Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers hope KRAS test can serve renewed function as soon as possible Scientists have found an existing gene test frequently used on the NHS can also shed light on whether a bowel cancer patient will respond positively or negatively to chemotherapy. Researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research, Imperial College London and the Netherlands Cancer Institute have found the KRAS test can have use beyond its current function of predicting how patients will react to cancer drug cetuximab.

An insect has been identified as the species Polystoechotes punctata, which belongs to a family of insects that predates the dinosaurs.

An exploration of the ideas of physicist John Wheeler and how it may be that events happening in the present, fix events that happened in the past and that the whole of time in the universe is an exercise in it creating itself.

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While the mental has often played second fiddle to the physical when it comes to longevity research, this is changing – and not a moment too soon.

The physical and mental aspects of aging are interconnected, and given the strong connection between psychology and the physical pace of aging, poor mental health is starting to be recognised as a major driver of aging.

A raft of developments have demonstrated that physical lifespan and healthspan can be extended and improved, and now it is time for the longevity industry to achieve similar success when it comes to mental health. Sergey Jakimov, the CEO of Swiss investment group LongeVC agrees, and tells us why it’s time for VCs to get excited about backing startups delivering cutting-edge solutions for mental healthcare.

As a survival mechanism, some tumors, particularly many solid tumors, have evolved to express the ligands capable of turning off the immune response. While immune regulation benefits us under normal conditions, any hindrance of the immune response in the presence of cancer can become detrimental. Understanding these biological processes has led to the development of a promising immunotherapeutic modality: the immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI). ICIs work by blocking the signals that dampen the immune response.

One prominent checkpoint pathway consists of programmed death 1 (PD1), located on immune cells, and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), expressed on tumor cells. The FDA has approved numerous ICIs to block the interaction of PD-1 and PD-L1 for patients with various solid tumors, including skin, lung, and liver cancers.

Predicting the patients most likely to benefit from PD-1/PD-L1 interventions remains a high priority. Depending on the type of cancer, different tests can predict a patient’s likelihood of responding to ICIs. In some cancers, a readout used to access ICI responsiveness is a patient’s tumor mutational burden (TMB), an estimate of how many mutations appear in the cancer genome. However, better predictive models could help identify more patients who could benefit from these therapies.

At just 40 years old, Kristen Fortney has spent more than half of her life thinking about the science of aging. But why?

“When I get asked this question I usually blame it on reading too much science fiction,” the CEO and co-founder of the clinical-stage biotech BioAge Labs said with a laugh. “My co-founder, Eric Morgen, and I have been talking about aging since high school.”

Every year, a huge number of people get sick and die from influenza (flu). The good news is, protecting yourself from flu is easy and safe. Just get your flu vaccine!

More information: https://www.who.int/health-topics/influenza-seasonal#tab=tab_1

A ranking of the most innovative companies in AI, including OpenAI, DeepMind, Nvidia, Builder.ai, Voxel, and others.

George Church is a geneticist known for his pioneering work in developing new technologies for genome sequencing, editing, and synthesis. He has also been involved in research on genome engineering and gene therapy.

Links.
https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/core-faculty/george-church/
https://arep.med.harvard.edu/

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