Lifeboat Foundation

Nerve cells in the gut play a crucial role in the body’s ability to marshal an immune response to infection, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

The study, published in Nature, shows that the immune system and nervous system have co-evolved to respond to infectious threats. This means that scientists looking for ways to treat diseases like inflammatory bowel disease or asthma that involve an excessive immune system response may also have to address the nervous system’s role.

“The immune system and neuronal system don’t act independently,” said senior author Dr. David Artis, director of the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the Michael Kors Professor of Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “They are working together.”

Continue reading “Immune and Nerve Cells Work Together to Fight Gut Infections” »

He is expected to walk again as his body heals, growing healthy new bone around the implanted scaffold — which will eventually dissolve.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RxwZClHWekQ

Researchers from Wits University have linked a brain directly to the internet. Data gathered from this project could help fuel the next steps in machine learning and brain-computer interfaces.

A team of researchers at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa have made a major breakthrough in the field of biomedical engineering. According to a release published on Medical Express, for the first time ever, researchers have devised a way of connecting the human brain to the internet in real time. It’s been dubbed the “Brainternet” project, and it essentially turns the brain “…into an Internet of Things (IoT) node on the World Wide Web.”

Continue reading “Researchers Have Linked a Human Brain to the Internet for the First Time Ever” »

Imagine a robot that could help you tidy your home: roving about, sorting stray socks into the laundry and dirty dishes into the dishwasher. While such a practical helper may still be the stuff of science fiction, Caltech scientists have developed an autonomous molecular machine that can perform similar tasks—at the nanoscale. This “robot,” made of a single strand of DNA, can autonomously “walk” around a surface, pick up certain molecules and drop them off in designated locations.

The work was done in the laboratory of Lulu Qian, assistant professor of bioengineering. It appears in a paper in the September 15 issue of Science.

Why Nanobots?

Continue reading “A DNA nanorobot is programmed to pick up and sort molecules into predefined regions” »

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Strathspey Crown LLC, a lifestyle healthcare company focused in ophthalmology, medical aesthetic and elective technologies and procedures, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 9,662,199 covering an implantable intraocular lens with an optic (including accommodating, multifocal and phakic configurations), a camera and an LED display, and a communications module that wirelessly transmit and receive information from an external device (e.g. PDA).

Robert Edward Grant, Founder and Chairman of Strathspey Crown LLC commented, “Video cameras are now a standard feature of smart phone technology and wearable cameras have become popularized by companies like Google and Snap in recent years. This patent represents a significant step forward in the rapidly growing sector of human cyborg technology. The eye, as a transparent medium for light, is ideal for advanced and rechargeable implantables that enable video capture of all of life’s experiences. Our broader vision is to develop ground-breaking medical-grade ocular smart implantables that integrate cellular, WIFI and 802.11 transmissions in an elegant cognitive interface that we believe will enhance human intelligence, augment perceived reality, and digitally capture experiences and individual memories. We look forward to several continuations and expansions on this important intellectual property portfolio.”

Grant further commented, “Although Samsung, Sony and Google have all recently filed patent applications related to the same field, Strathspey Crown is thus far the only company to hold an issued patent in this promising ocular smart implant category. Our first camera-integrated acrylic IOLs will be completed in 2018, upon which we plan to pursue an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) and subsequent Pre-Market Approval (PMA) and related clinical trial.”

Brain-controlled computers are currently helping paralyzed patients, but one day they might be used to control everything around you.

The ability to control the world around you with only your mind has been a feature of some of the best science fiction stories ever written, but even today the idea sounds pretty futuristic. Still, neuroscientists around the world are hard at work trying to figure out how to make a digital interface for the brain and in recent years have made remarkable strides toward this goal. Although this technology is still in its infancy, it’s not quite as hard to imagine abandoning touch screens for mind control anymore.

For the most part, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are currently being created only for people who have suffered debilitating injuries that left them partially or completely paralyzed.

Continue reading “How We’ll Eventually Control Everything With Our Minds” »

PCSK9 inhibitors, a new type of therapy, has arrived and appear to be an effective therapy for lowering LDL cholesterol to a level that exceeds the current standard of care.

Recently, the results from a clinical trial at Brigham and Women’s Hospital showed that the drug evolocumab, when combined with statins, significantly and safely reduced the risk of cardiovascular events.

Cover Photo: Getty Images.

Imagine that human aging is governed by an internal biological clock, controlled by specific genes. If scientists could identify the specific genes that control the clock, they could develop drugs therapy that stops aging in its tracks. Perhaps even reverse it.

A super-short and to-the-point introduction to Rejuvenaction, ageing, and rejuvenation which I wrote on l4t.

You might have noticed I have sometimes mentioned ‘Rejuvenaction’ in passing in other posts on l4t, but never really went too much into detail as to what Rejuvenaction even is. I was hoping to trigger curiosity in the few readers l4t has had thus far (this is what I get for posting once in a blue moon), but I think it is high time to formally introduce l4t’s older brother.

Simply put, Rejuvenaction is an advocacy blog meant to spread awareness about the problem of human ageing and what could be done to bring about the end of this problem within a few decades.

Continue reading “Tempus fugit” »