Lifeboat Foundation

Summary: Nanodocs are medical nanorobots that work from inside like a tiny doctor. The authors of a recent research study say we may be able to swallow the doctor sooner than we think. Once considered science fiction, the ability to “swallow the surgeon” – using medical nanobots to diagnose and treat disease from inside the body – is becoming a reality. The study authors highlight recent advances in nanotechnology tools, such as nanodrillers, microgrippers, and microbullets – and show how nanodocs have tremendous potential in the areas of precision surgery, detection, detoxification and targeted drug delivery. [Cover photo: The old way to swallow the surgeon. Credit: R. Collin Johnson / Attributed to Stanford University.]

Imagine that you need to repair a defective heart valve, a major surgery. Instead of ripping your chest cut open, a doctor merely injects you with a syringe full of medical nanorobots, called nanodocs for short. You emerge from the ‘surgery’ unscathed, and your only external wound is the puncture hole from the injection.

According to a recent study published by nanorobotic engineers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the concept of ‘swallow the doctor’ may be closer to reality than we think.

Continue reading “Four Ways We Can ‘Swallow the Doctor’ (Nanodocs, the medical nanorobots)” »

New Alzheimer’s blood test is so precise, it could predict it three decades ahead. The test was accurate in 90% of patients tested.

Summary: Recent scientific advances in anti-aging science are bringing the dream of the fountain of youth closer to reality. More than just extending our lifespans, the field hopes to significantly reduce the chronic diseases of aging, such as cancer, heart disease, and dementia. [This article first appeared on the website LongevityFacts.com. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

A fountain of youth has been the dream of humanity throughout history.

Recent scientific advances are bringing that dream closer to reality.

Continue reading “Anti-Aging Scientists Hope to Reduce Chronic Diseases” »

Summary: Why the bowhead whale lives 200 years and rarely gets cancer. This article is part 2 of a 3-part series, covering the role of telomere length in cancer and part of a new extensive study. Part 1 on the accuracy of telomere length is here, Part 3 on the role of telomere length in chronic diseases is here. [This article first appeared under the title ‘Top Journal Discovers Key to These 200-Year-Old Whales Who Avoid Cancer’ on the website LongevityFacts.com. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

Related: A brief overview of why whales don’t get cancer is in this companion video.

In a comprehensive study published a little more than a week ago in a highly respected journal of the Royal Society of the UK, authors Abraham Aviv and Jerry W. Shay (see author bios here) report on the role of telomere length. In this segment, the authors describe the role of telomere length in protecting us from cancer and explain why whales have low rates of cancer, despite large cell counts, long lives, and relatively short telomeres.

Continue reading “Secrets of these 200-year-old whales who avoid cancer” »

Summary: A recently announced parabiosis trial in humans – the practice of transfusing young blood to old – may have profound implications for treating the chronic diseases of old age, including metabolic changes, frailty, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other forms of dementia. However, some geroscientists say that variations of the procedure could cause severe side effects. [This article first appeared on the website LongevityFacts.com. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

The idea that youthful blood might rejuvenate our aging bodies has lingered in the popular imagination for centuries, fueled by recent experiments in which these transfusions revitalized aging mice.

Last week, Bill Faloon of the Life Extension Foundation (LEF) in partnership with the Young Blood Institute (YBI), announced a bold new human trial of the rejuvenating effects of the young blood / old blood swap, saying.

Continue reading “Can the blood of teens rejuvenate our bodies? This new trial aims to find out” »

Five technologies in development – including senolytic drugs, rapamycin, stem cell therapy, NAD supplementation and gene therapy – could dramatically slow down aging in the next few years. This report updates the latest developments in these promising and potentially lifespan-extending treatments. [This article first appeared on the website LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

The longevity science field has made enormous progress in recent years, and human trials of anti-aging compounds have already started, with more to begin soon. The lifespan-extension research field is gaining the attention of mainstream medicine.

The specialists who populate the field, called geroscientists, are developing several technologies that might benefit people who are alive today and aim to bring them to the clinic. These lifespan-extending technologies include stem cell therapy, rapamycin, gene therapy, senolytic drugs, and NAD supplementation.

Continue reading “Revolutionary Technologies to Beat Aging in Our Lifetimes” »

Summary: Designer babies have recently become possible, as new techniques have gained credibility from serious scientists. Here’s how they can do it. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

On Feb 8, the AHA named “Fixing a gene mutation in human embryos” as among the “top advances in heart disease and stroke research” of the past year. They joined a chorus of voices heralding this as a research breakthrough.

The announcement brought attention to the fact that US scientists have recently demonstrated the plausibility of using gene editing to make designer babies.

Human gene therapy trials are reporting promising results, according to Liz Parrish, the CEO of BioViva and patient zero in a test of gene therapy on her own body.

Liz Parrish says she’s ‘mind-blown’ by the success of gene therapy trials. She is the BioViva CEO who tested gene therapy on her own body.

Summary: In a medical first, scientists at CWRU have inhibited metastasis – the spread of cancer cells to another part of the body. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

In a first of its kind victory, researchers from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine and six other institutions have inhibited the spread of cancer cells from one part of the body to another.

To accomplish this feat, the team relied on a novel epigenetic model of how cancer metastasizes. Epigenetics is the master program which turns genes on and off. The group included researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Cleveland Clinic. The researchers published their results in the journal Nature Medicine.

Continue reading “CWRU researchers block cancer’s spread to body with novel technique” »