Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2029
Oct 4, 2018
5 Sci-Fi Books Biotech Geeks Should Read Right Now
Posted by Mike Ruban in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI, space travel, time travel
From space colonization to resurrection of dinosaurs to machine intelligence, the most awe-inspiring visions of humanity’s future are typically born from science fiction.
But among an abundance of time travel, superheroes, space adventures, and so forth, biotech remains underrepresented in the genre.
This selection highlights some outstanding works (new and not so new) to fill the sci-fi gap for biotech aficionados.
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Oct 4, 2018
DARPA high-resolution neural interfaces for controlling drones and cybertech
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: biotech/medical, drones, neuroscience
DARPA seeks to achieve high levels of brain-system communications without surgery, in its new program, Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3).
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Oct 3, 2018
Do we really live longer than our ancestors?
Posted by Lilia Lens-Pechakova in category: biotech/medical
Oct 3, 2018
Traveling to Mars Could Cause Life-Threatening Damage to Astronauts’ Guts, Says Study
Posted by Michael Lance in categories: biotech/medical, health, space travel
Oct 3, 2018
Replacing fertilizer with plant probiotics could slash greenhouse gases
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: biotech/medical, food
Pivot Bio just got a $70 million infusion from Bill Gates’s energy fund and other investors to launch its commercial product next year.
The science: The biotechnology company, based in Berkeley, California, is creating probiotics for plants. The firm’s researchers have identified microbes with a dormant ability to produce nitrogen, a crucial nutrient in synthetic fertilizer, and engineered them to reawaken and enhance it. For its initial product, Pivot Bio has created a liquid treatment for corn crops that can be applied when the seeds are planted.
The sell: In early field tests, patches treated with the microbes produce comparable yields to those relying on synthetic fertilizers. Pivot Bio’s pitch to farmers is that the product reduces work and complexity, because a single application takes less time than spraying multiple rounds of fertilizer.
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Oct 3, 2018
Forcing Cancer to Put up a Broken Shield
Posted by Nicola Bagalà in category: biotech/medical
A new discovery might make immunotherapy applicable to more patients.
Led by Dr. Alicja Copik, scientists at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine have discovered that it might be possible to make cancer immunotherapy work for a larger portion of patients by employing PM21-activated natural killer (PM21-NK) cells [1].
Study abstract
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Oct 3, 2018
Translating Aging Research – Ending Age-Related Diseases 2018 Panel
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
Today, we have another video from our Ending Age-Related Diseases 2018 conference, which was held earlier this year at the Cooper Union in New York City. The conference was designed to bring the worlds of research and investment together in one place and explore the progress and challenges that the industry faces in developing and funding therapies to end age-related disease.
This was the second panel during the conference and featured Dr. Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Research Foundation, Keith Comito of Lifespan.io, Dr. James Peyer of Apollo Ventures, Dr. Mark Hammond of Deep Science Ventures, Joe Betts Lacroix of Y Combinator and Vium, Dr. Oliver Medvedik of Lifespan.io and The Cooper Union, and Ramphis Castro of ScienceVest.
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Oct 3, 2018
Researchers discover how to slow aging
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: biotech/medical, food, life extension
Previous research published earlier this year in Nature Medicine involving University of Minnesota Medical School faculty Paul D. Robbins and Laura J. Niedernhofer and Mayo Clinic investigators James L. Kirkland and Tamara Tchkonia, showed it was possible to reduce the burden of damaged cells, termed senescent cells, and extend lifespan and improve health, even when treatment was initiated late in life. They now have shown that treatment of aged mice with the natural product Fisetin, found in many fruits and vegetables, also has significant positive effects on health and lifespan.
As people age, they accumulate damaged cells. When the cells get to a certain level of damage they go through an aging process of their own, called cellular senescence. The cells also release inflammatory factors that tell the immune system to clear those damaged cells. A younger person’s immune system is healthy and is able to clear the damaged cells. But as people age, they aren’t cleared as effectively. Thus they begin to accumulate, cause low level inflammation and release enzymes that can degrade the tissue.
Robbins and fellow researchers found a natural product, called Fisetin, reduces the level of these damaged cells in the body. They found this by treating mice towards the end of life with this compound and see improvement in health and lifespan. The paper, “Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan,” was recently published in EBioMedicine.
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