CRISPR technology is transforming biomedical research and is at the heart of numerous recent discoveries — but if no one can pay for treatments it produces, how will we make use of it? Experts have a range of ideas to solve this knotty problem.
Category: genetics – Page 512
Bioquark Inc. and Lakmus LLC Announce Research Collaboration to Study Novel Biopharmaceuticals for Healthy Longevity Enhancement
Philadelphia, PA, USA / Moscow, Russia — Bioquark, Inc., (www.bioquark.com) a life sciences company focused on the development of novel bio-products for regeneration, disease reversion, and healthy aging, and Moscow based, Lakmus LLC, a diversified investment company with business interests in pharmacies, restaurants, and real estate, announced a multi-disciplinary research collaboration with the FSBI Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (http://www.academpharm.ru/), and the Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (http://www.infran.ru/), to jointly study the pharmacotherapeutic longevity enhancement properties of its combinatorial regenerative biologic candidates.
“We are very excited about this continued collaboration with Lakmus,” said Ira S. Pastor, CEO, Bioquark Inc. “The disciplined development of our combinatorial biologic candidates (Bioquantines) for healthy longevity enhancement, represents another important step in our continued evolution as a company focused on a broad range of therapeutic products and services in the regenerative healthcare space.”
Throughout the 20th century, natural products formed the basis for a majority of all pharmaceuticals, biologics, and consumer healthcare products used by patients around the globe, generating trillions of dollars of wealth. However, many scientists believe we have only touched the surface with what the natural world, and its range of organisms, which from a health and wellness perspective are much further advanced than human beings, has to teach us.
The integration of a complex set of newer research disciplines, including interkingdom signaling, semiochemical communication, and evolutionary biology, as well as significant recent activity in the areas of the microbiome, are highlighting a myriad of new ways that non-human bio-products can affect the human genome for positive transitions in health and wellness dynamics.
“Bioquark has spent several years studying the natural ability of many species to turn back biological time in order to maintain health, fitness, and survival, developing a broad understanding of the combinatorial biochemical approaches they use to control nested hierarchies of disease (i.e. gene, cell, tissue, organism, environment),” said Dr. Sergei Paylian, Founder, CSO, and President, Bioquark Inc. “This research initiative is one more step in the path in allowing humans to recapture these capabilities to effectively counter our unfortunate progression into aging, disease and degeneration.”
About Bioquark, Inc.
Bioquark Inc. is focused on the development of natural biologic based products, services, and technologies, with the goal of curing a wide range of diseases, as well as effecting complex regeneration. Bioquark is developing both biological pharmaceutical candidates, as well as products for the global consumer health and wellness market segments.
Liz Parrish on Therapies to Slow and Reverse the Effects of Aging
Excellent lightning round questions below the audio. Between Dune and Hitchhikers Guide, Liz is indeed a nerd.
In this episode we talk about aging. It’s a condition that everyone experiences and indeed, one thing is certain: when it comes to aging, our condition is terminal. Our guest today is challenging that and fighting aging head on. We’re speaking with Liz Parrish, the CEO of BioViva, a biotech company dedicated to advancing gene and cell therapies to treat the diseases of aging. We dive into her work and learn about the results of the treatment that she received to slow and maybe even reverse the effects of aging.
Liz is a passionate advocate for patient access to these revolutionary treatments, and a couple years ago, Liz decided to take her own medicine – literally. In September 2015, Liz underwent genetic therapy with the aim of slowing and even reversing the effects of aging. She believes that aging should be classified as a disease to open up entirely new and untapped pathways to extend human lives and allow us to be healthier, longer.
Gene therapy to treat aging as a disease. Is this something that will catch on? Should we be tinkering with our own genes in this way? If not, why not? We’re already extending the lives of animals from earthworms to mice – why shouldn’t we work to extend our own lives through applying this technology? But if we do that, will these treatments only be available to the elite and wealthy of our society, or is this something that can benefit all of society by making it available to anyone who wants it?
