Category Biology/Biotechnology

Newly discovered Gene may Influence Longevity in Humans

Sleep, fasting, exercise, green porridge, black coffee, a healthy social life—there is an abundance of advice out there on how to live a good, long life. Researchers are working hard to determine why some people live longer than others, and how we get the most out of our increasingly long lives.

Now researchers from the Center for Healthy Aging, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that a particular protein known as OSER1 has a great influence on longevity. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

“We identified this protein that can extend longevity...

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Newly discovered Antibody Protects Against All COVID-19 Variants

Newly discovered antibody protects against all COVID-19 variants
Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell Reports Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101668

Researchers have discovered an antibody able to neutralize all known variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as distantly related SARS-like coronaviruses that infect other animals.

As part of a new study on hybrid immunity to the virus, the large, multi-institution research team led by The University of Texas at Austin discovered and isolated a broadly neutralizing plasma antibody, called SC27, from a single patient...

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Finger Wrap uses Sweat to provide Health Monitoring at your Fingertips

This finger wrap is powered by the wearer’s fingertip sweat—and also monitors levels of glucose, lactate, vitamin C and levodopa in that same sweat. Credit: Shichao Ding

A sweat-powered wearable has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an electronic finger wrap that monitors vital chemical levels—such as glucose, vitamins, and even drugs—present in the same fingertip sweat from which it derives its energy.

The advance was published Sept. 3 in Nature Electronics by the research group of Joseph Wang, a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego.

The device, which wraps snugly around the fin...

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Seeing the Future: Zebrafish Regenerates Fully Functional Photoreceptor Cells and Restores its Vision

A microscopic image displaying a field of small, round shapes against a dark background. The shapes are predominantly green. Some shapes have magenta-colored spots or protrusions, creating a mixed pattern of green, white, and magenta. The image is overlaid with a rectangular inset, zooming in on a section of the shapes, where the same color patterns are visible, but in greater detail.
Zebrafish photoreceptor cells stimulated with blue light show correct electrical activity. The picture was taken using the microscope that was custom-built for this study.

Blinding diseases lead to permanent vision loss by damaging photoreceptor cells, which humans cannot naturally regenerate. While researchers are working on new methods to replace or regenerate these cells, the crucial question is whether these regenerated photoreceptors can fully restore vision. Now, a team of researchers led by Prof. Michael Brand at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) of Dresden University of Technology has made an important step forward...

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