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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2436

Mar 24, 2017

We Were Wrong — the Testes Are Connected to the Immune System

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Some parts of the body – including the tissues of the brain and testes – have long been considered to be completely hidden from our immune system.

Last year scientists made the amazing discovery that a set of previously unseen channels connected the brain to our immune system; now, it appears we might also need to rethink the immune system’s relationship with the testes, potentially explaining why some men are infertile and how some cancer vaccines fail to provide immunity.

Researchers from University of Virginia School of Medicine discovered a ‘very small door’ which allows the testes to expose some of its antigens to the immune system without letting it inside.

Continue reading “We Were Wrong — the Testes Are Connected to the Immune System” »

Mar 24, 2017

Scientists just changed the way we build genomes to make them 270,000 times cheaper

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health

In 2003, the US Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health announced that—13 years and $2.7 billion later—they had finally finished mapping the human genome.

But the quest to understand human genetics was far from over: Genomes, which are the entire layout of our 3 billion base pairs of DNA, vary dramatically from person to person. So mapping the first human genome was really just mapping a human genome (the patient’s identity was kept secret for privacy.) And even though shorter genetic sequencing is available, doctors studying rare genetic diseases need the full scope of a patient’s genetic material to find the problematic mutation. Finding these faulty sections of genes is like a microscopic version of Where’s Waldo among 3 billion people wearing stripes, a game that has cost $3 billion to play.

In a paper published (paywall) in Science on March 23, researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University said they have figured a way to sequence the entirety of any genome for just $10,000, in a couple of weeks. Their test project? Re-sequencing the DNA of the mosquito species that spreads the Zika virus.

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Mar 24, 2017

It’s Happening: Scientists Can Now Reverse DNA Ageing in Mice

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Researchers have identified a cellular mechanism that allows them to reverse ageing in mouse DNA and protect it from future damage.

They’ve shown that by giving a particular compound to older mice, they can activate the DNA repair process and not only protect against future damage, but repair the existing effects of ageing. And they’re ready to start testing in humans within six months.

“The cells of the old mice were indistinguishable from the young mice, after just one week of treatment,” said lead researcher David Sinclair from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia and the Harvard Medical School in Boston.

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Mar 24, 2017

Would YOU choose to live forever? Age-reversing pill could repair DNA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

A team of researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia have discovered a key molecular process in DNA repair that could stop cells from ageing and help DNA to reverse damage.

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Mar 24, 2017

Ageing is a disease. Gene therapy could be the ‘cure’

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Nice summary from Wired on Liz.


After her son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, Elizabeth Parrish began researching gene therapy treatments. She then started testing them on herself.

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Mar 24, 2017

Scientists have grown heart tissue on a spinach leaf

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

What have you accomplished this week? Did you have a productive work meeting? Make a healthy dinner? Match your socks?

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Mar 23, 2017

Scientists may have found a way to make old blood stem cells act young again

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Scientists in Germany have discovered a protein that can prompt the body’s blood stem cells to act young again, potentially reversing some of the bad aspects of the aging process.

The suggestion that young blood may be the key to reversing some of the negative aspects of aging sounds like the setup to a horror movie. In reality, however, it refers to some groundbreaking work being carried out by scientists at the University of Ulm in Germany.

They’ve been examining the ways that old blood can be made young again, and they hypothesize that it might help fight some of the effects of aging. To achieve this, they’ve discovered a protein capable of boosting blood stem cells, which prompt them to act like the stem cells of younger people.

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Mar 23, 2017

Scientists unveil a giant leap for anti-aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, space travel

I was under the impression that human trials were already underway, but this says they will start in 6 months.


UNSW researchers have made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing, improves DNA repair and could even help NASA get its astronauts to Mars.

In a paper published in Science today, the team identifies a critical step in the molecular process that allows cells to repair damaged DNA.

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Mar 23, 2017

First Successful Gene Therapy Against Human Aging? It May Be So

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Should these results prove to be accurate, it means that scientists have actually managed to create a way to reverse aging.

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Mar 22, 2017

Web-based counseling lowers blood pressure as much as meds: study

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

People who received regular lifestyle counseling online were able to lower their blood pressure as much as a medication would, researchers said Saturday.

Their study involved 264 people with and an average age of 58.

The subjects’ average blood pressure began at around 140/90 mmHg, meaning they had what is clinically known as stage 1 hypertension.

Continue reading “Web-based counseling lowers blood pressure as much as meds: study” »