Biologists at the University of Southern California have achieved a 10-fold life span extension in baker’s yeast. By mutating two of the yeast’s genes and restricting its calorie consumption, the researchers accomplished this record longevity with no apparent side effects. ...
What Makes All the Difference
In the passing year more than ever before, researchers have come to realize how genetically different we are from each other. Technological advancements have led to significant improvements in genome-sequencing abilities, and as a result – to better understanding of ...
Cavity-Fighting Herbal Lollipop
UCLA microbiologist Wenyuan Shi collaborated with the research company C3 Jian to develop a therapeutic orange-flavored lollipop that is actually good for your teeth. Herbal treatments have been used in China for more than 3,000 years. Professor Shi studied and ...
The Miracle of Spontaneous Blood-Type Switch
The Australian teenager Demi-Lee Brennan has become the first known transplant patient to switch blood groups – at estimated odds of one in six billion. Her blood type spontaneously changed from O-negative to O-positive following a liver transplant, after her ...
Gene Therapy Improves Parkinson’s Symptoms
American scientists may have achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The team utilized a gene-therapy technique to deliver a gene encoding the inhibitory GABA molecule to the overactive brain area (subthalamic nucleus) of a dozen of Parkinson’s ...
StimuHeal to Heal Your Body
The Israeli company “StimuHeal” has introduced a series of products developed to assist the human body’s mechanisms in healing damaged tissues. These devices, each of which was designed to focus on a specific problem, are based on different patterns of ...
A Natural Protein Heals Heart Cells
A research group from Bristol has found that a naturally occurring protein, known as nerve growth factor, can dramatically improve the survival of heart cells and reduce heart cell damage following a heart attack in mice. The researchers hope that ...
Stems of Hope for Treating Incurable Diseases
Two Professors at the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem have succeeded in improving the condition of MS and ALS patients by using stem cells transplants. The researchers extracted stem cells from each patient’s bone marrow, cultured them, and then injected ...
Mind Controlled Bionic Limbs
In the George Lucas classic Star Wars, hero Luke Skywalker’s arm is severed and amputated during a lightsaber fight and consequently fitted with a bionic arm that he can use as if it were his own limb. At the time ...
Zeroing in on the Machinery of Neuronal Firing
Two separate American research groups have been performing similar experiments on ion channels, which are pores in our nerve cells, to identify the channels’ key functional parts. The progress made in this field may lead to development of new drugs ...