Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 130

New research identifies E-TCmito as a key link between neuronal activity and mitochondrial function, highlighting its potential to address cognitive decline in aging and diseases like Alzheimer’s.

New research in mice has identified a critical mechanism that connects neuronal activity with mitochondrial function, offering insight into potential strategies to address age-related cognitive decline. Mitochondria, essential for meeting the energy needs of active neurons, generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) primarily through oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS).

As mammals age, the efficiency of mitochondrial metabolism in the brain declines, significantly impacting neuronal and network function. The disruption of the OXPHOS pathway contributes to oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, exacerbating these challenges.

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Year 2023 I have found both spiders and bees are sentient because their emotional intelligence is very high much like a human child.

‘Fringe’ research suggests the insects that are essential to agriculture have emotions, dreams and even PTSD, raising complex ethical questions.

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Photo credit: NASA / Matthew Dominick NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this incredible image of a brilliant red and green aurora in Earth’s thermosphere from the International Space Station (ISS). It was taken from the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft on Oct. 7, 2024 around 273 miles above the Indian Ocean. Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick dedicated much of his personal time to photography, amassing nearly 500,000 photos of Earth as well as snapshots of life aboard the International Space Station. This is a very impressive feat considering that he traveled 99,708,603 total statute miles around our home planet. We.

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Donald J. Cram, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who taught andconducted research at UCLA for more than 50 years and is remembered bythousands of undergraduates for singing and playing guitar in class, died ofcancer June 17 at his home in Palm Desert. He was 82.

A renowned scientist who was as comfortable riding the waveswith friends in the San Onofre Surfing Club as he was in his lab at UCLAconstructing complex molecular models, Cram won the Nobel Prize in 1987 and theNational Medal of Science in 1993 for his work in host-guest chemistry, a fieldhe helped to create. In 1998, he wasranked among the 75 most important chemists of the past 75 years byChemical and Engineering News.

“DonaldCram stands alone in the incredible variety, beauty and depth of hisaccomplishments,” read the citation for Cram’s National Medal of Science. “His investigations have helped give thisscience its form and sophistication. Hetruly brought art to science by making his science an art.”

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Penn Engineers have modified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) — the revolutionary technology behind the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines — to not only cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) but also to target specific types of cells, including neurons. This breakthrough marks a significant step toward potential next-generation treatments for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

In a new paper in Nano Letters, the researchers demonstrate how peptides — short strings of amino acids — can serve as precise targeting molecules, enabling LNPs to deliver mRNA specifically to the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels of the brain, as well as neurons.

This represents an important advance in delivering mRNA to the cell types that would be key in treating neurodegenerative diseases; any such treatments will need to ensure that mRNA arrives at the correct location. Previous work by the same researchers proved that LNPs can cross the BBB and deliver mRNA to the brain, but did not attempt to control which cells the LNPs targeted.

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