Lifeboat Foundation

Recently is has become known that one should not take Metformin unless you have diabetes. But a combo test of Rapamycin and Metformin showed each removed each others side effects. So here we have another combo test showing the effect on stem cells in the gut.

In a new study published in Aging Cell, researchers have shown that two promising anti-aging agents, the antibiotic rapamycin and the anti-diabetic drug metformin, reverse aging in a population of intestinal stem cells [1].

Older people are more prone to gastrointestinal problems [2]. Moreover, aging is a major risk factor for various cancers, including colorectal cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to develop therapeutic approaches to rejuvenate the aging intestine.

Continue reading “Metformin and Rapamycin Rejuvenate Stem Cells in Mice” »

A team of Rutgers scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial origins of metabolism—a set of core chemical reactions that first powered life on Earth—has identified part of a protein that could provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the verge of producing life.

The research, published in Science Advances, has important implications in the search for extraterrestrial life because it gives researchers a new clue to look for, said Vikas Nanda, a researcher at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) at Rutgers.

Based on laboratory studies, Rutgers scientists say one of the most likely chemical candidates that kickstarted life was a simple peptide with two nickel atoms they are calling “Nickelback” not because it has anything to do with the Canadian rock band, but because its backbone nitrogen atoms bond two critical nickel atoms. A peptide is a constituent of a protein made up of a few elemental building blocks known as amino acids.

A new paper in Nature Communications illuminates how a previously poorly understood enzyme works in the cell. Many diseases are tied to chronic cellular stress, and UMBC’s Aaron T. Smith and colleagues discovered that this enzyme plays an important role in the cellular stress response. Better understanding how this enzyme functions and is controlled could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets for these diseases.

The enzyme is named ATE1, and it belongs to a family of enzymes called arginyl-tRNA transferases. These enzymes add arginine (an amino acid) to proteins, which often flags the proteins for destruction in the cell. Destroying proteins that are misfolded, often as a result of cellular stress, is important to prevent those proteins from wreaking havoc with cellular function. An accumulation of malfunctioning proteins can cause serious problems in the body, leading to diseases like Alzheimer’s or cancer, so being able to get rid of these proteins efficiently is key to long-term health.

The new paper demonstrates that ATE1 binds to clusters of iron and sulfur ions, and that the enzyme’s activity increases two-to three-fold when it is bound to one of these iron-sulfur clusters. What’s more, when the researchers blocked cells’ ability to produce the clusters, ATE1 activity decreased dramatically. They also found that ATE1 is highly sensitive to oxygen, which they believe relates to its role in moderating the cell’s stress response through a process known as oxidative stress.

Scientists created a map of an entire larval fruit fly brain that shows all 548,000 synapses in the organ.

A quick introduction to Yamanaka factors!

The quest for longevity has always been with us. Ever since the ancient kings of old we have been trying everything we can think of in order to stave off death and disease, with most of our efforts unfortunately baring little fruit. However, as it turns out, the power to reverse the aging process has been nestled within us this whole time. Not in the metaphorical sense, but rather in the quite literal sense. For you see, we have been reversing the aging process every single time we have reproduced.

Have you ever wondered how it is that regardless of how old the parents of a child are, the child is never born ‘pre-aged?’. This seems like a ridiculous question, but if the genetic material that came from the parents (especially from the father) has already undergone the aging process, then how is it that ‘genetic aging’ is not passed onto the child? If such a process were to occur, then it would obviously spell doom for our entire species, as we would eventually accumulate age with each subsequent generation and we would very quickly perish. Yet, this obviously does not happen. So the question was asked, why is this?

This could rethink our view of the world as once-habitable.

Venus has long been discussed as a former ‘ocean world’ like Mars, but a new study in PNAS shows this era may have been short lived.

The future of computing includes biology says an international team of scientists.

The time has come to create a new kind of computer, say researchers from John Hopkins University together with Dr. Brett Kagan, chief scientist at Cortical Labs in Melbourne, who recently led development of the DishBrain project, in which human cells in a petri dish learned to play Pong.

Continue reading “The Future of Computing Includes Biology: AI Computers Powered by Human Brain Cells” »

This video explains germline mutations vs somatic mutations.

Thank You For Watching.

Continue reading “Germline Mutations vs Somatic Mutations” »

Working from home has many of us wondering how we can make this new experience more comfortable and accommodating. lately we’ve seen brands like established & sons collaborate with french designers erwan and ronan bouroullec to create flexible pieces of furniture that really work for these changing times. but this new chair got us both excited and confused as we can’t decide if it’s genius or just borderline crazy. developed by cluvens, the cluvens IW-SK zero-gravity esports gaming chair boast a scorpion shape that cocoons you — if that’s what you like.