Lifeboat Foundation

In the air, beneath the ocean’s surface, and on land, microbes are the minute but mighty forces regulating much of the planet’s biogeochemical cycles. To better understand their roles, scientists work to identify these microbes and to determine their individual contributions. While advances in sequencing technologies have enabled researchers to access the genomes of thousands of microbes and make them publicly available, no similar shift has occurred with the task of assigning functions to the genes uncovered.

To help overcome this bottleneck, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), including researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), have developed a workflow that enables large-scale, genome-wide assays of gene importance across many conditions. The study, “Mutant Phenotypes for Thousands of Bacterial Genes of Unknown Function,” has been published in the journal Nature and is by far the largest functional genomics study of bacteria ever published.

“This is the first really large, systematic experimental effort to try to assign functions to bacterial genes of unknown function,” said study senior author and biologist Adam Deutschbauer of Berkeley Lab’s Biosciences Area. “We are tackling the problem that biology is up against and recognizes: It is super easy to sequence, but we cannot currently assign confident functions for the majority of genes identified by sequencing. Our experimental data provides an anchor that other researchers could use to make a more informed inference about protein function.”

Continue reading “Exploration of diverse bacteria signals big advance for gene function prediction” »

New York, May 16 (IANS) Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who indulge in exergames — video games that are also a form of exercise — may experience significant improvement in complex thinking and memory skills, according to a study.

By Julianna Photopoulos

A laser device can monitor vital signs such as your heartbeat, breathing rate, and muscle activity from up to a metre away. The device is intended for hospital patients or those with chronic diseases who need close monitoring at home. What’s more, it works through your clothes.

“No wires — everything is non-contact — continuously measuring different biomedical parameters with a single sensor,” says Zeev Zalevsky who developed the SmartHealth Mod with his team at ContinUse Biometrics, based …

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The first conference on ageing research organised by the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation is coming to New York on July 12th!

We’re extremely excited to announce “Ending Age-Related Diseases: Investment Prospects & Advances in Research”, the very first rejuvenation biotechnology conference that LEAF has organized.

Respected speakers from around the globe

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Recently, roughly 200 eminent scientists assembled in Boston. Their agenda? Creating “superhero” human cells impervious to all viral attacks and possibly other killers—radiation, freezing, aging, or even cancer.

The trick isn’t super-soldier serum. Instead, the team is relying on tools from synthetic biology to read the cell’s genetic blueprint and rewrite large chunks of the genome to unlock these superpowers.

“There is very strong reason to believe that we can produce cells that would be completely resistant to all known viruses,” said Dr. Jef Boeke, a geneticist at New York University and a co-leader of the project. “It should also be possible to engineer other traits, including resistance to prions and cancer.”

Continue reading “Scientists Kick Off Synthetic Biology Project to Make Virus-Resistant Super Cells” »

Today, we wanted to bring your attention to a new review that takes an in-depth look at genomic instability, senescent cell accumulation, and its role in aging.

DNA damage as a driver of aging

Genomic instability, otherwise known as DNA damage, is thought by many researchers to be a primary reason why we age. Damage to, and imperfect repair of, the genomes of stem and progenitor cells causes mutations, which are then passed to the somatic cells they create [1].

Continue reading “Reviewing Genomic Instability, Cellular Senescence, and Aging” »

May 15 (UPI) — Until now, scientists weren’t sure how gene activation mechanisms avoided nucleosomes, the bodyguards tasked with keeping DNA turned off.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, however, have pinpointed a key factor responsible for unraveling nucleosome structures and allowing genes to be activated.

Geneticists described the newly identified nucleosome destabilizing factor, or NDF, this week in the journal Genes and Development.

Continue reading “Key part of human gene activation revealed by new study” »

The University of Southern California is developing the means to control and direct radio frequency energy to destroy cancer tumors…

A new technique from the University of Southern California uses radio-frequency waves to burn away tumors as doctor’s monitor the procedure in real-time.

Cancer cells, by definition, are abnormal cells that divide with abandon and have the potential to spread throughout and wreak havoc on your vital organs and tissues. But what if you could tell those same troublesome cells to stop misbehaving? Israeli scientists think they’ve found a way to do just that.

A group of researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, led by Professor Varda Shoshan-Barmatz, PhD, have developed a molecule that prevents cancer cells from growing and turns them into normal, non-cancerous cells. This unique approach is based on siRNA (small interfering ribonucleic acid), a molecule that turns off a protein, VDAC1, that helps get energy to malignant cells. By targeting VDAC1, Shoshan-Barmatz and her team have essentially figured out how to make cancer cells start acting like regular ones.

So far, in vitro and mice models have suggested that this treatment might be effective for lung cancer, triple negative breast cancer, and glioblastoma (the type of brain tumor that John McCain is currently battling). But the applications might be even broader, and similar treatments might be one day used to combat an even wider variety of cancers.

Continue reading “Israeli Scientists Uncover Therapy That Converts Cancer Cells Into Normal Ones” »