that a combination of two simple therapies reduced the frequency of their bad dreams.

Scientists invited the volunteers to rewrite their most frequent nightmares in a positive light and then playing sound associated with positive experiences as they slept.

“This represents a significant source of PFAS in the home environment,” said Sydney Evans, a science analyst with the EWG.

PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 12,000 compounds used to make products resist water, stains and heat. They’re called “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down, accumulating in humans and animals. PFAS are linked to a range of serious health problems like cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and liver disease.

The chemicals are likely used in pet food bags to make them repel grease. For cats, the highest levels were detected in the Meow Mix Tender Centers salmon and chicken flavors dry cat food, at more than 600 parts per million (ppm). Purina Cat Chow Complete chicken showed over 350 ppm, while Blue Buffalo, Iams and Rachael Ray Nutrish all had levels of less than 100 ppm.

It could decrease reliance on palm oil to produce biofuel.

Have you ever guessed that a leftover coffee could turn into biodiesel? Here’s a remarkable development for bioscience. Seemingly, Aston University scientists produced high-quality biodiesel microalgae fed on leftover coffee. According to Aston University’s release, this development is also a breakthrough in the microalgal cultivation system.

Dr. Vesna Najdanovic, senior lecturer in chemical engineering, and Dr. Jiawei Wang were part of a team that produced algae and subsequently turned it into fuel.

Continue reading “Researchers fed microalgae on leftover coffee grounds to produce high-quality biodiesel” »

Snoring, insomnia and daytime sleepiness can also cause loss of site over time.

Too much or too little sleep could be associated with developing glaucoma, irreversible sight loss, according to a new study published in the journal BMJ Open.

Researchers mentioned that the study sheds light on the need for sleep therapy, specifically for people at high risk of losing their site. Glaucoma is one of the leading causes in blindness, affecting millions. By the year 2040, it is estimated that 112 million people will be affected by this disease.

Continue reading “According to a new study, poor quality sleep could increase the risk of glaucoma” »

Brain changes in autism are comprehensive throughout the cerebral cortex rather than just particular areas thought to affect social behavior and language, according to a new UCLA-led study that significantly refines scientists’ understanding of how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) progresses at the molecular level.

The study, published today in Nature, represents a comprehensive effort to characterize ASD at the molecular level. While neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease have well-defined pathologies, autism and other psychiatric disorders have had a lack of defining pathology, making it difficult to develop more effective treatments.

The new study finds brain-wide changes in virtually all of the 11 cortical regions analyzed, regardless of whether they are higher critical association regions—those involved in functions such as reasoning, language, social cognition and mental flexibility—or primary sensory regions.

Months later, the trio of scientists published a paper that found that a virus, not a novel strain of bacteria like some within the scientific community originally thought, was to blame. Over the following decades, other scientists unfurled the gnarly branches of the large influenza family tree, gathering enough information to formulate a vaccine, which (hopefully) most of us get before every flu season.

But here’s the catch: Influenza is a master shapeshifter. Every year, strains of the virus that infect humans — influenza type A and B — evolve in ways that evade vaccines and, subsequently, our immune systems. This results in uneven vaccine effectiveness from year to year and also undermines efforts to pack a flu shot with a broad, long-lasting immune punch.

But we may have an ace in the hole thanks to mRNA, the same technology used for our Covid-19 vaccines. In a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and other institutions have cooked up an mRNA-based influenza vaccine that targets four viral proteins that tend to remain the same across different strains of influenza.

“We grow them in huge bioreactors in just three weeks — while regular cannabis takes 14 to 23 weeks,” Sobel said. “Our tech can also significantly increase the levels of active ingredients, as a percent of the weight, versus what is found normally in the plant.”

An Israeli company has cloned hemp cells and used a bioreactor to grow them into a substance with all the active compounds of cannabis — and 12 times the potency.

BioHarvest Sciences says the breakthrough could make the medical benefits of cannabis available in cheaper, cleaner and greener form. It has started applying for the necessary licenses to manufacture and sell its product for medical use in Israel and the United States.

Continue reading “Cloned cannabis cells with 12 times more potency are grown in Israeli bioreactor” »