Lifeboat Foundation

In Brief:

Researchers at MIT have developed an easy-to-use “biological programming language” that allows genetic engineers (or just about anyone) to design biological circuits and “hack” the genomes of living cells.

The evolution of human technology has proceeded in lockstep with the biological evolution of our species. For millions of years we were content with our primitive Oldowan choppers and Acheulean bifaces; in the Neolithic, we started playing with more sophisticated tools, and the Bronze and Iron ages followed in quick succession.

Continue reading “We’ve Figured Out How to Program Living Cells” »

A paralysed woman in the Netherlands is the first to be fitted with a new type of brain implant that allows patients who cannot speak or move to communicate using nothing but their thoughts.

The new implant, which works with a computer interface to help her spell out words and sentences, can be used anywhere, allowing her to communicate with people in the outside world, without medical experts on hand to help.

“This is a world first,” neuroscientist and lead researcher Nick Ramsay, from the University Medical School Utrecht, told CNN. “It’s a fully implantable system that works at home without need for any experts to make it work.”

Continue reading “This World-First Brain Implant Is Letting a ‘Locked-In’ Woman Communicate” »

Immunotherapies and progressing rapidly and could be a way to help your own body fight cancer by allowing the immune system to see the cancer cells and attack them.

A Ludwig Cancer Research study shows that an experimental drug currently in clinical trials can reverse the effects of troublesome cells that prevent the body’s immune system from attacking tumors. The researchers also establish that it is these suppressive cells that interfere with the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This class of immunotherapies lifts the brakes that the body imposes on the immune system’s T cells to unleash an attack on cancer cells.

“Though checkpoint inhibitors have durable effects when they work, not all patients respond to the treatment,” says Taha Merghoub, an investigator at the Ludwig Memorial Sloan Kettering Collaborative Laboratory who led the study with Director Jedd Wolchok. “Part of the reason for this is that some tumors harbor tumor -associated myeloid cells, or TAMCs, that prevent T cells from attacking tumor cells.”

Continue reading “Researchers show how a targeted drug overcomes suppressive immune cells” »

It won’t be long now for humans.

A site dedicated to the sciences, recent scientific discoveries and advances.

Continue reading “Primates Regain Control of Paralyzed Limb with Wireless Bridge Between Brain and Spine” »

A research team in the US has created a software that can quickly identify the information in cancer reports that would not only save time and work-hours but also reveal overlooked avenues in cancer research.

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Much of the cancer-related data is drawn from electronic, text-based clinical reports that must be manually curated — a time-intensive process — before it can be used in research.

A collaborative effort involving Auburn University, Gen9 and Autodesk has developed a synthetic viral genome for bone cancer research and one which may prove revolutionary in the battle against cancer overall.

The sCAV2 virus, which is the longest functional virus created in oncology research, targets and destroys selected tumor cells while not impacting healthy cells, notes an announcement.

“This could change the way we fight cancer. It is that revolutionary,” states Dr. Bruce Smith, a professor in the department of pathobiology and director of the Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer, in the announcement. “Our concept is taking personalized medicine to precision medicine. The technology to create a new virus by synthesizing it is a huge leap, but the ability to then make a customized virus tailored to the specific needs of each patient will be transformative.”

Continue reading “Synthetic virus may drive personalized medicine into precision medicine” »

A new avenue of research opens up for cancer and potential therapies.

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) suggests there may be a way to limit tumor growth by targeting immune system cells called macrophages.

The research reveals that macrophages can “drill” through tumors to create new vessel-like structures for delivering oxygen and nutrients as tumors grow.

Continue reading “Immune cells may facilitate tumor growth” »

More commentary about the Steve Aoki Party for Science and the Aoki Foundation.

Music business entrepreneur Steve Aoki has been a supporter of the SENS rejuvenation research programs for a while now. I’m always pleased to see successful people being vocal about their support for SENS, putting it front and center when talking to their audiences. Placing this important scientific work — as well as the prospects for near future therapies, and the need for philanthropic funding — in front of a bigger audience is a vital to the continued growth of our community and continued progress towards the medical control of aging. We need to reach out to entirely new networks of people, those who would never seek out the longevity science community on their own, as among their numbers are many who will be turn out to be interested, pleasantly surprised, and enthusiastic. Today, I’d wager, a large fraction of those people who will go on to be significant advocates and philanthropic donors of the late 2020s have no idea that we even exist, or that bringing an end to age-related disease, frailty, and suffering is possible outside the realm of science fiction.

Bootstrapping a cause never stops being hard. It was hard when small groups were striving to raise a few thousand dollars for SENS advocacy here and there, when having regular research programs and a million dollar fund looked to be an impossible distance away. It is hard today, when the SENS Research Foundation is trying to make the leap from a few million dollars in yearly research budgets to something ten times that size. Building greater public awareness and enthusiasm for the medical science of human rejuvenation is a very necessary part of that work. The sooner we collectively manage to change the zeitgeist to one in which charitable support for rejuvenation research is just as normal and lauded as support for cancer research, the better off we all are, and the more money that can be raised for scientific projects. So thanks are due to Steve Aoki for stepping up to the plate and taking a swing at this.

Continue reading “The Work of the Aoki Foundation to Support SENS Rejuvenation Research” »

WeaRobot wants to democratize robotic exoskeletons. They want to make modular exoskeletons, so that is more affordable. The exoskeleton can boost the mobility joint by joint. Just supporting the movement of one knee or one elbow or assembling all modules for a full body exoskeleton. This is targeted at enhancing mobility and function for the growing elderly population.

WeaRobot is breaking apart robotic exoskeletons to make them more affordable and adaptable.

Continue reading “Modular Exoskeletons” »