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Apr 20, 2019
Ending Age-Related Diseases Conference: April Update
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biotech/medical, business, life extension
On July 11–12, we will be hosting our second annual Ending Age-Released Diseases conference. This conference focuses on the progress of aging research along with the business and investment side of rejuvenation biotechnology.
Aging research is on the cusp of some major breakthroughs in the battle against age-related diseases, and we invite you to join us for an action-packed event filled with exciting talks and discussion panels featuring some of the leaders of aging research and the biotech business.
Continue reading “Ending Age-Related Diseases Conference: April Update” »
Technology in today’s day and age progresses at an incredible speed! But did you know it moved THIS fast?
Apr 20, 2019
IBM Pulls the Plug on Drug-Discovering Watson AI
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: finance, robotics/AI
Apr 20, 2019
A psychology experiment unexpectedly discovered a man who can’t cooperate because of brain damage
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: neuroscience
When someone’s especially cooperative, don’t thank their easy-going nature, but give credit to their brain. A team of New York University psychologists hypothesized that cooperation depends on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DPC), an area of the brain in the frontal lobe involved in regulation control and goal pursuit; after all, cooperation often requires reigning in one’s naughty impulses to take everything for themselves. To test their theory, the researchers conducted an experiment involving participants with brain damage to the DPC—and discovered someone who would not cooperate at all.
For the study, published last year in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, the researchers recruited 26 healthy control participants alongside 33 participants with brain damage: eight who had frontal-lobe damage, 14 with amygdala damage, and 11 with damage in other areas of the brain. The participants were split into groups of four, and then put through 20 rounds of a decision-making scenario where each person was given $8 and told they could keep it for themselves, or share it equally with the group. After each round, the participants saw whether the others in their group chose to share. Overall, participants cooperated by sharing their money 38.5% of the time.
More interestingly, participants with damage to their DPC were more likely to keep the $8 for themselves. “Overcoming that intuition to be selfish requires them to regulate their response,” says Jay Van Bavel, a professor of psychology at NYU, and one of the study authors. “You just reach and grab for the money whenever you can take it. As people had more damage to their DPC, they were more likely to be selfish.”
Apr 20, 2019
Light sails and stingray airships to explore space
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: innovation, space
NASA has announced the 18 projects awarded funding in its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) programme.
Apr 20, 2019
Almost one in ten heart attacks could be prevented if high-risk patients were checked more
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, health
Almost one in ten heart attacks and strokes could be avoided if check-ups were targeted at high risk patients, new research has revealed.
People aged 40 and over in England and Wales are currently eligible to have their heart health assessed every five years.
Blood pressure, cholesterol, blood-sugar levels, smoker status, age and family history are factors considered by doctors when working out a person’s chance of having a heart attack or stroke.
Apr 20, 2019
Disrupting Reproduction: Two New Advances in Tech-Assisted Baby-Making
Posted by Mike Ruban in category: biotech/medical
Seven months later, following stringent monitoring of signs of immunorejection, the team transplanted a fertilized embryo engineered with IVF into the donor uterus. By 35 weeks, the baby was delivered without complications through a C-section.
The woman was a lucky case. Others who underwent the same procedure experienced immunorejection that prevented them from keeping the womb. The team actually removed the transplanted womb following the successful childbirth, citing that they wanted to currently focus on giving infertile women their first child.
These are still early days for uterine transplants—dead or alive—but the proof-of-concept shows that women who had to previously rely on surrogates may have an alternative way. The team is looking to further refine the protocol, for example, for how much immunosuppressant to give and harvesting the organ as early as possible, to potentially increase success rates.
Apr 20, 2019
Part-revived pig brains raise slew of ethical quandaries
Posted by Derick Lee in category: neuroscience
The work also raises a host of ethical issues. There was no evidence of any global electrical activity — the kind of higher-order brain functioning associated with consciousness. Nor was there any sign of the capacity to perceive the environment and experience sensations. Even so, because of the possibilities it opens up, the BrainEx study highlights potential limitations in the current regulations for animals used in research.
Researchers need guidance on animal use and the many issues opened up by a new study on whole-brain restoration, argue Nita A. Farahany, Henry T. Greely and Charles M. Giattino. Researchers need guidance on animal use and the many issues opened up by a new study on whole-brain restoration, argue Nita A. Farahany, Henry T. Greely and Charles M. Giattino.