Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2728

Whether it’s hay fever, food allergies, or asthma that plagues you, there’s no denying that our immune system can be a real punishment when it’s not working properly.

Which is why it’s so exciting to hear that researchers might have just come up with a system that could, in theory, put an end to all allergies — simply by forcing our bodies to recognise harmless objects, such as peanuts or pollens, as friend, rather than foe.

I know what you’re thinking — that sounds too good to be true, right? Because scientists have been trying to find a way to stop our immune system freaking out over harmless things, such as cat hair and pollen, for decades, and so far, nothing’s really stuck.

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Many think author, inventor and data scientist Ray Kurzweil is a prophet for our digital age. A few say he’s completely nuts. Kurzweil, who heads a team of more than 40 as a director of engineering at Google, believes advances in technology and medicine are pushing us toward what he calls the Singularity, a period of profound cultural and evolutionary change in which computers will outthink the brain and allow people—you, me, the guy with the man-bun ahead of you at Starbucks—to live forever. He dates this development at 2045.

Raymond Kurzweil was born February 12, 1948, and he still carries the plain, nasal inflection of his native Queens, New York. His Jewish parents escaped Hitler’s Austria, but Kurzweil grew up attending a Unitarian church. He worshipped knowledge above all, and computers in particular. His grandmother was one of the first women in Europe to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. His uncle, who worked at Bell Labs, taught Ray computer science in the 1950s, and by the age of 15, Kurzweil was designing programs to help do homework. Two years later, he wrote code to analyze and create music in the style of various famous composers. The program won him the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search, a prize that got the 17-year-old an invitation to the White House. That year, on the game show I’ve Got a Secret, Kurzweil pressed some buttons on a data processor the size of a small car. It coughed out original sheet music that could have been written by Brahms.

After earning degrees in computer science and creative writing at MIT, he began to sell his inventions, including the first optical character recognition system that could read text in any normal font. Kurzweil knew a “reading machine” could help the blind, but to make it work, he first had to invent a text-to-speech synthesizer, as well as a flatbed scanner; both are still in wide use. In the 1980s Kurzweil created the first electronic music keyboard to replicate the sound of a grand piano and many other instruments. If you’ve ever been to a rock concert, you’ve likely seen the name Kurzweil on the back of a synthesizer.

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Reanimalogo

Bioquark, Inc., (http://www.bioquark.com) a company focused on the development of novel biologics for complex regeneration and disease reversion, and Revita Life Sciences, (http://revitalife.co.in) a biotechnology company focused on translational therapeutic applications of autologous stem cells, have announced that they have received IRB approval for a study focusing on a novel combinatorial approach to clinical intervention in the state of brain death in humans.

This first trial, within the portfolio of Bioquark’s Reanima Project (http://www.reanima.tech) is entitled “Non-randomized, Open-labeled, Interventional, Single Group, Proof of Concept Study With Multi-modality Approach in Cases of Brain Death Due to Traumatic Brain Injury Having Diffuse Axonal Injury” (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02742857?term=bioquark&rank=1), will enroll an initial 20 subjects, and be conducted at Anupam Hospital in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand India.

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“We are very excited about the approval of our protocol,” said Ira S. Pastor, CEO, Bioquark Inc. “With the convergence of the disciplines of regenerative biology, cognitive neuroscience, and clinical resuscitation, we are poised to delve into an area of scientific understanding previously inaccessible with existing technologies.”

Death is defined as the termination of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Brain death, the complete and irreversible loss of brain function (including involuntary activity necessary to sustain life) as defined in the 1968 report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School, is the legal definition of human death in most countries around the world. Either directly through trauma, or indirectly through secondary disease indications, brain death is the final pathological state that over 60 million people globally transfer through each year.

While human beings lack substantial regenerative capabilities in the CNS, many non-human species, such as amphibians, planarians, and certain fish, can repair, regenerate and remodel substantial portions of their brain and brain stem even after critical life-threatening trauma.

operation

Additionally, recent studies on complex brain regeneration in these organisms, have highlighted unique findings in relation to the storage of memories following destruction of the entire brain, which may have wide ranging implications for our understanding of consciousness and the stability of memory persistence.

