Lifeboat Foundation

Plant-based diets have grown in popularity owing to multiple health and environmental benefits.

Here, the authors describe the evidence concerning plant-based dietary patterns and omnivorous diets with reduced consumption of animal-based food and increased consumption of plant-based foods and their associations with the most common urological cancers and benign urological conditions.

Summary: A recent study has mapped how molecules in food interact with gut bacteria, revealing why people respond differently to the same diets. By examining 150 dietary compounds, researchers found that these molecules can reshape gut microbiomes in some individuals, while having little effect in others.

This breakthrough could enable personalized nutrition strategies to better manage health risks. The findings offer a deeper understanding of the gut microbiome’s role in health and disease.

Summary: Researchers have developed a molecule called LaKe that mimics the metabolic effects of strenuous exercise and fasting. This molecule increases lactate and ketone levels in the body, providing similar benefits to running 10 kilometers on an empty stomach, without physical exertion or dietary changes.

Currently being tested in human trials, LaKe shows promise for helping people with limited physical ability maintain health, and may also aid in treating brain conditions like Parkinson’s and dementia. The discovery offers a potential new path for those unable to follow strict exercise or fasting routines.

Bioengineered breast reconstruction and augmentation — dr. luba perry, phd — CEO, reconstruct bio.

Dr. Luba Perry, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and CEO of ReConstruct Bio (https://wyss.harvard.edu/technology/r…), an innovative venture emerging from Harvard’s Wyss Institute (https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/advance…), aimed at redefining the fields of medical reconstruction and aesthetics with an initial application of their groundbreaking technology on breast reconstruction and augmentation. With a multidisciplinary team of experts, the ReConstruct Bio team has developed the BioImplant—a living, bioengineered tissue created from the patient’s own cells, to provide safer, more natural alternative to current standards, which are often associated with significant drawbacks and health concerns.

Continue reading “Dr. Luba Perry, Ph.D. — CEO, ReConstruct Bio — Bioengineered Breast Reconstruction And Augmentation” »

The Parker Solar Probe has matched its own speed and distance records in a recent close encounter with the Sun and is preparing for an even closer approach aided by a Venus flyby.

On September 30, NASAs Parker Solar Probe completed its 21st close approach to the Sun, equaling its own distance record by coming within about 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers) of the solar surface.

The close approach (known as perihelion) occurred at 5:15 UTC — or 12:15 a.m. EDT — with Parker Solar Probe moving 394,700 miles per hour (635,300 kilometers per hour) around the Sun, again matching its own record. The spacecraft checked in on October 3 with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland — where the spacecraft was also designed and built — with a beacon tone indicating it was in good health and all systems were operating normally.

Diseases that affect the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye, are a significant cause of visual impairment and blindness. Gene therapy holds promise for treating some of these conditions, and current research advances may soon shift the therapeutic landscape for eye health. However, many obstacles remain in place, as this Special Feature discusses.

Gene therapy uses genetic material, either DNA or RNA, to treat or prevent the progression of a disease. It often involves the introduction of genetic material into a person’s cells to replace a defective or missing gene.

Although early attempts at gene therapy have been effective in achieving the expression of the therapeutic gene in the target tissue, they have also been accompanied by severe adverse effects.

People genetically adapted to diving, 13 min. is a record, not average for them, they are exceptional anyway.

Picture yourself holding your breath. How long can you last underwater? A minute? Two? You probably imagined yourself sitting a foot or so beneath the surface of a pool during this exercise, but consider how long you can hold your breath actively swimming as deep below the surface of the ocean as you can go. This would probably look like maybe 30 seconds of swimming down followed by a rush to the surface. The Bajau people of the Philippines, though, according to reports, could quite confidently imagine swimming 200 feet below the ocean surface for up to 13 minutes.

These abilities aren’t merely the result of dedicated training. The Bajau people have lived their lives at sea for generations, so much so that they’ve developed special adaptations to their oceanic lifestyle.

Inside every cell, inside every nucleus, your continued existence depends on an incredibly complicated dance. Proteins are constantly wrapping and unwrapping DNA, and even minor missteps can lead to cancer. A new study from the University of Chicago reveals a previously unknown part of this dance—one with significant implications for human health.

In the study, published Oct. 2 in Nature, a team of scientists led by UChicago Prof. Chuan He, in collaboration with University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Prof. Mingjiang Xu, found that RNA plays a significant role in how DNA is packaged and stored in your cells, via a gene known as TET2. The paper is titled “RNA m⁵C oxidation by TET2 regulates chromatin state and leukaemogenesis.”

This pathway also appears to explain a long-standing puzzle about why so many cancers and other disorders involve TET2-related mutations—and suggests a set of new targets for treatments.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has awarded $45 million to rapidly develop sense-and-respond implant technology that could slash U.S. cancer-related deaths by more than 50%.

Announced today, the award to a multi-institutional team of researchers, including Carnegie Mellon University, will fast-track development and testing of a new approach to cancer treatment that aims to dramatically improve immunotherapy outcomes for patients with ovarian, pancreatic, and other difficult-to-treat cancers.

Continue reading “ARPA-H fast tracks development of new cancer implant tech” »