Lifeboat Foundation

Summary: Treatability of cancer was raised to over 80% by a new intelligent system that sifts through massive genetic datasets to pinpoint targets for cancer treatment, say these scientists. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

Scientists in Singapore have discovered a significantly improved way to treat cancer by listening to many different computer programs rather than just one.

Their new computer program reaches a consensus on how to treat a specific tumor, and it is significantly more accurate than existing predictive methods. The system isolates the Achilles heel of each individual tumor, helping doctors to choose the best treatment.

Continue reading “Using big data analysis to significantly boost cancer treatment effectiveness” »

Summary: UCSD researchers just reported that a strain of bacteria prevents skin cancer. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

The human microbiome is emerging a major player in protecting our health and researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) just reported that some strains of skin bacteria safeguard against cancer.

Leading the study is Richard Gallo, MD, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor and the chair of the Department of Dermatology at the UCSD School of Medicine, who says.

Monthly summary of the cancer treatment advances, longevity science and other medical discoveries reported during February 2018.

The longest-lived bats—those belonging to the Myotis genus—may have their telomeres to thank for their slow aging process, according to a study published yesterday (Feb 7) in Science Advances.

“In the longest-lived species of bats telomeres don’t shorten with age,” study coauthor Emma Teeling, a professor of biology and environmental science at University College Dublin, tells The Irish Times. “Whereas in other bats species, humans and other animals they do, causing the age-related breakdown of cells that over the course of a lifetime can drive tissue deterioration and ultimately death.”

Teeling and her colleagues conducted wing biopsies on close to 500 bats of four different species at field sites across Europe. Tissue analysis revealed that while the telomeres shortened with age in two bat species, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Miniopterus schreibersii, no such change occurred in species belonging to Myotis, the bat genus with the greatest longevity.

Continue reading “Study: Telomeres Don’t Shorten with Age in Longest-Lived Bats” »

A potential new biomarker of aging has been discovered by researchers. This substance, found in urine, indicates oxidative damage that could be used to determine how much someone has aged biologically.

Why do we need biomarkers of ageing?

It is important for us to develop accurate and reliable biomarkers of aging, as these can show us how much we have aged biologically rather than chronologically. If we know how we are aging on a biological level, it can help to inform our healthcare strategy.

Scientists developed an accurate AI-based ‘Aging Clock’ that tells our biological age for free and helps us to rewind our clock.

BioViva is a platform to expedite the development of drugs and treatments that affect human healthspan. To achieve this goal BioViva has developed a comprehensive set of biomarkers of aging, which include molecular, physiological, anatomical, clinical, and qualitative markers. BioViva also collaborates with clinicians, biomedical scientists, and statisticians to develop innovative protocols for adaptive clinical trials for gene and cells therapies. Finally, BioViva has built a bioinformatics pipeline to analyze the data generated from the biomarkers of aging in human trials, and validate the treatments that are effective for treating the aging process.

BioViva has recently partnered with a paid-for clinical trial company Integrated Health Systems (IHS). IHS connects doctors with patients who want to take part in paid-for clinical trials. During our collaboration with IHS they will utilize our adaptive clinical trial protocols to conduct gene and cell therapy trials. All patients will undergo pre- and post testing using BioViva’s comprehensive biomarkers of aging platform. Treatment efficacy, and patient well being will be assessed using our bioinformatics pipeline…

The goal of BioViva is to accelerate the development of products that will effectively, and cost-efficiently treat biological aging. Our platform is designed to provide expedited and reliable feedback to our clinical and manufacturing partners, so that they may rapidly iterate their products and services to help patients improve the quality and quantity of life.

Continue reading “What’s All The Buzz? BioViva’s Platform For Expedited Drug Development” »

Summary: Researchers who just finished a precision cancer treatment trial at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles just reported that three out of four adult and child cancer patients responded favorably to a new precision therapy which targets a gene mutation. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) reports that three-fourths of adults and children with a variety of advanced cancers in different sites of the body responded to a novel therapy called larotrectinib that targets a specific genetic mutation.

The researchers published the results of this phase 1/2 trial on February 22, 2018, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Continue reading “Precision cancer treatment effective in treating tumors” »

Summary: A startup wants to develop bioprinted beating hearts using stem cells from a patient’s own body using a special 3D bioprinter. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

A startup called BioLife4D wants to develop bioprinted beating hearts using a patient’s own cells as solution for patients seeking heart transplants.

As first reported on USAToday, Steven Morris, the CEO founding partner and of BioLife4D says that if the bioprinted heart is successful, the company hopes to expand to other organs including the pancreas or the kidneys.

Continue reading “Company wants to bioprint new beating hearts to replace our diseased ones” »