Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2008

From endpoint fluorescence to melting curve analysis.

Today’s research on somatic, genetic and epigenetic variation in eukaryotic cells requires fast, accurate and cost-effective methods for screening large numbers of samples or loci in parallel. Variations identified by genomic sequencing or array studies need to be subsequently confirmed and validated.

Continue reading “The LightCycler® 480 real-time PCR system: a versatile platform for genetic variation research” »

Hibernation Biology & Applications In Human Health & Resilience — Dr. Dana K. Merriman, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emerita of Biology; Director of the Squirrel Colony, UW-Oshkosh.

Dr. Dana K. Merriman Ph.D. (www.uwosh.edu/facstaff/merriman/VaughanHome), is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Biology, and Director of the Squirrel Colony, at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin.

Continue reading “Dr Dana Merriman, PhD — UW-Oshkosh — Hibernation Biology & Applications In Human Health & Resilience” »

Research that was recently published in Scientific Reports presents the first human genome that has been successfully sequenced from a person who passed away in Pompeii, Italy, after Mount Vesuvius’ explosion in the year 79 CE. Only little segments of mitochondrial DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Things I learned:

1. Various tissues will have different safe zones of rejuvenation before they become pluripotent but we could make tissue specific treatments and treat them separately without effecting others.

Continue reading “Cognitum S2 Episode 6 // Epigenetic Rejuvenation” »

Beef cattle genetically altered to be less susceptible to heat stress have been cleared for human consumption by the FDA.

This Review provides a comprehensive overview of presynaptic applications of optogenetic tools, including the associated challenges, current limitations and future directions for this approach.

Blake Crouch explores the promise and perils of genetically modified humans in the sci-fi thriller “Upgrade.”

View insights.

Gene editing with CRISPR can cause off-target mutations, but this seems to happen less often with an enzyme that cuts one of the strands of DNA instead of both.

The team of researchers who transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into a living human earlier this year have completed two more pig heart transplant surgeries, setting the protocol for such operations.

In January this year, 57-year-old David Bennett became the first man on the planet to receive a heart from a genetically modified pig. Before this, researchers transplanted kidneys from similarly modified pigs into patients that were brain dead.

The organs are sourced from a company called Revivicor which uses genetic engineering to remove specific genes in the pigs to help in reducing transplant rejection while adding some that make the organs more compatible with the human immune system.