Lifeboat Foundation

Trying to streamline an operation that spends more than $5 billion a year on developing new drugs, Novartis dispatched teams to jetmaker Boeing Co. and Swissgrid AG, a power company, to observe how they use technology-laden crisis centers to prevent failures and blackouts. That led to the design of something that looks like the pharma version of NASA’s Mission Control: a global surveillance hub where supercomputers map and chart Novartis’s network of 500 drug studies in 70 countries, trying to predict potential problems on a minute-by-minute basis.

A third of development costs comes from clinical trials. Novartis wants to make them cheaper and faster.

Buried deep within the DNA of Asian individuals is a genetic clue pointing to the existence of an unknown human ancestor. Remarkably, it wasn’t a human who reached this startling conjecture, but rather an artificially intelligent algorithm. Welcome to archaeology in the 21st century.

New research published last week in Nature Communications suggests a yet-to-be discovered hominid interbred with modern humans tens of thousands of years ago. This mystery species eventually went extinct, but an AI developed by researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) and several other European institutions found traces of its existence in the DNA of present-day people with Asian ancestry. A press release issued by the Centre for Genomic Regulation said it’s the first time deep learning has been used to explain human history, “paving the way for this technology to be applied in other questions in biology, genomics and evolution.”

Fatima Ali, who was voted “Fan Favorite” on Season 15 of “Top Chef,” lost her battle with a rare bone and soft tissue cancer Friday. She was just 29.

Well…

(you thought).

A study of thousands of human genomes reveals where mutations happen most often when our parents’ genes combine.

Continue reading “Genetic Mutations In Our Bodies Might Be Less Random Than We Thought, Scientists Say” »

The monkeys exhibited anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia-like behaviors.

Metastasis is the leading cause of death from cancer, occurring when cancer cells separate from the original tumor to proliferate elsewhere. These new cancer cells travel through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Since these bodily systems are thoroughly connected, cancer can spread to a variety of locations. Breast cancer, for example, “tends to spread to the bones, liver, lungs, chest wall, and brain.”

Cancer cell plasticity — an ability that allows cancer cells to shift physiological characteristics dramatically — fosters metastasis and is responsible for cancer’s resistance to treatments. To combat its resistance, researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland decided to turn cancer’s cellular plasticity against itself. They used Rosiglitazone, an anti-diabetic drug, along with MEK inhibitors in mice implanted with breast cancer cells. Their aim was to alter the cancer cells.

The drug combination hijacked the breast cancer cells during epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process by which the cells undergo biochemical changes. EMT plays a role in many bodily functions, such as tissue repair. In unaltered cancer cells, EMT allows them to migrate away from the original tumor while maintaining their oncogenic properties.

A very good article on the studies on centenarians of Okinawa, on the importance of carbohydrate / protein ratio in diet, genes, calorie restriction and more: “… Genetic good fortune could be one important factor. Thanks to the geography of the islands, Okinawa’s populations have spent large chunks of their history in relative isolation, which may has given them a unique genetic profile. Preliminary studies suggest this may include a reduced prevalence of a gene variant – APOE4 – that appears to increase the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s. They may also be more likely to carry a protective variant of the FOXO3 gene involved in regulating metabolism and cell growth. This results in a shorter stature but also appears to reduce the risk of various age-related diseases, including cancer. Even so, it seems unlikely that good genes would fully explain the Okinawans’ longevity, and lifestyle factors will also be important…”

Emerging evidence suggests a 10:1 ratio of carbohydrates to proteins may protect the body from the ravages of ageing.

You can now perform CRISPR gene-editing in your kitchen!

The complex relationship between the microbiome and the rest of the body has only recently started to become truly appreciated. The bacteria of the gut are increasingly looking like a potential player in aging, and some bacteria in the mouth associated with chronic periodontitis may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease [1].

University of Louisville researcher Jan Potempa from the Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases in the School of Dentistry led a team of scientists in a new study, which demonstrated that the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), the main pathogen involved in chronic periodontitis, is also found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. Chronic periodontitis is a common oral disease that is characterized by the chronic inflammation of periodontal tissues, which is provoked by the accumulation of excessive dental plaque.

It has been suggested before that there may be an infectious element to Alzheimer’s disease, but, until recently, the evidence has been limited [2]. These researchers suggest that their study is strong evidence for a connection between the presence of P. gingivalis and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Continue reading “Gum Disease Bacteria May Contribute to Alzheimer’s Disease” »