When things get tough in adulthood, it might seem appealing to return to simpler times.
One bizarre marine creature has taken this approach to dire situations quite literally, regressing its physical adult body to a juvenile stage once the stress of starvation or injury has subsided.
Continue reading “Wild Discovery Reveals That Comb Jellies Can Age in Reverse” »
We all want to ‘age successfully’ with as few health issues as possible. A new study suggests getting more than seven hours of sleep a night could go a long way to achieving that goal.
The study involved 3,306 participants aged 45 and over, whose sleep habits were recorded in 2011, 2013, and 2015, followed by a health check five years later. The data, analyzed by a team from Wenzhou Medical University in China, showed that those who bank at least seven hours of sleep a night tend to have significantly better health later in life.
“Successful aging was evaluated in 2020 and was defined as being free of major chronic diseases, no physical impairment, high cognitive function, good mental health, and active engagement with life,” write the researchers in their published paper.
A study in Pharmacological Research has found that small extracellular vesicles derived from embryonic stem cells (ESC-sEVs) alleviate osteoarthritis in cells and mice. Restoring senescent cells’ function Excessive […].
A new study from researchers at Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine explains not only why some patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (or “wet” AMD) fail to have vision improvement with treatment, but also how an experimental drug could be used with existing wet AMD treatments…
Wilmer Eye Institute researchers have found that ‘wet’ macular degeneration patients who don’t respond well to treatment have an increased protein in their eyes and that an experimental drug can help improve vision gains. ›
A new study could help further attempts to slow human aging as gene tweaking experiments have improved the lifespans of fruit flies by 30%.
Remember to watch part 1: https://youtu.be/tANAl15CCLE
Welcome to the year 2,324, where humanity has transcended its Earthly origins to build civilizations across the solar system. Mars, Titan, and even the clouds of Venus are now home to more than 2.5 billion people, thanks to anti-aging technologies and AI-driven advancements. But how did we get here? And what does life look like in this brave new world? In this continuation of my speculative future series, I explore the political structures, societal shifts, and technological innovations that define our interplanetary existence. Get ready for a journey through a transformed solar system!
Continue reading “Future of the World — Space Politics & Interplanetary Conflict” »
RegenxBio, a publicly-traded biotech firm, released data this week from a Phase 2 clinical trial designed to test its leading genetic therapy product in patients with bilateral wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is characterized by abnormal growth of blood vessels in the retina, and is a leading cause of loss of vision in elderly populations globally.
ABBV-RGX-314, developed in collaboration with AbbVie, offers the potential of a one-time treatment for wet AMD and other retinal conditions, including diabetic retinopathy. This is in contrast to existing treatments which rely on repeated intraocular injections of drugs that inhibit a protein known as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), a protein responsible for the formation of new retinal blood vessels.
The ABBV-RGX-314 therapy is based on a an AAV8 viral vector as a delivery system. The AAV8 platform has been genetically engineered to encode an antibody that can inhibit VEGF for the long-term.
The intricate relationship between hydrogen sulfide (H2S), gut microbiota, and sirtuins (SIRTs) can be seen as a paradigm axis in maintaining cellular homeostasis, modulating oxidative stress, and promoting mitochondrial health, which together play a pivotal role in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. H2S, a gasotransmitter synthesized endogenously and by specific gut microbiota, acts as a potent modulator of mitochondrial function and oxidative stress, protecting against cellular damage. Through sulfate-reducing bacteria, gut microbiota influences systemic H2S levels, creating a link between gut health and metabolic processes. Dysbiosis, or an imbalance in microbial populations, can alter H2S production, impair mitochondrial function, increase oxidative stress, and heighten inflammation, all contributing factors in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Dr. Abba Zubair, MD: “Our hope is to study these space-grown cells to improve treatment for age-related conditions such as stroke, dementia, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.”
What can microgravity teach us about stem cell growth? This is what a recent study published in NPJ Microgravity hopes to address as a pair of researchers from the Mayo Clinic investigated past research regarding the growth properties of stem cells, specifically regeneration, differentiation, and cell proliferation in microgravity and whether the stem cells can maintain these properties after returning to Earth. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand how stem cell growth in microgravity can be transitioned into medical applications, including tissue growth for disease modeling.
“The goal of almost all space flight in which stem cells are studied is to enhance growth of large amounts of safe and high-quality clinical-grade stem cells with minimal cell differentiation,” said Dr. Abba Zubair, MD, who is a faculty at the Mayo Clinic and the sole co-author on the study. “Our hope is to study these space-grown cells to improve treatment for age-related conditions such as stroke, dementia, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.”
Continue reading “Space-Born Stem Cells: A New Frontier in Regenerative Medicine” »
A recent article in PNAS unveils a remarkable discovery: the ability for reverse development in a ctenophore, commonly known as a comb jelly. These findings indicate that life cycle flexibility in animals may be more widespread than previously believed.
Animal life cycles typically follow a familiar pattern, declined in countless variations: they are born, grow, reproduce, and die, giving way to the next generation. Only a few species are able to deviate from this general principle, the best-known example being the ‘immortal jellyfish’ Turritopsis dohrnii, which can revert from an adult medusa back to a polyp. This elusive group of animals with flexible life cycles now includes the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi.
“The work challenges our understanding of early animal development and body plans, opening new avenues for the study of life cycle plasticity and rejuvenation. The fact that we have found a new species that uses this peculiar “time-travel machine” raises fascinating questions about how spread this capacity is across the animal tree of life,” said Joan J. Soto-Angel, a postdoctoral fellow in the Manet Team at the Department of Natural History at the University of Bergen.
