Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical – Page 567

Abstract: This work was supported in part by the NIH National Cancer Institute grants R01 CA186338

R01 CA203108, R01 CA247234 (to ML), and by the William and Ella Owens Medical Research Foundation (to ML). It was also supported in part by the Department of Medicine, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Address correspondence to: Michael S. Bronze, Department of Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 800 Stanton L. Young Blvd. AAT 6,400, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73,104, USA. Phone: 405.271.5428; Email: [email protected]. Or to: Min Li, Department of Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 975 NE 10th Street, BRC 1262A, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73,104, USA. Phone: 405.271.1796; Email: [email protected].

Hedonic eating is controlled by dopamine neurons that oppose GLP-1R satiety

Hedonic eating is defined as food consumption driven by palatability without physiological need. However, neural control of palatable food intake is poorly understood. We discovered that hedonic eating is controlled by a neural pathway from the peri–locus ceruleus to the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Using photometry-calibrated optogenetics, we found that VTA dopamine (VTADA) neurons encode palatability to bidirectionally regulate hedonic food consumption. VTADA neuron responsiveness was suppressed during food consumption by semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide receptor 1 (GLP-1R) agonist used as an antiobesity drug. Mice recovered palatable food appetite and VTADA neuron activity during repeated semaglutide treatment, which was reversed by consumption-triggered VTADA neuron inhibition.

Does Methylene Blue Impact Lifespan?

Join us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/MichaelLustgartenPhD

Discount Links/Affiliates:
Blood testing (where I get the majority of my labs): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners/michaellustgarten.

At-Home Metabolomics: https://www.iollo.com?ref=michael-lustgarten.
Use Code: CONQUERAGING At Checkout.

Clearly Filtered Water Filter: https://get.aspr.app/SHoPY

Epigenetic, Telomere Testing: https://trudiagnostic.com/?irclickid=U-s3Ii2r7xyIU-LSYLyQdQ6…M0&irgwc=1
Use Code: CONQUERAGING

NAD+ Quantification: https://www.jinfiniti.com/intracellular-nad-test/

Continue reading “Does Methylene Blue Impact Lifespan?” | >

Shocking Result from DESI Stuns Cosmology

Evolving cosmological constant.

Thanks to Storyblocks for sponsoring this video! Download unlimited stock media at one set price with Storyblocks: https://storyblocks.com/CoolWorlds.

The Standard Model of Cosmology has reigned supreme for decades, confirmed over and over again. But chinks in the armour have been developing, such as the Hubble Tension. Now, however, a new result threatens to completely upend our view of the Universe — we no longer even know how it will end.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping.

→ Support our research: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support.

Continue reading “Shocking Result from DESI Stuns Cosmology” | >

Giving up on photosynthesis: How a borrowed bacterial gene allows some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

A group of diatom species belonging to the Nitzschia genus gave up on photosynthesis and now get their carbon straight from their environment, thanks to a bacterial gene picked up by an ancestor. Gregory Jedd of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore, and colleagues report these findings in a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Unlike most diatoms, which perform photosynthesis to generate carbon compounds, some members of the genus Nitzschia have no chlorophyll and instead consume carbohydrates from seaweed and decaying plant matter. Previously, it was unclear how exactly they made this major lifestyle transition, so researchers sequenced the genome of one species, Nitzschia sing1, to look for clues.

N. sing1’s showed that the diatom carries a gene for an enzyme that breaks down alginate, a carbon polymer in the cell walls of brown algae—a group that includes kelp and other common seaweeds. The gene originally came from a , and an ancestor of N. sing1 took up the gene and incorporated it into its genome.

RNA transformed into biosensor for detecting health-related chemicals

Scientists have transformed RNA, a biological molecule present in all living cells, into a biosensor that can detect tiny chemicals relevant to human health.

Research by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists centers on RNA, a nucleic acid that plays a crucial role in most cellular processes. Their work is expected to have applications in the surveillance of environmental chemicals and, ultimately, the diagnosis of critical diseases including neurological and cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

“Imagine that people will go to the hospital and give a sample of cells from their own bodies for regular check-ups,” said Enver Cagri Izgu, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and the corresponding author of the study.

Scientists issue dire warning: Microplastic accumulation in human brains escalating

A new study published in Nature Medicine has revealed the presence of microplastics – tiny fragments of degraded plastic – in human brain tissue. While previous research has identified microplastics in organs such as the liver, kidneys, and placenta, this study suggests that the brain may be especially vulnerable to these tiny synthetic particles.

Scientists have made a disturbing discovery: human brains contain microplastics, and at higher concentrations than other organs. Worse, brain levels have jumped 50% in just eight years.

Spinning into antibiotic resistance: The flagella’s hidden role

A new study from the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sheds light on how bacterial motion influences the spread of antibiotic resistance. Led by Professor Sigal Ben-Yehuda and Professor Ilan Rosenshine from the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, the research uncovers a direct connection between the rotation of bacterial flagella—structures used for movement—and the activation of genes that enable bacteria to transfer DNA to one another.

This process, known as bacterial conjugation, is a key mechanism by which genetic traits, particularly antibiotic resistance, are shared among bacterial populations. While conjugation has traditionally been associated with attaching to solid surfaces, the team investigated pLS20, a widespread conjugative plasmid in Bacilli species, which behaves differently. The study shows that in liquid environments, where bacteria rely on movement to navigate, the rotation of flagella acts as a mechanical signal that turns on a set of genes required for DNA transfer.

The researchers discovered that this signal triggers gene expression in a specific subset of donor cells, which then form clusters with recipient bacteria. These multicellular clusters bring the two types of cells into close contact, facilitating the transfer of genetic material.

‘Positive Solitude’: Expert Reveals Why Alone Time Is Good For You

Over the past few years, experts have been sounding the alarm over how much time Americans spend alone.

Statistics show that we’re choosing to be solitary for more of our waking hours than ever before, tucked away at home rather than mingling in public. Increasing numbers of us are dining alone and traveling solo, and rates of living alone have nearly doubled in the past 50 years.

These trends coincided with the surgeon general’s 2023 declaration of a loneliness epidemic, leading to recent claims that the U.S. is living in an “anti-social century.”

/* */