The researchers also demonstrated that it is possible to grow functioning human blood vessels in another species.
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The breakthrough engineering technology, outlined in a new study published today in Nature, dramatically advances research of vascular diseases like diabetes, identifying a key pathway to potentially prevent changes to blood vessels — a major cause of death and morbidity among those with diabetes.
An organoid is a three-dimensional structure grown from stem cells that mimics an organ and can be used to study aspects of that organ in a petri dish.
“Being able to build human blood vessels as organoids from stem cells is a game changer,” said the study’s senior author Josef Penninger, the Canada 150 Research Chair in Functional Genetics, director of the Life Sciences Institute at UBC and founding director of the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA).
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A Tale of Senility
Posted in biotech/medical, life extension
LEAF writer Nicola Bagalà recounts meeting an old lady on the street and considers what might have happened in a world free from age-related diseases.
I would like to share a story about an encounter I had a couple of years back, when I was nearing the end of my university studies. At the time, I lived in a student apartment pretty much on the outskirts of Helsinki, Finland. Like most of Finland, this area is beautiful and brimming with green everywhere in the summer, but at the end of March— which is when the story takes place—it still looks like a barren, icy desert, and during a late evening like the one on which I had my encounter, it can be very cold and dark.
That evening, my girlfriend and I were coming back from the nearby supermarket, carrying two or three heavy bags full of groceries and looking forward to being home. We were talking about something I can’t recall when we passed right next to another person whose figure I could not make out very well. I had a feeling that it was a woman, but that’s all I could tell. As we walked away from her, I thought I could hear a voice calling—maybe it was her, but I told myself that she was probably talking on the phone or something. I heard her calling again, at which point I turned around to check if she was actually trying to catch our attention.
I was right—she was a woman. More specifically, an old Finnish lady, looking quite lost and tired. What follows is an account of the conversation I had with her—my girlfriend can’t really speak Finnish. I had actually written this down somewhere not too long after it had happened, but I could not remember the conversation line by line, and I had to improvise a little to fill in the blanks here and there as I translated it from Finnish. It is as accurate as I can possibly make it.
Childhood’s End
Dr. Twyman developed the idea of social futurism which can be characterized as the idea of using technology to solve social problems. Dr. Twyman has tried two variations to drive interest in the community as well as some political efforts external to that. The most recent incarnation of this was an ARG (alternate reality game). Whether you thought his approaches to Zero State and Social Futurism were good or not, the idea of Social Futurism is something we need more people to talk about.
While the details to me are unimportant in most things the central idea IS important. With Social Futurism it evolves out of the same moral and ethical model that includes a deep respect and needs to help those around us, something I think more of us and should include as part of our lives and the message we share with others through our actions and the example we set.
With the changes on the various Zero State forums, I would like to invite anyone thinking about Social Futurism and related ideas to comment.
Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10dFgrjdfqY
I posed a wide array of questions for inventor, futurist, and Singularitarian Dr. Ray Kurzweil on September 21, 2018, at RAAD Fest 2018 in San Diego, California. Topics discussed include advances in robotics and the potential for household robots, artificial intelligence and overcoming the pitfalls of AI bias, the importance of philosophy, culture, and politics in ensuring that humankind realizes the best possible future, how emerging technologies can protect privacy and verify the truthfulness of information being analyzed by algorithms, as well as insights that can assist in the attainment of longevity and the preservation of good health – including a brief foray into how Ray Kurzweil overcame his Type 2 Diabetes.
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“Aging is a complicated process with multiple modulations occurring at many levels, from the molecular to the cells. Ginseng, an ancient Chinese herb widely used in Eastern medicine, has been studied for its anti-aging properties., and has been shown to have beneficial effects with regards to anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, cardiovascular regulation, neurological improvement, anti-tumor, skin protection and immune modulation. The evidence on the life-prolonging effects of ginseng remains inadequate, and further studies are recommended. Investigations integrating science and technology will be needed to further explore the effects of ginseng on the human body to fully understand its potential.” Low-tech life extension I have taken safely for decades.
Aging is an irreversible physiological process that affects all humans. Numerous theories have been proposed to regarding the process from a Western medicine perspective; however, ancient Chinese medicine practices and theories have increasingly gained attention, particularly ginseng, a grass that has been studied for the anti-aging properties of its active constituents. This review seeks to analyze current data on ginseng and its anti-aging properties. The plant species, characteristics, and active ingredients will be introduced. The main part of this review is focused on ginseng and its active components with regards to their effects on prolonging lifespan, the regulation of multiple organ systems including cardiovascular, nervous, immune, and skin, as well as the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The molecular mechanisms of these properties elucidated via various studies are summarized as further evidence of the anti-aging effects of ginseng.
Keywords: Ginseng, Anti-aging, pharmacology, molecular mechanism.
Aging is an inevitable biological process that leads to progressive structure modification and physiological dysfunction. According to Zhores Medvedev, there are more than 300 hypotheses of aging [1]. Many theories attempt to explain the process of aging, but none seem to be comprehensive [2]. The theory of aging can essentially be categorized into two main schools of thought as to the underlying factors: programmed factors vs. damage-related factors. Programmed factors follow a biological timetable, perhaps a continuation of the one that regulates childhood growth and development. Changes in gene expression subsequently affect the systems responsible for the responses involved in maintenance, repair and defense. Damage-related factors, on the other hand, include internal and environmental assaults to the living organism that induce cumulative damage at various levels [3].