A unprecedented global study of Alzheimer’s disease has uncovered an additional 42 genes that may affect a person’s risk of developing the disorder. Doctors hope to use that information to develop a more precise way to identify risk.
The researchers looked at multiple measures of cellular age. First, they used the epigenetic clock, where chemical tags throughout the genome indicate age. Secondly, they looked at the transcriptome, all the gene readouts produced by the cell. By these two measures, the reprogrammed cells matched the profile of cells that were 30 years younger, compared to reference data sets. In other words, cells from a woman of 53 now appeared like those of a woman aged 23.
The potential applications of this technique are dependent on cells not only appearing younger, but functioning like young cells too. Fibroblasts produce collagen – a molecule found in bones, skin tendons, and ligaments, helping provide structure to tissues and heal wounds. In this study, the rejuvenated fibroblasts produced more collagen proteins compared to control cells that did not undergo the reprogramming process. Fibroblasts also move into areas that need repairing. Researchers tested the partially rejuvenated cells by creating an artificial cut in a layer of cells in a dish, seen in the video below. The treated fibroblasts moved into the gap faster than older cells. This is a promising sign that one day this research could eventually be used to create cells that are better at healing wounds.
In the future, this research may also open up other therapeutic possibilities; the researchers observed that their method also influenced other genes linked to age-related diseases and symptoms. The APBA2 gene – associated with Alzheimer’s, and the MAF gene with a role in the development of cataracts – both showed changes towards youthful levels of transcription.
My sister is in the process of building a house in Ohio, and I’ve been having conversations with her about how to make it green. She and my brother-in-law both consider me to be eco-crazed (arguably rightly so given the climactic and political stakes) and so tend to raise eyebrows when I make one of my many helpful suggestions.
For example, I suggested they install a central heat pump instead of inefficient electric resistance heating, but only after consulting their HVAC guy, who is a fan of heat pumps, did they decide to install one (Woo-hoo! They’ll save thousands of dollars and pounds of CO2 with that choice). They are also making their home solar-ready and plan to install panels in the next couple of years — this is mostly because solar offers a sense of self-reliance that is perennially popular across political and geographic boundaries.
However, when I tried to talk them into installing a heat pump water heater, I ran into serious resistance. If you haven’t heard about heat pump water heaters, they are an enormously powerful energy/CO2 reduction technology lying hidden in plain sight in the most humble of appliances — the water heater.
This represents a $2.6 billion government giveaway to an industry that made $22 billion in profit in 2021.
Researchers rejuvenate a 53-year-old woman’s skin by decades, but clinical applications are a way off.
The UK team used a technique developed by Nobel Award winner Shinya Yamanaka, who turned “normal” cells into stem cells back in 2006.
The bicycle, reinvented.
Designer Stephen Henrich is prototyping an all-wheel bicycle that looks like an infinity symbol.
Scientists at the US Department of Energy have created a low-cost molten salt battery that can store energy for months — potentially giving us a way to store and use energy from renewables year round.
The challenge: To stop climate change, we need to transition toward cleaner sources of energy.
Renewable energy (especially wind and solar) has become increasingly cheap to generate over the last couple decades, but storage is still an issue — we can burn as much coal or gas as we want, whenever we need it, but we can’t force the wind to blow.
Dr. Karen Miga, a co-lead of the T2T consortium and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, told Medical News Today, “The availability of a complete genome sequence will advance our understanding of the most difficult-to-sequence and repeat-rich parts of the human genome.”
“In the future, when someone has their genome sequenced, researchers and clinicians will be able to identify all of the variants in their DNA and use that information to better guide their healthcare. Knowing the complete sequence of the human genome will provide a comprehensive framework for scientists to study human genomic variation, disease, and evolution.”
