Lifeboat Foundation

As befits the child of a scientist, Martin Picard’s young son, 3, is already learning about biology with an age-appropriate textbook, “Cell Biology for Babies.” Picard winces a little whenever the book calls mitochondria the “powerhouses of the cell” but figures he has plenty of time as his son grows older to explain why the tiny organelles are much more than simple energy sources.

Picard is a leading proponent of mitochondrial psychobiology (a phrase he coined), an emerging field that examines how psychological states like stress influence mitochondrial functions, which in turn influence mental and physical health.

Continue reading “Exploring the mind-mitochondria connection” »

A virtual cell modeling system, powered by AI, will lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of diseases, argue the cofounders of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

As the smallest living units, cells are key to understanding disease—and yet so much about them remains unknown. We do not know, for example, how billions of biomolecules—like DNA, proteins, and lipids—come together to act as one cell. Nor do we know how our many types of cells interact within our bodies. We have limited understanding of how cells, tissues, and organs become diseased and what it takes for them to be healthy.

AI can help us answer these questions and apply that knowledge to improve health and well-being worldwide—if… More.

CHOP researchers established the feasibility of an artificial womb called the “Biobag” to nurture a premature lamb in 2017.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a meeting of independent advisors on September 19–20. The meeting’s agenda is to discuss the viability of clinical trials using artificial womb technology to improve the survival and health of extremely preterm newborns.

Continue reading “Artificial womb human trials may soon inch closer to reality” »

Children whose mothers had a higher exposure to certain phthalates during pregnancy tend to show smaller total gray matter in their brains at age 10. This is one of the main conclusions of a study led by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and published in Molecular Psychiatry.

The study also found that maternal exposure to plasticizers during pregnancy is associated with lower child IQ at age 14, which confirmed the results of two previous study on the topic. Moreover, the research team observed that this relationship between exposure to certain phthalates and lower child IQ is partially influenced by total gray matter volumes. In other words: exposure to plasticizers before birth could lead to smaller total gray matter in childhood, which in turn could be related to a lower IQ.

Finally, the results showed an association between gestational exposure to plasticizers and smaller white matter volumes in girls.

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

Discount Links:
NAD+ Quantification: https://www.jinfiniti.com/intracellular-nad-test/
Use Code: ConquerAging At Checkout.

Continue reading “Supplemental Tryptophan: Impact on NAD?” »

Scientists from the University of Texas at Dallas have identified a previously unknown “housekeeping” process in kidney cells that ejects unwanted content, resulting in cells that rejuvenate themselves and remain functioning and healthy.

This unique self-renewal method, distinct from known regeneration processes in other body tissues, sheds light on how the kidneys can maintain their health throughout one’s life in the absence of injury or illness. The team detailed their findings in a study recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Unlike the liver and skin, where cells divide to create new daughter cells and regenerate the organ, cells in the proximal tubules of the kidney are mitotically quiescent — they do not divide to create new cells. In cases of a mild injury or disease, kidney cells do have limited repair capabilities, and stem cells in the kidney can form new kidney cells, but only up to a point, said Dr. Jie Zheng, professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and co-corresponding author of the study.

A Texas A&M University professor and a team of pharmacology researchers are spearheading advances in the use of medical cannabinoids for epilepsy and seizure disorders.

A team led by Dr. D. Samba Reddy, a Regents Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at the Texas A&M University School of Medicine, has made progress in determining efficacy, safety and new applications of cannabinoid therapeutics. Reddy’s work establishes a foundation for tailored and effective epilepsy treatments, offering hope to those facing its challenges.

The team’s research on epilepsy has resulted in the publication of five key papers featured in the May 2023 issue of the journal Experimental Neurology.

Continue reading “Pioneering CBD For Epilepsy Treatment And Prevention” »

Researchers have identified a platelet-derived factor that improves cognition in mice and published their findings in Nature Communications. Finding the right molecules This paper begins with the same refrain common in […].

NIH-funded study suggests need to reevaluate opioid addiction treatment recommendations in the era of fentanyl.

Individuals with opioid use disorder who were prescribed a lower buprenorphine dose were 20% more likely to discontinue treatment than those on a higher dose, according to a study of patients prescribed buprenorphine in Rhode Island from 2016 to 2020, as fentanyl became widely available. The study, published today in JAMA Network Open, was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted by researchers at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; NIDA and the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Among patients newly initiating buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder, 59% of those prescribed the target daily dose of 16 milligrams recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and 53% of those prescribed the higher 24 mg daily dose discontinued treatment within 180 days. A statistical analysis that allowed for multivariable comparison of these two dose groups showed patients prescribed the recommended dose (16 mg) were significantly more likely to discontinue treatment over 180 days compared to those prescribed 24 mg.