Lifeboat Foundation

Glioblastomas are the most common malignant tumors of the adult brain. They resist conventional treatment, including surgery, followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Despite this armamentarium, glioblastomas inexorably recur.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, Isabelle Le Roux (CNRS) and her colleagues from the “Genetics and development of brain tumors” team at Paris Brain Institute have shown that the elimination of senescent cells, i.e., cells that have stopped dividing, can modify the tumor ecosystem and slow its progression. These results open up new avenues for treatment.

Glioblastoma, the most common adult brain cancer, affects 2 to 5 in 100,000 individuals. While the incidence of the disease is highest in those between 55 and 85 years old, it is increasing in all age groups. This effect can’t be attributed to improved diagnostic techniques alone, suggesting the influence of environmental factors hitherto unidentified.

No human genome has ever been read in its entirety before. This year, scientists expect to pass that milestone for the first time.

A multidisciplinary Northwestern University research team has created a groundbreaking transistor that is expected to be optimal for bioelectronics that are high-performance, lightweight, and flexible.

The new electrochemical transistor is compatible with both blood and water and has the ability to amplify significant signals, making it highly beneficial for biomedical sensing. This transistor could make it possible to develop wearable devices that can perform on-site signal processing right at the biology-device interface. Some potential applications include monitoring heart rate and levels of sodium and potassium in the blood, as well as tracking eye movements to study sleep disorders.

“All modern electronics use transistors, which rapidly turn current on and off,” said Tobin J. Marks, a co-corresponding author of the study. “Here we use chemistry to enhance the switching. Our electrochemical transistor takes performance to a totally new level. You have all the properties of a conventional transistor but far higher transconductance (a measure of the amplification it can deliver), ultra-stable cycling of the switching properties, a small footprint that can enable high-density integration, and easy, low-cost fabrication.”

Advancing Biomedical R&D & Clinical Development In Saudi Arabia — Dr. Abdelali Haoudi, Ph.D., Managing Director, Biotechnology Park, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs.

Dr. Abdelali Haoudi, Ph.D. (https://kaimrc-biotech.org.sa/dr-abdelali-haoudi/) currently leads Strategy and Business Development functions, and is also Managing Director of the Biotechnology Park, at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs. He is also Distinguished Scholar at Harvard University-Boston Children’s Hospital.

Continue reading “Dr. Abdelali Haoudi, PhD — KAIMRC — Advancing Biomedical R&D & Clinical Development In Saudi Arabia” »

Researchers from Germany say a man has been cured of HIV following a stem cell transplant that was performed after several rounds of chemotherapy, making him the fifth known case of the virus being cured in an individual.

In the study published in the Nature science journal, German researchers detailed the case of a 53-year-old patient who was diagnosed with HIV in 2008. After their diagnosis, the patient was placed on antiretroviral therapy (ART) which suppressed the viral load within their system.

Can we objectively tell how fast we are aging? With a good measure, scientists might be able to change our rate of aging to live longer and healthier lives. Researchers know that some people age faster than others and have been trying to concisely measure the internal physiological changes that lead to deteriorating health with age.

For years, researchers have been using clinical factors normally collected at physicals, like hypertension, cholesterol and weight, as indicators to predict aging. The idea was that these measures could determine whether someone is a fast or slow ager at any point in their life cycle. But more recently, researchers have theorized that there are other biological markers that reflect aging at the molecular and cellular level. This includes modifications to a person’s genetic material itself, or epigenetics.

Continue reading “Epigenetic and social factors both predict aging and health, but new research suggests one might be stronger” »

Explore how pneumonia attacks the tiny air sacs in your lungs and how your immune system works to fight off the infection.

Every time you breathe, air travels down the trachea, through a series of channels, and then reaches little clusters of air sacs in the lungs. These tiny sacs facilitate a crucial exchange: allowing oxygen from the air we breathe into the bloodstream and clearing out carbon dioxide. Pneumonia wreaks havoc on this exchange system. Eve Gaus and Vanessa Ruiz detail how pneumonia attacks the lungs.

Continue reading “Why is pneumonia so dangerous? — Eve Gaus and Vanessa Ruiz” »

Telomeres – the protective caps at the tips of chromosomes – can encode two proteins, something that was previously thought impossible, new research has suggested. The discovery of genetic information coding for these proteins, one of which is elevated in some human cancers, could have huge ramifications for the fields of health, medicine, and cell biology.

“Discovering that telomeres encode two novel signaling proteins will change our understanding of cancer, aging, and how cells communicate with other cells,” study author Jack Griffith, the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a statement.

“Based on our research, we think simple blood tests for these proteins could provide a valuable screen for certain cancers and other human diseases,” Griffith, who is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, added. “These tests also could provide a measure of ‘telomere health,’ because we know telomeres shorten with age.”

Synchron’s BCI is inserted through the blood vessels, which Oxley calls the “natural highways” into the brain. Synchron’s stent, called the Stentrode, is fitted with tiny sensors and is delivered to the large vein that sits next to the motor cortex. The Stentrode is connected to an antenna that sits under the skin in the chest and collects raw brain data that it sends out of the body to external devices.

Peter Yoo, senior director of neuroscience at Synchron, said since the device is not inserted directly into the brain tissue, the quality of the brain signal isn’t perfect. But the brain doesn’t like being touched by foreign objects, Yoo said, and the less invasive nature of the procedure makes it more accessible.

“There’s roughly about 2,000 interventionalists who can perform these procedures,” Yoo told CNBC. “It’s a little bit more scalable, compared to, say, open-brain surgery or burr holes, which only neurosurgeons can perform.”