Sunburns and aging skin are obvious effects of exposure to harmful UV rays, tobacco smoke and other carcinogens. But the effects aren’t just skin deep. Inside the body, DNA is literally being torn apart.
Understanding how the body heals and protects itself from DNA damage is vital for treating genetic disorders and life-threatening diseases such as cancer. But despite numerous studies and medical advances, much about the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair remains a mystery.
For the past several years, researchers at Georgia State University tapped into the Summit supercomputer at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study an elaborate molecular pathway called nucleotide excision repair, or NER relies on an array of highly dynamic protein complexes to cut out, or excise, damaged DNA with surgical precision.
February’s Longevity Review is now available, with a look at how the combination of Omega 3, Vit D & exercise can slow aging; a human trial of young blood plasma; Klotho gene therapy to increase lifespan; and, in the Canadian content study, how cellular reprogramming protects retinal neurons in multiple sclerosis.
A review of the most interesting and impactful longevity related studies from Febuary, with a look at how the combination of Omega 3, Vit D & exercise can slow aging; a human trial of young blood plasma; Klotho gene therapy to increase lifespan; and, in the Canadian content study, how cellular reprogramming protects retinal neurons in multiple sclerosis.
Contents:
1. Intro 0:00 2. Omega 3, Vitamin D & Exercise Slow Aging 0:55 3. Young Blood Plasma Human Trial 9:46 4. Klotho Gene Therapy Increases Lifespan 18:45.
What is intelligence? We can all agree that humans are intelligent and many of us would likely extend that definition to the most mentally adept creatures of the animal kingdom—from dolphins to corvids. Scientists may extend that definition to all living animals, and some might even include plants. But for Michael Levin, Ph.D., all of those definitions woefully undercount the intelligences, or as he phrases them, “alien minds,” that surround us.
As a synthetic and developmental biologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts, Levin has explored the cognitive glue of bioelectricity, created biobots from animal and human cells, searched for empirical evidence defining the scope of cognition, and challenged many of the long-held tenets of molecular biology. Fascinated by electrical engineering and biology since he was seven years old, Levin says all of these efforts are in service of developing a mature field of diverse intelligence—one that can recognize that cognition lies on a spectrum, and that what humans perceive as consciousness could look radically different when compared to a cell or emerging artificial intelligence.
We spoke with Levin about how he developed these remarkable ideas, why he believes many alien minds live among us, and what he hopes for humanity’s future.
This compares some of the ringworlds, centrifuges, space stations, and ships that use spin to make gravity. It also try’s to show how the variables of artificial gravity are used to make centripetal acceleration into spin gravity.
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ REFERENCES 1. Hill, Paul R.; Schnitzer, Emanuel (1962 September). “Rotating Manned Space Stations.” In, Astronautics (vol. 7, no. 9, p. 14 18). Reston, Virginia, USA: American Rocket Society / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 2. Gilruth, Robert R. (1969). “Manned Space Stations – Gateway to our Future in Space.” In S. F. Singer (Ed.), Manned. Laboratories in Space (p. 1–10). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. 3. Gordon, Theodore J.; Gervais, Robert L. (1969). “Critical Engineering Problems of Space Stations.” In S. F. Singer (Ed.). Manned Laboratories in Space (p. 11–32). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. 4. Stone, Ralph W. (1973). “An Overview of Artificial Gravity.” In A. Graybiel (Ed.), Fifth Symposium on the Role of the. Vestibular Organs in Space Exploration (NASA SP-314, p. 23–33). Pensacola, Florida, USA, 19–21 August 1970. Washington, DC, USA: NASA 5. Cramer, D. Bryant (1985). “Physiological Considerations of Artificial Gravity.” In A. C. Cron (Ed.), Applications of Tethers in. Space (NASA CP-2364, vol. 1, p. 3·95–3·107). Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, 15–17 June 1983. Washington, DC, USA: NASA. 6. Graybiel, Ashton (1977). “Some Physiological Effects of Alternation Between Zero Gravity and One Gravity.” In J. Grey (Ed.). Space Manufacturing Facilities (Space Colonies): Proceedings of the Princeton / AIAA / NASA Conference, May 7–9, 1975 7. Hall, Theodore W. “Artificial Gravity in Theory and Practice.” International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016, www.artificial-gravity.com/ICES-2016–194.pdf.
Two of the first patients of adaptive Deep Brain Sitimulation (aDBS) Parkinson’s therapy and the neurologist who developed the care system share how life changes and how it doesn’t when receiving the groundbreaking new FDA-approved treatment mitigating the most disruptive symptoms of the progressive neurological disease, which still has no cure.
Immunotactoid glomerulopathy occurs in adults, on average at 60 years of age, and often presents with nephrotic proteinuria, reduced glomerular filtration rate, and hypocomplementemia in half of affected patients. Patients do not have cryoglobulins, but a circulating monoclonal paraprotein and/or lymphoplasmacytic malignancy is present in about two-thirds. Prognosis depends on the outcome of the associated disease, with half of the affected patients achieving remission with therapy directed at the malignancy.
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Study coauthors include UC’s Sreekar Puchala and Anca Ralescu and Ethan Muchnik of the University of Oregon. The study authors declare no competing interests.
This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the Defense Medical Research and Development Program under Award No. W81XWH-16–2–0020. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.
Genome sequencing of cancer and normal tissues, alongside single-cell transcriptomics, continues to produce findings that challenge the idea that cancer is a ‘genetic disease’, as posited by the somatic mutation theory (SMT). In this prevailing paradigm, tumorigenesis is caused by cancer-driving somatic mutations and clonal expansion. However, results from tumor sequencing, motivated by the genetic paradigm itself, create apparent ‘paradoxes’ that are not conducive to a pure SMT. But beyond genetic causation, the new results lend credence to old ideas from organismal biology. To resolve inconsistencies between the genetic paradigm of cancer and biological reality, we must complement deep sequencing with deep thinking: embrace formal theory and historicity of biological entities, and (re)consider non-genetic plasticity of cells and tissues. In this Essay, we discuss the concepts of cell state dynamics and tissue fields that emerge from the collective action of genes and of cells in their morphogenetic context, respectively, and how they help explain inconsistencies in the data in the context of SMT.
Citation: Huang S, Soto AM, Sonnenschein C (2025) The end of the genetic paradigm of cancer. PLoS Biol 23: e3003052. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.
