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Jul 7, 2020

More Humanin Increases Chances for Healthier Living to 100

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Aging/longevity/heathspan fans!!


Higher levels of humanin, a peptide encoded in the small genome of the mitochondria, in the body is linked to longer lifespans and better health.

Aging Journal – The mitochondrial derived peptide humanin is a regulator of lifespan and healthspan

Continue reading “More Humanin Increases Chances for Healthier Living to 100” »

Jul 7, 2020

Fighting Antibody Cocktail Being Tested in Thousands of People

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

An antibody cocktail designed to prevent and treat COVID-19 is now entering late-stage clinical trials, according to reports.

When naturally infected with COVID-19, the body generates Y-shaped molecules called antibodies that latch onto the virus and mark it for destruction, or hinder its ability to infect healthy cells, Live Science previously reported. These antibodies can be drawn from recovered COVID-19 patients and injected into sick patients to bolster their immune systems against the virus, a treatment known as convalescent plasma therapy.

Jul 7, 2020

Google Parent Alphabet Passes $1 Trillion In Market Value

Posted by in category: futurism

Google is now the fourth Big Tech company to beat the milestone.

Jul 7, 2020

Novavax Secures $1.6 Billion from U.S. Government for COVID-19 Vaccine Program

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax said the funding will allow the company to participate in Operation Warp Speed, the government’s program that has a goal of supporting the development of hundreds of millions of vaccine doses by 2021. The funding granted to Novavax will support the late-stage clinical development of the vaccine candidate, including a pivotal Phase III study. Additionally, the funds will be used to establish large-scale manufacturing in order to deliver 100 million doses of NVX‑CoV2373 by the end of the year.

Stanley C. Erck, president and chief executive officer of Novavax, said the company was honored to partner with Operation Warp Speed, a program that is supporting multiple shots on goal against COVID-19 by backing multiple vaccine projects, including Moderna’s mRNA program and AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate.

“The pandemic has caused an unprecedented public health crisis, making it more important than ever that industry, government and funding entities join forces to defeat the novel coronavirus together. We are grateful to the U.S. government for its confidence in our technology platform, and are working tirelessly to develop and produce a vaccine for this global health crisis,” Erck said in a statement.

Jul 7, 2020

Plant tissue engineering improves drought and salinity tolerance

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, genetics

By genetically engineering thale cress, scientists have made it grow like a succulent, more than doubling the plant’s water-use efficiency.

Jul 7, 2020

Among older adults, statin use tied to decreased risk of death

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience

Study after study has shown that statins can prevent heart attacks, strokes and death in middle-aged adults. But in 28 major clinical trials of statins, only 2 percent of participants have been 75 years or older. This means that even though older adults are at greater risk of heart disease and death, there is scant data on whether statins should be prescribed for them.

A new study led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System leverages national data from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to shed new light on the role statins may play for older adults who have not yet experienced a , stroke or other cardiovascular event. In their retrospective analysis, the researchers found that the risk of dying from any cause was lower by 25 percent among veterans who were using statins compared to those who were not treated with statins. The risk of dying from a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, was lower by 20 percent. The team’s results are published in JAMA.

“Based on these data, age is not a reason to not prescribe statins,” said lead and corresponding author Ariela Orkaby, MD, MPH, a physician scientist at VA Boston Health Care System and in the Division of Aging at the Brigham. “Statins are commonly studied and prescribed for middle-aged adults but understudied in people over age 75. One of the most remarkable things about our results is that we found the benefit of statins held true regardless of whether a person was older or younger or had a condition such as dementia.”

Jul 7, 2020

Blocking cholesterol storage could stop growth of pancreatic tumors

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

There is no really useful treatments for Pancreatic Cancer, also it’s really deadly. So this sounds like awesome science news! “Cancer cells in the pancreas seem to thrive off this hyperactive cholesterol synthesis. The team thinks this is probably because they are taking advantage of other molecules generated by the same pathway. They’re able to keep the pathway running and maintain their supply thanks to an enzyme called sterol O-acyltransferase 1 (SOAT1), which converts free cholesterol to its stored form and which pancreatic cancer cells have in abundance.” “When the researchers eliminated the SOAT1 enzyme through genetic manipulation, preventing cells from converting and storing their cholesterol, cancer cells stopped proliferating. In animal experiments, eliminating the enzyme stalled tumor growth.”


Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have found that they can stop the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by interfering with the way the cells store cholesterol. Their findings in mice and lab-grown pancreas models point toward a new strategy for treating the deadly disease.

The study, reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, was led by CSHL Professor David Tuveson’s team wanted to know why pancreatic , like many , manufacture abundant amounts of cholesterol. Cholesterol is an essential component of cell membranes, but the research team determined that pancreatic cancer cells make far more of it than they need to support their own growth. “This is unusual, because the cholesterol pathway is one of the most regulated pathways in metabolism,” says Tobiloba Oni, a graduate student in Tuveson’s lab.

Continue reading “Blocking cholesterol storage could stop growth of pancreatic tumors” »

Jul 7, 2020

EU confirms ban on American travelers as US scrambles to contain coronavirus

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The European Union has confirmed that American citizens will not be allowed to enter its borders as the bloc begins to ease travel restrictions imposed earlier this year in response to the pandemic. Travelers from America, as well as Brazil and Russia, have been barred from entry because of their countries’ inability to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Jul 7, 2020

Scientists create new device to light up the way for quantum technologies

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

Researchers at CRANN and Trinity’s School of Physics have created an innovative new device that will emit single particles of light, or photons, from quantum dots that are the key to practical quantum computers, quantum communications, and other quantum devices.

The team has made a significant improvement on previous designs in photonic systems via their device, which allows for controllable, directional emission of single photons and which produces entangled states of pairs of .

Jul 7, 2020

Scientists Plan to Clone Extinct Horse Using 42,000-Year-Old Blood

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Horse to Water

In addition to liquid blood, scientists conducting the autopsy found intact organs and tissues.

“We can now claim that this is the best-preserved Ice Age animal ever found in the world,” Semyon Grigoyev, head of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk, Russia, told Russian news agency TASS, as per The Siberian Times.