New CRISPR improvement allows multiple gene edits and better accuracy
Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute Florida campus have refined the already state-of-the-art gene-editing system CRISPR. The new improvements boost the ability of CRISPR to target, cut and paste genes in human and animal cells and helps to address the concerns of off target gene mutations raised in a recent study [1].
What is CRISPR?
CRISPR is short for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat,” and is a gene editing system that exploits an ancient bacterial immune defense process. Some microbes combat viral infection by sequestering a piece of a virus’ foreign genetic material within its own DNA, to serve as a template. The next time the viral sequence is encountered by the microbe, it is detected immediately and cut up for disposal with the help of two types of RNA. Molecules called guide RNAs show the location of the invader, and the CRISPR effector proteins act as the scissors that cut it apart and destroy it.
The Toronto Transhumanism Meetup Group
Join me today for this! https://www.meetup.com/transhumanism-78/events/240040904/ #transhumanism
The Transhumanist Party presidential candidate and a Libertarian candidate for California governor, Zoltan Istvan, will join Agah Bahari in a 45-minute conversation for the live recording of an episode of “NEOHUMAN with Agah Bahari” podcast, following by 30-mins of Q&A (predetermined based on prior submissions).
With his wildly popular US Presidential run as a science candidate, bestselling book The Transhumanist Wager, and powerful speeches at institutions like the World Bank, Zoltan Istvan has literally transformed transhumanism into a thriving worldwide phenomenon. He is often cited as the global leader of the radical science movement. A humanitarian activist and former journalist for National Geographic, Zoltan has been compared in major media to a young Al Gore and described as a modern-day Ayn Rand.
“NEOHUMAN with Agah Bahari” is a Toronto-based podcast, produced and hosted by futurist, philosopher, artist, and entrepreneur, Agah Bahari. It was launched on January of 2016 and have generated more than 150,000 downloads in Canada, USA, Europe, and Australia since. NEOHUMAN podcast covers wide variety of subjects and issues, with some of the past guests include Kevin Kelly (editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine), Zoltan Istvan (Founder & 2016 Presidential candidate of The Transhumanist Party), Mark Perlin (Chief Scientific and Executive Officer of Cybergenetics), James Hughes (Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies), Lincoln Cannon (Founder of the Mormon Transhumanist association), and Reverend Christopher Benek (Founder of the Christian Transhumanist Association), among others.
Top Companies in Genomics
From portable genome sequencers until genetic tests revealing distant relations with Thomas Jefferson, genomics represents a fascinatingly innovative area of healthcare. As the price of genome sequencing has been in free fall for years, the start-up scene is bursting from transformative power. Let’s look at some of the most amazing ventures in genomics!
Journal Club May 30th 13:00 EST/18:00 UK
Our Journal Club goes live at 13:00 EST/18:00 UK. Come and watch the live stream on our page where we discuss the latest research. Todays topic is the recent reversal of Epigenetic changes in a living animal via partial cellular programming.
Journal Club live stream to our Facebook page May 30th 13:00 EST/18:00 UK. Join us here live to listen to LEAF and Ocean level Patrons discuss epigenetics and how it relates to aging. It will also be available later to view on Youtube.
This the first of our Monthly Journal Club events hosted by Dr. Oliver Medvedik and guests where we discuss the latest research papers. Journal Club is part of a host of new activities and content this year and is a result of the support we have recieved from the Heroes Campaign currently running on Lifespan.io. If you would like to see more content like this consider becoming a Patron today on the link below:
https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/join-us-become-a-lifespan-hero/
For The First Time Ever, CRISPR Gene Editing Was Used in Humans. So What’s Next?
- With Chinese scientists announcing that they have tested CRISPR on a human for the first time, the U.S. must decide soon whether it will be a leader or a follower in advancing the tech.
- While gene editing technology could be used in nefarious ways, it could also cure diseases and improve millions of lives, but we won’t know how effective it is until we begin human trials.
While the middle part of the 20th century saw the world’s superpowers racing to explore space, the first global competition of this century is being set in a much smaller arena: our DNA.