“Through our study, we will gain unique insights into the state of human brain death, which will have important connections to future therapeutic development for other severe disorders of consciousness, such as coma, and the vegetative and minimally conscious states, as well as a range of degenerative CNS conditions, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Sergei Paylian, Founder, President, and Chief Science Officer of Bioquark Inc.

Over the years, clinical science has focused heavily on preventing such life and death transitions and made some initial progress with suspended animation technologies, such as therapeutic hypothermia. However, once humans transition through the brain death window, currently defined by the medical establishment as “irreversible”, they are technically no longer alive, despite the fact that human bodies can still circulate blood, digest food, excrete waste, balance hormones, grow, sexually mature, heal wounds, spike a fever, and gestate and deliver a baby. It is even acknowledged by thought leaders that recently brain dead humans still may have residual blood flow and electrical nests of activity in their brains, just not enough to allow for an integrated functioning of the organism as a whole.

coolbrain

“We look forward to working closely with Bioquark Inc. on this cutting edge clinical initiative,” said Dr. Himanshu Bansal, Managing Director of Revita Life Sciences.

About Bioquark, Inc.

Bioquark Inc. is focused on the development of natural biologic based products, services, and technologies, with the goal of curing a wide range of diseases, as well as effecting complex regeneration. Bioquark is developing both biological pharmaceutical candidates, as well as products for the global consumer health and wellness market segments.

About Revita Life Sciences

Revita Life Sciences is a biotechnology company focused on the development of stem cell therapies that target areas of significant unmet medical need. Revita is led by Dr. Himanshu Bansal MD, PhD. who has spent over two decades developing novel MRI based classifications of spinal cord injuries as well as comprehensive treatment protocols with autologous tissues including bone marrow stem cells, dural nerve grafts, nasal olfactory tissues, and omental transposition.

Ugh — this is not good at all.

The study found lower metabolism and smaller brain sizes amoung the group of study participants taking anticholinergic drugs.

Medication with anticholinergic effects include certain over-the-counter antihistamines and nighttime cold medicines, and prescription drugs for sleep aid and many chronic diseases such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Previous research found a link between between the anticholinergic drugs and cognitive impairment and increased risk of dementia. The problem is, those pills often come with a lengthy list of potential side effects.

Continue reading “Hayfever drugs may shrink brain and raise dementia risk, warn scientists” | >

Makes one assess their medicine cabinet especially those allergy meds, etc.

The new study is the first to examine the physical changes that serve as the catalyst for cognitive decline. Using brain imaging techniques, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine found (PDF) lower metabolism and reduced brain sizes among study participants taking anticholinergic drugs.

“These findings provide us with a much better understanding of how this class of drugs may act upon the brain in ways that might raise the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia,” said Shannon Risacher, an assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences.

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Given more recent news about over the counter drugs contributing to dementia; makes me wonder what Botox injects in Neuro/ head area will eventually reveal in the long run in relation to dementia, etc.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has updated its 2008 guidelines on the use of botulinum toxin for spasticity, cervical dystonia, blepharospasm and migraine headache, based on recent research. The guideline is published in the April 18, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, and will be presented at the 68th AAN Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.

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Like it — turning those old plastic into Graphene bags.

Summary: The project will also motivate people to collect used plastic bottles and other plastic waste, which is degrading to the environment, and help us in putting it to good use. Once the varsity is able to make graphene out of the plastic waste, it can eventually also be used as an alternate source of energy. We received an approval letter for the project proposal on April 16 and the initial grant of Rs 1,97,88,800 for a period of three years has been approved. “Dhami also said that much of the encouragement for research work in the varsity came from governor K K Paul, who has been motivating universities in the state to pursue research in nano science and nano technology. In fact, even wrappers and packets of chips are an environmental hazard.

DEHRADUN: A project proposed by Kumaun University in Nainital to synthesize graphene from plastic waste to use the material in energy and biomedical applications has received approval for a grant of nearly Rs 2 crore. Confirming that the grant has been approved, vice-chancellor of Kumaun University, H S Dhami, said, “It is a great achievement as the varsity aims at contributing to the society through research work. We received an approval letter for the project proposal on April 16 and the initial grant of Rs 1,97,88,800 for a period of three years has been approved.” The grant has been approved by The National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS), G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED), Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

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