Lifeboat Foundation

An excellent overview of the story of how the U.S. responded to the COVID-19 pandemic along with suggestions for ways to continue making strides in combatting SARS-CoV-2 as well as how we may prepare for future emerging pathogens. The article provides an interesting case study on mechanisms of large-scale human organization, examines ways that we have succeeded in managing so many moving pieces, and explores ways that we could do better in the future. #nih #health #medicine #government #biotechnology

Investment, collaboration, and coordination have been key.

Francis Collins [email protected], Stacey Adam, […], Christine Colvis, Elizabeth Desrosiers, […], Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, Anthony Fauci, Maria Freire, Gary Gibbons, Matthew Hall, […], Eric Hughes, Kathrin Jansen, Michael Kurilla, H. Clifford Lane, Douglas Lowy, Peter Marks, Joseph Menetski, William Pao, Eliseo Pérez-Stable, Lisa Purcell, Sarah Read, Joni Rutter, Michael Santos, Tara Schwetz, Jeffrey Shuren, Timothy Stenzel, Paul Stoffels, Lawrence Tabak, Karen Tountas, Bruce Tromberg, David Wholley, Janet Woodcock, and John Young +29 authors +27 authors +22 authors fewer Authors Info & Affiliations

Continue reading “The NIH-led research response to COVID-19” »

Chinese geneticist He Jiankui rocked the scientific world with his gene-edited baby experiments back in 2018, a highly controversial use of the technology that ended up sending him to a three-year stint in prison for illegal medical practices.

Now, just under a year after being released, He has some regrets about rushing into the experiments.

“I did it too quickly,” He told the South China Morning Post in a new interview.

New work shows that histones, long treated as boring spools for DNA, sit at the center of the origin story of eukaryotes and continue to play important roles in evolution and disease.

Gabriel kreiman; harvard university, children’s hospital boston.

—THE STUDY ESTABLISHES A NOVEL CONCEPT OF “TUMOR SUPPRESSIVE DRUG RESISTANCE”

—THE COMBINATION OF LB-100 WITH INHIBITORS OF CELLULAR STRESS RESPONSE MODULATORS WAS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN KILLING CANCER CELLS IN SEVERAL PRE-CLINICAL CANCER MODELS

—RESISTANCE TO THIS THERAPY CAN RESULT IN THE LOSS OF THE ONCOGENIC PROPERTIES OF CANCER CELLS

How DAOs can change the face of science.

People can lower their risks of getting many common kinds of cancer by making healthy choices. Screening tests can find some cancers early when treatment works best. Vaccines (shots) can help prevent several kinds of cancer. Learn more about how to lower your risk of getting cancer.

Dr. Loren Mosher, in an interview for “Changing Our Minds” (http://www.changingourmindsmovie.com for complete DVD), a documentary on mental health, talks about the Soteria project, a long term study on alternative, non-neuroleptic drug treatments for schizophrenia. Purchase the complete DVD at http://www.changingourmindsmovie.com

Targeting calcium signaling in neurons represents a promising therapeutic approach for treating a rare form of schizophrenia, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Biological Psychiatry.

“This is the first time that human neurons are made and characterized from schizophrenia patients with the 16p11.2 duplication, one of the most prominent genetic risk factors in schizophrenia, and the first time that calcium signaling is found as a central abnormality in schizophrenia neurons,” said Peter Penzes, Ph.D., the Ruth and Evelyn Dunbar Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and senior author of the study.

Schizophrenia is characterized by auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, and trouble with forming and sorting thoughts, which severely impacts productivity and overall quality of life. The disease, which affects roughly one percent of the general population, has strong genetic associations, however the exact genes involved are unknown.