Life Sciences

Found results: 11545

Biomedicine

Nerves from viruses

Viruses can restore the functioning of nervous tissue and sooner or later will be used to treat patients with spinal cord injuries.

26.01.2009
Prolonging youth

Kill old age in the bud

Both with the use of resveratrol, and with diet, and with physical exertion, the SIRT1 protein from the sirtuin family is activated. Another candidate for the elixirs of youth is a drug that restores telomeres. Mice with elevated telomerase levels live 40% longer. In addition, they have stronger skin and stronger immunity. To what extent these results are applicable to a person is an open question. But some are impatient.

23.01.2009
Nanotechnology

Dietary supplements with nano-additives: a bitter pill

It is unclear whether the dietary supplement industry is conducting the rigorous testing necessary to understand the effects of nano-ingredients in products, as well as the characteristics of products. This means that consumers are potentially exposed to risk, which must be balanced with the possible benefits of taking such supplements.

22.01.2009
Other life sciences

You are under hypnosis!

In a deep hypnotic dream, a person completely submits to the will of the hypnotist… Stop! There are two fundamental mistakes in this short phrase.

21.01.2009
Genetics

The gene parasite is trimerized to attack human DNA

Molecular biologists have found out how one of the most successful human parasites lives. It occupied 10% of the DNA in humans and higher primates. According to the authors of the work, they would like to learn his methods of genetic engineering.

21.01.2009
Other life sciences

Exoskeleton controlled by myogram

A suit sensitive to biological currents is able to strengthen the weak muscles of people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, stroke survivors, and so on. An exoskeleton could not only make life easier for such patients, but would also contribute to their rehabilitation, serving as a good simulator.

21.01.2009
Nanotechnology

Remote Gene Switch

When irradiated with near-infrared light, the gold nanoparticle heats up, the complementary bonds between the oligonucleotides of the double-stranded DNA segments attached to it are destroyed, and the released single-stranded nucleic acid molecules can participate in the degradation of mRNA and block the synthesis of the corresponding protein.

19.01.2009
Nanotechnology

Nanoparticles – for "bad" cholesterol!

Researchers have managed to create artificial high-density lipoproteins (HDL) based on nanoparticles, which can become a promising means of combating atherosclerosis.

16.01.2009
Other life sciences

Micrographers for non-invasive surgery

The six-beam star of the micro-tool can be wound up through the blood vessels in the most inaccessible areas of the body. When the temperature rises to 40 degrees, the plastic softens, allowing the metal paws to shrink and capture a microscopic area of tissue.

15.01.2009
Prolonging youth

Medicines for prolonging life

At the very end of the outgoing year, American scientists presented humanity with a luxurious New Year's gift — the hope for a quick solution to the problem of aging.

14.01.2009
Bioethics

Immoral science: Bioethics from the point of view of ordinary people

Reproductive biology and medicine — cloning, "designer babies", stem cell research, human-animal hybrids, and so on - are particularly fiercely controversial. Other "unpleasant" topics include nanotechnology, synthetic biology, genomics and genetically modified organisms.

14.01.2009
Biomedicine

Obesity Switch

A new enzyme has been discovered in fat cells, which is a key regulator of fat metabolism and body weight. This opens up promising ways to find remedies for the treatment of obesity.

12.01.2009
Nanotechnology

Investments in nanotechnology: in your own or imported?

Tatiana Nikolenko, Director of Infrastructure Programs at RUSNANO, and Andrey Ivashchenko, director of the HimRar center, believe that it is more profitable to buy innovations in the West – there they are brought to the stage of business projects. And the chief scientific coordinator of the ISTC, Tatiana Gremyakova, is sure that RUSNANO's investments are in dire need of Russian applied science, which will finally wither if all the money goes to the West.

12.01.2009
Cellular technologies

Stem cells restored heroin-damaged brain

Israeli scientists were able to restore the brain damaged by heroin use. The introduction of nerve stem cells into the hippocampus restored the structure and function of the organ to mice born to drug-addicted mothers. At the same time, the main work was done by "local" cells, which for some reason were prompted by transplantation to divide more actively.

30.12.2008
Nanotechnology

About the forum and the "scientific form" of Russian nanotechnologists

We have already lost the information revolution, in the sense of "hardware". The next one, the nanobiotechnological one, is happening right before our eyes. Whoever wins it will dictate their terms in the XXI century. Now in the West, a huge number of university groups, laboratories, and companies are working in the field of nanotechnology. And Russia, by and large, is just beginning to move in this direction.

30.12.2008
New in Gerontology

Blood vessels and Alzheimer's disease

A new model of Alzheimer's disease puts its origin in direct connection with the sclerosis of blood vessels feeding the brain. When the lumen of these arteries is closed by fatty deposits, the brain begins to receive less blood and, consequently, less glucose. It turns out that arteriosclerosis is not only responsible for vascular dementia, but also provokes Alzheimer's disease.

29.12.2008
Other life sciences

Silver's Glasses – "do it yourself"

The innovation was called adaptive glasses, or informally – Silver glasses. They are surprisingly easy to arrange. Transparent flexible pouches filled with silicone liquid are placed between two transparent polymer membranes fixed in the frame.

26.12.2008
Genetics

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 chapters

The 23 chapters of the book are 23 human chromosomes. On each one, the author finds some particularly remarkable gene and, starting from it, tells about the origin of life on Earth, about where the soul "hides", about how heredity affects a person's character and abilities, about who is to blame for the fact that a person loses immunity from stress, about where do hereditary diseases and cancer come from…

25.12.2008
Prolonging youth

Fasting does not prolong life

One of the mechanisms of prolonging life with calorie restriction, found in experiments on rodents, is a decrease in the synthesis of insulin–like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). However, as Luigi Fontana and his colleagues have shown, a low-calorie diet does not have such an effect on people.

25.12.2008