Lifeboat Foundation

Autism, schizophrenia, bipolar, depression and alcoholism have similar molecular signatures in the brain.

Nancy Clayton needed a mitral valve replacement. She came to NYU Langone, where surgeons were trialling a nonsurgical approach. Learn more.

A new study by researchers at Ohio University found that vitamin D3 – a vitamin that is naturally produced when skin is exposed to sunlight – could prevent and restore damage caused by several cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis.

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Cancer fighting nanovaccines have shown significant promise, but clinical application has been hampered by complications in large-scale manufacturing, quality control, and safety. Biomedical engineers at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) developed a new technology that enables nanovaccines to bind to the albumin protein naturally present in the body. The albumin protein then delivers these nanocomplexes to the lymph nodes, resulting in potent immune activation against multiple tumor types in mouse cancer models. The use of natural albumin as a universal vaccine shuttle is a significant step towards the application of cancer nanovaccine immunotherapy in humans.

Nanovaccines that work to mount an immune response against a tumor basically consist of two components: the part that delivers the vaccine to the correct site, the lymph nodes, where immune system activation happens; and the part that activates the immune cells to expand and specifically target the tumor.

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We wanted to bring your attention to an open-access publication in which the researchers suggest that the age-related decline of the thymus is more important than DNA mutation as a cancer risk factor[1].

Repairing the damage

As we have discussed in this article, cancer is caused by DNA damage that creates mutations. Damage to our DNA happens all the time, and we have various repair systems in place for it.

Dr. Atala is the Director of Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest School of…

The scientists who hope to do this sit on the fringes of the mainstream medical landscape. But there are now a number of research centres around the world that have made identifying ways of preventing biological ageing a priority. Studies in animals have shown that it is indeed possible to dramatically extend the lifespan of certain species, giving hope that it could also be possible in humans.

As we learn more about the diseases that affect us, we also get better at controlling them. But will we ever manage to overcome the most inevitable of afflictions – old age?

New research from the University of Southern California has shed light on how the decline of the brain’s vascular system precedes the build-up of the plaques and tau tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

A leaky blood-brain barrier sets the scene for dementia

Traditionally, many researchers have focused their efforts on the amyloid and tau proteins that accumulate in the brain and are typical of Alzheimer’s disease progression. However, the researchers in this new study suggest that the problem begins before this due to a leaking blood-brain barrier [1].

Continue reading “Failure of the Blood-Brain Barrier Proceeds Dementia” »

The marbled crayfish is literally capable of cloning itself. The species didn’t exist 25 years ago; now they number in the millions.