Lifeboat Foundation

The Quickest Route To Healthy

Linda Jiang is Head of Strategy and Government Partnerships, Healthcare, at Lyft (https://www.lyft.com/healthcare), where she’s responsible for accelerating the growth of the business, driving public sector strategy, and partnering with policymakers and regulators to bring access to the rideshare service to millions of people who need it for healthcare access.

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To maintain a healthy immune system, doctors advise patients to take vitamins and minerals. Vitamins have many functions that benefit the body, including resisting infection, energy boost, aiding in blood clotting, improving brain function, generation of red blood cells, promoting a healthy gut microbiome, improving wound healing, preventing eye deterioration, and developing strong bones. We can get vitamins from various sources, including orange juice, which is rich in vitamin C, folate, and potassium. Physicians often recommend supplements for patients low on specific vitamins. However, dysregulation of vitamins can weaken the immune system and promote overall bad health. One vitamin in particular that helps maintain cellular function includes B12. This vitamin is essential to generate DNA and red blood cells, and aids in nerve function, energy conversion, and protein metabolism. When a patient has a B12 deficiency it can result in muscle weakness, numbness in hands and feet, difficulty walking, nausea, loss of appetite, and unintentional weight loss. In addition, it can allow the buildup of a small molecule known as methylmalonic acid (MMA).

In healthy tissues, vitamin B12 helps break down MMA. In B12 deficient patients, MMA is increased and can be measured through blood or urine samples. Methylmalonic acid is produced when proteins in your muscle, known as amino acids, are broken down. Tests to determine B12 deficiency or a genetic disorder are done by physicians at birth and after the appearance of symptoms related to B12 deficiency. Interestingly, a group of scientists have discovered a new deleterious role of MMA in lung carcinoma.

A recent publication from Oncogene, by Dr. Ana P. Gomes and others, demonstrated that MMA in aged patients weakens immune cell function and promotes lung cancer progression. Gomes is a professor of molecular oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. Her work specifically focuses on understanding metabolic changes as we age and how this change in metabolism influences cancer risk.

The Expedition 72 crew studied micro-algae and DNA-like nanomaterials on Tuesday to improve health in space and on Earth. The orbital residents also worked on cargo transfers and lab maintenance aboard the International Space Station.

NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague began his day processing radiation-resistant samples of Arthrospira C micro-algae and stowing them in an incubator for analysis. The samples will be exposed to different light intensities to observe how they affect the micro-algae’s cell growth and oxygen production. Results may advance the development of spacecraft life support systems and fresh food production in space.

Afterward, Hague joined Commander Suni Williams of NASA for a different research session mixing water with samples of messenger RNA, or mRNA, and protein to create DNA-like nanomaterial products inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox. Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore then transferred the samples, exposed them to ultrasonic waves, and imaged them with a spectrophotometer to measure the intensity of light at different wavelengths and evaluate the quality of the nanomaterials. The samples will also be returned to Earth for further evaluation. Results may lead to improved therapies for Earth and space health conditions as well as advance the space economy.

Researchers at Tokyo University of Science have developed a solar cell-based optoelectronic device that mimics human synapses for efficient edge AI processing.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly useful for the prediction of emergency events such as heart attacks, natural disasters, and pipeline failures. This requires state-of-the-art technologies that can rapidly process data. In this regard, reservoir computing, specially designed for time-series data processing with low power consumption, is a promising option.

It can be implemented in various frameworks, among which physical reservoir computing (PRC) is the most popular. PRC with optoelectronic artificial synapses (junction structures that permit a nerve cell to transmit an electrical or chemical signal to another cell) that mimic human synaptic elements are expected to have unparalleled recognition and real-time processing capabilities akin to the human visual system.

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Exercise can do more than strengthen your muscles and boost your mental health: It can also support your eyes.

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Now that AI is transforming nearly every industry, healthcare stands out as a field with immense potential — and unique risks.

A single AI-generated error here could lead to serious consequences for patient health.

Arthritis, intense exercise, and sugary or fatty foods are some of the things that can lead to inflammation. Here’s what you can take or add to your diet to help fight it.

Insecticides have been used for centuries to counteract widespread pest damage to valuable food crops. Eventually, over time, beetles, moths, flies and other insects develop genetic mutations that render the insecticide chemicals ineffective.

Escalating resistance by these mutants forces farmers and vector control specialists to ramp up use of poisonous compounds at increasing frequencies and concentrations, posing risks to human health and damage to the environment since most insecticides kill both ecologically important insects as well as pests.

To help counter these problems, researchers recently developed powerful technologies that genetically remove insecticide-resistant variant genes and replace them with genes that are susceptible to pesticides. These gene-drive technologies, based on CRISPR gene editing, have the potential to protect valuable crops and vastly reduce the amount of chemical pesticides required to eliminate pests.

A multi-institutional team of researchers, led by Georgia Tech’s Francesca Storici, has discovered a previously unknown role for RNA. Their insights could lead to improved treatments for diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders while changing our understanding of genetic health and evolution.