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Category: genetics – Page 436

Scientists identify gene that helps people live to a ripe old age

Researchers at Amsterdam’s UMC have identified a rare gene that halves people’s chances of developing dementia in old age.

People with the genetic variant, which occurs in around 1% of the population, are also more likely to live longer. The researchers studied 16 different sample populations in Europe and North America, including a number of people over the age of 100, for the study published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica.

The discovery could potentially be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative illnesses such as frontotemporal and Lewy body dementia.

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David Sinclair – Slowing down Aging (VIDEO)

David A. Sinclair, Ph.D., A.O. is an Australian biologist and a Professor in the Department of Genetics and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School. He is best known for his work on understanding why we age and how to slow its effects. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and received the Australian Commonwealth Prize. In 1995, he received a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Leonard Guarente. Since 1999 he has been a tenured professor in the Genetics Department of Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Sinclair is co-founder of several biotechnology companies (Sirtris, Ovascience, Genocea, Cohbar, MetroBiotech, ArcBio, Liberty Biosecurity) and is on the boards of several others. He is also co-founder and co-chief editor of the journal Aging. His work is featured in five books, two documentary movies, 60 Minutes, Morgan Freeman’s “Through the Wormhole” and other media.

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Professor Irena Cosic PhD. — RMIT — Australia — Electromagentic Resonant Recognition Model of Macromolecular Interactions — ideaXme — Ira Pastor

Harvard breakthrough shows stem cells can be genetically edited in the body

We owe our long lives to stem cells, which are nestled deep inside certain tissues in the body and constantly replace old cells. In recent years scientists have been able to correct genetic diseases by removing these stem cells, editing their genomes and then implanting them back into the patient, but that adds complications. Now, new research led by Harvard scientists has successfully edited the genes of stem cells while still in the body.

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CRISPR baby mutation significantly increases mortality

Six months ago, a Chinese scientist announced that he had edited the genomes of two babies born last year. The germline edits with CRISPR-Cas9 supposedly changed the CCR5 gene to prevent HIV from invading immune cells. An analysis of records in the U.K. Biobank shows that having two copies of this mutation is associated with a 21 percent increase in mortality.

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BioViva Sciences Inc Photo

BioViva warmly welcomes Dr de Magalhaes to our Scientific Advisory Board!

Dr de Magalhaes graduated in Microbiology in 1999 from the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia in his hometown of Porto, Portugal, and then obtained his PhD in 2004 from the University of Namur in Belgium. Following a postdoc with genomics pioneer Prof George Church at Harvard Medical School, in 2008 Dr de Magalhaes was recruited to the University of Liverpool. He now leads the Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group (http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~aging/) which focuses on understanding the genetic, cellular, and molecular mechanisms of ageing. Dr de Magalhaes has authored over 100 publications and given over 100 invited talks, including three TEDx talks.

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Dr. Camillo Ricordi, M.D. — Director, Diabetes Research Institute and Cell Transplant Center, University of Miami — ideaXme — Ira Pastor

Is DARPA Planning to Infect Insects with GM Viruses for Use in Food Crops?

Continuing from Motherboard, “In an email to Motherboard, a DARPA spokesperson said that four research teams have received allotments of the $45 million funding from the agency as a part of Insect Allies, and that all teams have now entered phase two. The teams include researchers from Penn State University, the University of Texas, and Ohio State University.”

It isn’t difficult to tell what opinion this article represents. Do we need this, or want to trust people with placing genetically modified viruses in the crops that become our grocery store produce?

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