Lifeboat Foundation

Summary: Researchers used AI to select and generate images for studying brain’s visual processing. Functional MRI (fMRI) recorded heightened brain activity in response to these images, surpassing control images.

The approach enabled tuning visual models to individual responses, enhancing the study of brain’s reaction to visual stimuli. This method, offering an unbiased, systematic view of visual processing, could revolutionize neuroscience and therapeutic approaches.

Are robots made from frog cells (Xenopus laevis).

Scientists have developed tiny robots made of human cells that are able to repair damaged neural tissue¹. The ‘anthrobots’ were made using human tracheal cells and might, in future, be used in personalized medicine.

Developmental biologist Michael Levin at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and his colleagues had previously developed tiny robots using clumps of embryonic frog cells. But the medical applications of these ‘xenobots’ were limited, because they weren’t derived from human cells and because they had to be manually carved into the desired shape. The researchers have now developed self-assembling anthrobots and are investigating their therapeutic potential using human tissue grown in the laboratory. They published their findings in Advanced Science.

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The new contest aims to spur innovation into longer ‘healthspans’ with treatments that can actually reverse age-related degradation in body, mind and immune system.

Life Science Animation presents a groundbreaking 2D video animation that delves into the world of peptide-based cancer immunotherapies. In collaboration with Micropep, we explore Enterome’s OncoMimics platform, a novel approach to activating pre-existing memory T cell immunity for a more robust anti-tumor response.

Current immunotherapies often fall short as they only stimulate naïve T cell responses, leading to limited efficacy. Enterome’s innovative solution utilizes bacterial peptides, known as OncoMimics, that mimic tumor antigens. These OncoMimics are derived from common microbiome bacteria and are naturally tolerated by the human body.

Continue reading “Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment with Enterome’s OncoMimics: A 2D Animation” »

Science: Research suggest that dinosaurs 🦕 🦖 may have influenced how humans age today.

Human aging may have been influenced by millions of years of dinosaur domination according to a new theory from a leading aging expert. The ‘longevity bottleneck’ hypothesis has been proposed by Professor Joao Pedro de Magalhaes from the University of Birmingham in a new study published in BioEssays. The hypothesis connects the role that dinosaurs played over 100 million years with the aging process in mammals.

While some reptiles and amphibians show no significant signs of aging, all mammals—including humans—show a marked aging process.

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In a new study using brain scans of former NFL athletes, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they found high levels of a repair protein present long after a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion takes place. The repair protein, known as 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), is known to be present in the brain at high levels in the immediate aftermath of brain injury as part of the inflammatory response and to facilitate repair. The new findings, published Oct. 30 in JAMA Network Open, suggest that brain injury and repair processes persist for years after players end collision sports careers, and lead to long-term cognitive problems such as memory loss.

“The findings show that participating in repeated collision sports like football may have a direct link to long-term inflammation in the brain,” says Jennifer Coughlin, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Ongoing studies like the current one, she says, add details about how the brain heals — or doesn’t — and how repeated brain injuries, even mild ones that players routinely shake off, may over time affect cognitive abilities.

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Learn more about Clinical Trials and Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer. Featuring speakers: Dan Paul Zandberg, MD (Director, Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancer Disease Sections, Division of Hematology and Oncology, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center), Ricardo Zwirtes, MD (VP, Clinical Development, SQZ Biotechnologies), Jeffery Shoop (Two-Time Head and Neck Cancer Survivor. (Presented by SQZ Biotechnologies, SPOHNC and Head and Neck Cancer Alliance)

Engineered immune cells have demonstrated great efficacy in lymphoma but not in solid tumors. On Oct 13th, 2021, two experts described recent advances in the development of CAR therapy for solid tumors.

Tamara Laskowski, PhD, Scientific Project Director of the CAR NK Program, Adoptive Cell Therapy Platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center discussed “Engineering off-the-shelf CAR immune cells”.

Continue reading “Penetrating Solid Tumors with CAR Immune Cells” »

The Lung Cancer Webinar Series Presentation held on August 31, 2022 on “Treatment of Unresectable Stage 3 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer” moderated by: Hatim Husain, M.D., Medical Oncologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego Health and discussants: Edward B. Garon, M.D., MS, Professor of Medicine at David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology and Aaron E. Lisberg, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor at David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology.