Lifeboat Foundation

FIRE president Greg Lukianoff joins Bill Maher to discuss the standard for free expression on college campuses.

The FDA has approved two new gene therapies for sickle cell disease, a ‘functional cure’ for many patients.

Rolls-Royce displayed a conceptual model design of a nuclear Space Micro-Reactor at the UK Space Conference that may one day power Moon settlers.

Abstract. Individual differences in the spatial organization of resting-state networks have received increased attention in recent years. Measures of individual-specific spatial organization of brain networks and overlapping network organization have been linked to important behavioral and clinical traits and are therefore potential biomarker targets for personalized psychiatry approaches. To better understand individual-specific spatial brain organization, this paper addressed three key goals. First, we determined whether it is possible to reliably estimate weighted (non-binarized) resting-state network maps using data from only a single individual, while also maintaining maximum spatial correspondence across individuals. Second, we determined the degree of spatial overlap between distinct networks, using test-retest and twin data.

Perfect for the holiday season.

*Under very specific conditions dictated by Tesla, that is.

A team of researchers based at the University of Toronto’s (U of T) Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy has discovered a novel ionizable lipid nanoparticle that enables muscle-focused mRNA delivery while minimizing off-target delivery to other tissues. The team also showed that mRNA delivered by the lipid nanoparticles investigated in their study triggered potent cellular-level immune responses as a proof-of-concept melanoma cancer vaccine.

The study, led by Bowen Li, assistant professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, U of T, was published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Called iso-A11B5C1, the new lipid nanoparticle demonstrates exceptional mRNA delivery efficiency in muscle tissues while also minimizing unintended mRNA translation in organs such as the liver and spleen.

A University of Michigan-led study based on a review of genetic and health information from more than 276,000 people finds strong support for a decades-old evolutionary theory that sought to explain aging and senescence.

In 1957, evolutionary biologist George Williams proposed that genetic mutations that contribute to aging could be favored by natural selection if they are advantageous early in life in promoting earlier reproduction or the production of more offspring. Williams was an assistant professor at Michigan State University at the time.

Williams’ idea, now known as the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging, remains the prevailing evolutionary explanation of senescence, the process of becoming old or aging. While the theory is supported by individual case studies, it has lacked unambiguous genome-wide evidence.

The central dogma of molecular biology postulates that the information packets encoded within the molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are first transcribed into molecules of messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs), and then subsequently translated/decoded to generate molecules called proteins.

Proteins are essential biomolecules that are composed of multiple smaller subunits called amino acids. These amino acids are stitched together via peptide bonds and contribute to the shape, size and charge distribution that the protein, as a sum of its amino acid parts, eventually exhibits.

Continue reading “How a pathogenic bacterium uses molecular mimicry to compromise a cell’s protein building factory” »

A team of researchers has reviewed a unique method for reforming the structures of ultra-small nanomaterials. These nanomaterials, called metal nanoclusters, bridge the gap between the metal atom and the bulk metal, making them highly useful in both basic and applied research. Metal nanoclusters have the potential for wide-ranging applications in the biomedical fields.

The team’s review paper is published in the journal Polyoxometalates.

The team investigated the phosphine-LEIST reaction. This method shows advantages in metal nanoclusters’ structural modification and property modulation. “The method we reviewed is able to modulate the atomically precise structure of metal nanoclusters and regulate their corresponding performance,” said Man-Bo Li, a professor at Anhui University, China.