Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret

Posted by Genevieve Klien in finance, mobile phones

Dec 10
2018

Dozens of companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds. They say it’s anonymous, but the data shows how personal it is.

Therapies that Target the Aging Processes are in Human Trials Now

Posted by Steve Hill in biotech/medical, life extension

Dec 10
2018

A number of therapies that directly target the aging processes are currently in human trials and could change medicine significantly in the next decade if the results are positive.

What is aging?

Aging is basically the accumulation of damage and errors caused by a collection of varied processes that harm the functions of the body through the accumulation of waste, imperfect repair, the deregulation of cellular processes, the dysfunction of the immune system, chronic inflammation, and other disorders.

Increasing Dietary Fiber Intake Is Associated with a Distinct Esophageal Microbiome

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, food

Dec 10
2018

There is increasing evidence that the microbiome contributes to esophageal disease. Diet, especially fiber and fat intake, is a known potent modifier of the colonic microbiome, but its impact on the esophageal microbiome is not well described. We hypothesized that dietary fiber and fat intake would be associated with a distinct esophageal microbiome.

We collected esophageal samples from 47 ambulatory patients scheduled to undergo endoscopy who completed a validated food frequency questionnaire quantifying dietary fiber and fat intake. Using 16S high-throughput sequencing, we determined composition of the esophageal microbiome and predicted functional capacity of microbiota based on fiber and fat intake.

Among all samples, the most abundant phyla were Firmicutes (54.0%), Proteobacteria (19.0%), Bacteroidetes (17.0%), Actinobacteria (5.2%), and Fusobacteria (4.3%). Increasing fiber intake was significantly associated with increasing relative abundance of Firmicutes (p = 0.04) and decreasing relative abundance of Gram-negative bacteria overall (p = 0.03). Low fiber intake was associated with increased relative abundance of several Gram-negative bacteria, including Prevotella, Neisseria, and Eikenella. Several predicted metabolic pathways differed between highest and lowest quartile of fiber intake. Fat intake was associated with altered relative abundance of few taxa, with no alterations at the phylum level and no changes in microbiome functional composition.