Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists studying the aging process in the eye have made an important discovery around the role of a so-called “youth” protein, and shown how it promotes a cellular recycling process that maintains our vision. Experiments on mice missing this protein led to fast-tracked degeneration in the retina, indicating that the protein plays an important protective role against age-related vision loss.

Led by scientists at the US National Eye Institute, the study centers on a protein called pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF). This protein plays an important mediatory role in a natural recycling process in the eye. It is produced by a layer of support cells, called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which sits beneath the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptor cells and helps recycle and replenish them as their outer edges wear out. This ability declines as we grow older and in people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), leading to vision loss.

“People have called PEDF the ‘youth’ protein, because it is abundant in young retinas, but it declines during aging,” said Patricia Becerra, senior author of the study. “This study showed for the first time that just removing PEDF leads to a host of gene changes that mimic aging in the retina.”

Summary: Researchers have created a new blueprint that outlines how embryonic stem cells from mice become sensory interneurons and identified a method for producing sensory interneurons in a lab setting. If the results can be replicated in human stem cells, researchers say the findings could contribute to the development of therapies to restore sensation to those suffering nerve damage and spinal cord injury.

Source: UCLA

Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed a first-of-its-kind roadmap detailing how stem cells become sensory interneurons — the cells that enable sensations like touch, pain and itch.

Can the sum of knowledge and experience we’ve accumulated over a lifetime live on after we die? The concept of “mind-uploading” is a modern version of an age-old human dream. Transhumanism hopes to not only enhance human capacities but even transcend human limitations such as bodily death.

The main character of Oscar Wilde’s famous novel The Picture of Dorian Gray wishes for eternal youth. And his wish is fulfilled: Dorian Gray remains young and exquisitely beautiful, whereas his portrait grows old, bearing the burden of aging, human shortcomings and imperfections. As we know, the story ended badly for Dorian.

In our time, scientific discoveries and new technologies promise to bring us closer to his dream. And no deal with the Devil is needed for doing so: once we understand how to manipulate the building blocks of life as well as the material foundations of our consciousness, emotions and character traits, so the story goes, we will be able to broaden human nature and overcome its inherent limitations such as aging, suffering and cognitive, emotional and moral shortcomings.

New work shows that neurons and other brain cells use DNA double-strand breaks, often associated with cancer, neurodegeneration and aging, to quickly express genes related to learning and memory.

Circa 2021

University of Nevada, Reno names Dr. Erick Jones dean of the College of Engineering.

Jones is a senior science advisor in the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. State Department.

“Harms in early life can take many forms, and can lead to health consequences many years down the road. What our study shows is that these consequences manifest as perturbations to multiple biological systems, which can be measured from biomarkers in blood.”…

Individuals exposed to adverse childhood experiences tend to be biologically older than their counterparts, according to new research published in the scientific journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Adverse childhood experiences refer to a set of potentially traumatic events that occur before adulthood. These experiences include various forms of abuse and neglect, witnessing intimate partner violence, parental death or serious illness, parental divorce or separation, and psychiatric illness of a family member. Biological aging, on the other hand, refers to the accumulation of damage and loss of function to cells, tissues and organs.

Continue reading “New research suggests adverse childhood experiences accelerate the biological processes of aging” »

Things I learned:

1. Various tissues will have different safe zones of rejuvenation before they become pluripotent but we could make tissue specific treatments and treat them separately without effecting others.

Continue reading “Cognitum S2 Episode 6 // Epigenetic Rejuvenation” »

I share this revealing interview given by Liz Parrish, “Patient Zero” in biological rejuvenation, to a journalist in Madrid, Spain. It took place in July 10, 2022 and lasts 20 minutes.

During the interview Liz speaks in English. However, the journalist, whose name is María Zabay, speaks mostly in Spanish.

Continue reading “Liz Parrish interviewed by María Zabay for the Spanish newspaper ‘Ok Diario’ (English & Spanish)” »

Researchers at Cornell University have come up with a novel biomaterial that can be used to create artificial skin capable of mimicking the behavior of natural human tissues.

Thanks to its unique composition, made up of collagen mixed with a ‘zwitterionic’ hydrogel, the team’s biohybrid composite is said to be soft and biocompatible, but flexible enough to withstand continued distortion. While the scientists’ R&D project remains ongoing, they say their bio-ink could one day be used as a basis for 3D printing scaffolds from patients’ cells, which effectively heal wounds in-situ.

“Ultimately, we want to create something for regenerative medicine purposes, such as a piece of scaffold that can withstand some initial loads until the tissue fully regenerates,” said Nikolaos Bouklas, one of the study’s co-lead authors. “With this material, you could 3D print a porous scaffold with cells that could eventually create the actual tissue around the scaffold.”