Biomarkers of biological age as predictors of COVID-19 disease severity
The older you are, the harder Covid-19 hits you. Here’s a paper outlining some ways to measure biological (as opposed to chronological) age.
Fasting Mimicking Diet has positive impact on cancer therapy
Here’s the Nature paper. “Fasting mimicking diet as an adjunct to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer in the multicentre randomized phase 2 DIRECT trial Abstract Short-term fasting protects tumor-bearing mice against the toxic effects of chemotherapy while enhancing therapeutic efficacy.
Extending Human Lifespan – JPM 2019
I’ll be moderating a longevity panel tomorrow at the JPM conference in San Francisco. Panelists include: -Kristen Fortney, founder and CEO of BIOAGE, a biotechnology startup that discovers and develops proprietary drugs to treat aging and associated diseases. -Aydin Senkut,
Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice
Let’s hope this therapy works as well in humans as it does in rodents. They are currently recruiting for a human study. “The researchers believe the local application of very small amounts of the agents could serve as a rapid
Patient uses fat stem cells to repair his wrist
From CNN: “Marlette developed cysts and holes in the bones of his wrist. Doctors prescribed anti-inflammatory medications, but they only managed the pain, doing nothing to actually heal the problem. One day, his doctor, Dr. Bob Van Demark at Sanford
CRISPR Eliminates HIV in Live Animals
From GEN News: “Due to their innate nature to hide away and remain latent for extended periods of time, HIV infections have proven notoriously difficult to eliminate. Yet now, new data released from a research team led by investigators at
Microbe transfer makes aged fish live longer
From Nature: “It may not be the most appetizing way to extend life, but researchers have shown for the first time that older fish live longer after they consumed microbes from the poo of younger fish. The findings were posted
Japanese Scientists Conduct Human Stem Cell Trial for Macular Degeneration
“Researchers in Japan who have been developing a cell therapy for macular degeneration received support from health authorities to begin a clinical trial using donor-derived induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells converted to retinal cells. This will be the first trial
Scientists turn food poisoning microbe into powerful cancer fighter
“Cancer tends to stick around because it’s practically invisible to the body’s own defenses: The immune system doesn’t recognize the rogue cells because they aren’t foreign invaders. To activate the immune system to attack cancer, scientists have tried all sorts
First blood biomarker discovered for the prognosis of multiple sclerosis
“An international study, led by Macquarie University researchers Dr Edwin Lim and Professor Gilles Guillemin, has discovered the first blood biomarker – a chemical identifier in the blood – for multiple sclerosis (MS), a debilitating disorder of the central nervous
Tiny wearable sensor measures blood flow
I’d like to see more of these kind of wearables: “Kyocera Corporation (President: Goro Yamaguchi) announced that it has developed one of the smallest known optical blood-flow sensors, which measures the volume of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue. With the
Genetic engineering to reverse aging
A great article from Nicholas Wade at the NYT: “At the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., scientists are trying to get time to run backward. Biological time, that is. In the first attempt to reverse aging by reprogramming the
Deep Learning Reinvents the Hearing Aid
AI is set to trigger a revolution in medicine. In this article from IEEE, you can read about how researchers “recently applied machine learning based on deep neural networks to the task of segregating sounds.” Great stuff!
China completes first human trial with CRISPR-edited genes
“Chinese oncologists at Sichuan University were the first in the world to insert CRISPR-modified cells into a patient suffering from an aggressive form of lung cancer, according to Nature. The journal reports that this first round of treatment in a
FDA approves test of combined stem cell and gene therapy for ALS
“Regenerative medicine investigators at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to test a novel combination stem cell-gene therapy they’ve developed to stall amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression. Enrollment in the trial is expected
British scientists growing brains in the lab
From the BBC: “Madeleine’s team is at work on a task so absurd it seems more wizardly than scientific: they’re transforming human skin into brains. “The brains develop in the same way you would see in an embryo,” says Madeleine.
The World’s First “Artificial Pancreas” Will Be Hitting the Market in 2017
“Good news for people with type 1 diabetes. The first “artificial pancreas” has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Innovative medical technology company Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G is the first device to combine an automated glucose monitor
3D biomaterial turns into bone in the body
A great advance: “Now, Ramille Shah at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and her colleagues have developed an ink that can be 3D-printed into bone implants that are robust but ultra-elastic, allowing surgeons to cut and manipulate them in the
Google And Glaxosmithkline Want To Rewire Your Body To Treat Chronic Conditions
From PopSci: Recently,”pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline announced a partnership with Google’s Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences) to create effective bioelectronic devices to treat chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases. “Bioelectronics are small devices that are implanted into
‘Living hip’ grown in lab genetically engineered to stop arthritis
“Arthritis sufferers have been offered new hope after scientists grew a ‘living hip’ in the lab which not only replaces worn cartilage but stops painful joints returning. Researchers in the US have used stem cells to grow cartilage in the