Lifeboat Foundation

“There was something else, too – something weirder. Of all the non-human DNA fragments the team gathered, 99 percent of them failed to match anything in existing genetic databases the researchers examined. We found a whole new class of human-infecting ones that are closer to the animal class than to the previously known human ones, so quite divergent on the evolutionary scale.”

A landmark Stanford 2017 study indicates that more than 99 percent of the microbes inside us are unknown to science. The survey of DNA fragments circulating in the blood suggests the microbes living within us are vastly more diverse than previously known. In fact, 99 percent of that DNA has never been seen before.

A new survey of DNA fragments circulating in human blood suggests our bodies contain vastly more diverse microbes than anyone previously understood. What’s more, the overwhelming majority of those microbes have never been seen before, let alone classified and named, Stanford researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Continue reading “‘Alien Invasion’ –99% of the Microbes Inside the Human Body are Unknown to Science” »

The new method uses a red glow to screen hundreds of nanoparticles at once to find which could best deliver drugs into living cells.

The adjusted absolute reduction in mortality in expansion states versus non-expansion states was 0.6 percentage points. Since end-stage renal disease affects more than 100,000 Americans each year, 0.6 percentage points equals hundreds of deaths annually, Trivedi says.

Better access to care

More research is necessary to determine exactly what caused the decrease in deaths, but the study suggests expanded insurance coverage, which provided better access to care, was the key factor in reducing mortality among this group. Medicaid expansion reduced the rate of end-stage renal disease patients without insurance by 4.2 percentage points, primarily through Medicaid coverage.

Continue reading “After states expanded Medicaid, fewer dialysis patients died” »

Crispr has driven biotech investment, but also the possibility of dangerous applications.

Revolutionary work on the body’s immune system and a host of new drug trials mean that beating cancer may be achievable.

Active discussion on tne most effective technologies in comments to this page post. Number one is blood plasma-derived therapy.

Money has been pouring into startups researching longevity as treatments for aging become more of a reality. Here are the venture funds and pharma companies placing bets.

You used to call me on my cell phone.

A college student-athlete in Kansas died suddenly from a rare bacterial infection after thinking her symptoms were due to tonsillitis, according to news reports.

The 23-year-old, Samantha Scott, was a top coxswain on the rowing team at Kansas State University, according to a statement from the university. But about two weeks ago, she started to feel unwell.

Initially, it was thought that Scott had tonsillitis, or inflammation of the tonsils, according to local news outlet KDVR. Tonsillitis can cause symptoms such as sore throat, fever and pain when swallowing. But Scott had actually developed an illness called Lemierre syndrome, a condition that’s so rare it was referred to as “all-but-forgotten disease” in a 2006 report of a similar case. [27 Oddest Medical Cases].

Continue reading “College Athlete Dies of Rare Bacterial Illness Called ‘Forgotten Disease’” »

Neuroprosthetics are implants that contain an arrangement of multi-contact electrodes capable of substituting for certain nerve functionalities in the human body. This technology has the potential to work wonders for people who have been injured or paralyzed, able to restore the sense of touch for amputees, help someone who has been paralyzed to walk again by stimulating their spinal cords, or silence the nerve activity of people suffering from chronic pain. This would provide many people with a greater degree of mobility, functionality, and a higher overall quality of life.

Stimulating nerves at the right place and the right time is essential for implementing effective treatments, but remains a challenge due to implants’ inability to record neural activity precisely. “Our brain sends and receives millions of nerve impulses, but we typically implant only about a dozen electrodes in patients. This type of interface often doesn’t have the resolution necessary to match the complex patterns of information exchange in a patient’s nervous system,” says Sandra Gribi, a PhD student at the Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Neuroprosthetic Technology.