Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 8,163

Humans are living longer than ever before. But alongside these increases in life expectancy are an increase in the occurrence of age-related diseases such as cancer and dementia.

But understanding the biology of ageing, and knowing the genes and proteins involved in these processes, will help us increase our “healthspan”—the period that people can live in a healthy and productive state, without age-related diseases.

In a recent study, our team identified a novel anti-ageing , called Gaf1. We found that Gaf1 controls protein metabolism, a process that has been implicated in ageing and disease. We also found that without Gaf1, have a shorter lifespan.

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The development of next-generation solar power technology that has potential to be used as a flexible ‘skin’ over hard surfaces has moved a step closer, thanks to a significant breakthrough at The University of Queensland.

UQ researchers set a world record for the conversion of solar energy to electricity via the use of tiny nanoparticles called ‘quantum dots’, which pass electrons between one another and generate electrical current when exposed to solar energy in a solar cell device.

The development represents a significant step towards making the technology commercially-viable and supporting global renewable energy targets.

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Australian scientists have for the first time produced a new generation of experimental solar energy cells that pass strict International Electrotechnical Commission testing standards for heat and humidity.

The research findings, an important step towards commercial viability of perovskite solar , are published today in the journal Science.

Solar systems are now widespread in both industry and domestic housing. Most current systems rely on silicon to convert sunlight into useful energy.

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A study published in Current Biology reports on one of the first comprehensive characterizations of poorly formed memories, and may offer a framework to explore different therapeutic approaches to fear, memory and anxiety disorders. It may also have implications for accuracy of some witness testimony.

Senior author Professor Bryce Vissel, from the UTS Centre for Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine, said his team used novel behavioral, molecular and computational techniques to investigate memories that have not been well-formed, and how the deals with them. “For memories to be useful, they have to have been well-formed during an event—that is, they have to accurately reflect what actually happened.

”However, in the many memories are likely to be inaccurate—especially in situations where the experience was brief, sudden or highly emotional, as can often occur during trauma. Inaccurate memories can also occur when the is poorly encoded, potentially as a result of subtle differences in how each person processes memory or because of disease like Alzheimer’s or dementia.”

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The feds have ordered 300 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine from British drugmaker AstraZeneca, officials said Thursday.

The company will get up to $1.2 billion from the US Department of Health and Human Services to speed the development and production of the vaccine with the goal of delivering the first doses as early as October, according to officials.

The deal between AstraZeneca and HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority includes clinical studies that will start this summer with about 30,000 US volunteers, officials said.

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A research study in mice by investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) suggests it would be possible to repair the brain cell damage caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). The research was published in the journal Cell Reports.

The research, led by Steve Goldman, professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at URMC and co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, manipulated embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to create glia, a type of brain cell. Glial progenitor cells, a subtype of these cells, eventually form the primary support cells of the brain, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, which play essential roles in the health and signaling behavior of nerve cells.

MS is an autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system attacks oligodendrocytes. Oligodendrocytes manufacture myelin, which makes the insulation that allows nerve cells to communicate with each other. As myelin decreases in MS, the signaling between nerve cells is interrupted, which causes the loss of function that leads to problems with sensation, motor function and cognitive problems.

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