Lifeboat Foundation

A CRISPR-based treatment to stop the replication of both the flu virus and the virus that causes COVID-19 in mice. Moreover, the new treatment is delivered to the lungs via a nebulizer, which could make it simple for patients to administer themselves at home.

The treatment uses a type of CRISPR to target viral RNA and appears to stop replication of both viruses in the lungs.

One in 17 people will suffer from a rare disease at some time in their lives. Most of these rare diseases have a genetic cause and often affect children, but proving which gene change causes a disease is a huge challenge.

Scientists have discovered a new genetic disease, which causes some children’s brains to develop abnormally, resulting in delayed intellectual development and often early onset cataracts.

The majority of patients with the condition, which is so new it doesn’t have a name yet, were also microcephalic, a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age.

Continue reading “Strange New Genetic Disease Discovered That Causes Children’s Brains to Develop Abnormally” »

Any discussion of rejuvenation biotechnology almost certainly includes the subject of and the objection that medical advances that directly address the various processes of aging will lead to an overpopulated world. Such dire predictions are a common theme in many discussions involving advances in medicine that could increase human lifespans.

Overpopulation is a word that gives the simple fact of population growth a negative connotation. It implies that an increase in the number of people will harm our lives in different ways, such as famine, scarcity of resources, excessive population density, increased risks of infectious diseases, and harm to the environment.

Continue reading “Increased Longevity and Overpopulation” »

Clip from Lew Later (This iPhone is 1 in 100 Million…) — https://youtu.be/OczdkxrD2uQ.

Oral treatment with a bacterial protein known as colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I) fimbriae, from Escherichia coli bacteria, has been shown to protect against several autoimmune diseases, including arthritis and type 1 diabetes. Another bacteria, called Lactococcus lactis, was recently adapted to express CFA/I fimbriae. These bacteria were shown to effectively suppress inflammation by the induction of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) — which are negative regulators of the immune system, meaning they work to shut down excessive inflammatory responses.

Oral treatment with a molecule produced by bacteria, called colonization factor antigen I, can reduce or halt the progression of Sjögren’s syndrome, a mouse study suggests.

Researchers believe these findings provide the basis for future testing in patients with Sjögren’s.

Continue reading “Bacterial Molecule Can Slow Sjögren’s Progression, Preclinical Study Suggests” »

New research shows that members of a bee colony all have the same gut microbiome, which controls their smell—and thus their ability to separate family from foe.

Full Transcript

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Shahla Farzan.

Rejuvenate Bio’s treatment is a gene therapy that dials up expression of the genes sTGFbetaR2 and FGF21 to reduce levels of the cytokine TGF-beta1 and boost levels of the hormone FGF21, respectively. Both genes are associated with longevity.

“What we have seen from using a combination of two genes is the ability to affect multiple age-related diseases at once,” Oliver said.

Rejuvenate Bio published data in November 2019 showing that targeting these two genes in mice reduced kidney atrophy and reversed weight gain and Type 2 diabetes. The company had given extra copies of those genes, alone and in combination with each other and another gene called alpha-Klotho to see if they could boost the mice’s health and life spans. It found out that more isn’t necessarily better, as mice that were given all three genes together fared worse than the other animals did.

Someday, scientists believe, tiny DNA-based robots and other nanodevices will deliver medicine inside our bodies, detect the presence of deadly pathogens, and help manufacture increasingly smaller electronics.

Researchers took a big step toward that future by developing a new tool that can design much more complex DNA robots and nanodevices than were ever possible before in a fraction of the time.

Continue reading “MagicDNA: Tiny, Complex DNA Robots Designed in Minutes Instead of Days” »

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