Category Archives: Life Extension

The innovative packaging solution from Sirane has given diced beef two additional days shelf-life in recent trials with one major UK meat processing company, and the trade show in Birmingham will be a great chance to find out more about this unique product.

The independently-run trials showed a two-day increase from nine to 11 days on the shelf-life of the packs containing Siranes ABM pads compared to existing packaging. These trials are just one of many successful trials taking place using a variety of products.

Siranes Dri-Fresh ABM pads for meat/poultry, contain a blend of natural bio-flavonoids and organic acids which work together to extend shelf-life. Together with the absorbency within the pads, they offer an outstanding level of protection and significant shelf-life extension. The ABM technology is activated by moisture so only functions when needed.

Simon Balderson, Sirane MD, said: These results are great, and could result in significant financial savings for the processor in question as two additional days shelf-life is a huge step. At Packaging Innovations wed love to get the chance to explain more to people.

So much food gets thrown away, and Sirane has been trying to help companies with their food waste reduction targets ABM is one way meat and poultry packers can achieve this. ABM is a blend of natural ingredients which is incorporated into the absorbent pad.

The combination of flavonoids which are anti-oxidants and anti-microbial, with organic acids including citric acid and ascorbic acids is harmless, as all elements are found naturally within fruit. It is clean, simple, and effective. Nature itself often has the answers.

People have tried, and failed, in the past, to make anti-microbial packaging but the major difference here is the method of delivery. With the anti-microbial integrated into the pad, and activated only when needed, it gets efficiently to the heart of the problem.

Were encouraging all our customers to try our AB technology and run their own trials in their own unique supply-chain conditions, as this is just one of many success stories were hearing about, with many reports coming back to us of shelf-life extension.

Every processor and retailers supply chain is different, with different parameters, so we would never say to every retailer you will get two days more. Were saying you could get additional shelf-life by using a pad like this, you might even get more than two days extra.

Our Dri-Fresh ABM pads are part of a range of anti-bacterial and anti-microbial absorbent pad solutions; we also offer ABV pads for fruit and ABS for seafood. These pads work in the same way, but with the blend adjusted to help provide the optimum shelf-life.

Cooking bags are another area of specialism for Sirane and Bags of Ideas a new campaign from Sirane aimed at showcasing our varied cooking bag solutions will form the other main focus of our stand at Packaging Innovations which runs from March 1-2.

Sirane offers a wide selection of cooking bags from oven to microwave, BBQ to sous-vide and incorporating flavoured cooking bag options theres something for everyone.

Bags of Ideasbrings everything together under one banner, in one simple to use catalogue, and helps guide the customer through the process of choosing what works for them.

Simon Balderson, Sirane MD, said: Bags of ideas, bags of innovation and bags of possibilities. Siranes range of cooking bags has it all. Whether you want to steam cook in the oven or microwave, roast in the oven, or have a bag to throw on the BBQ, we can help.

We can help guide you through the many options we have to help you decide what cooking bag will work best for you. Whether it be a non-stick BBQ bag or a printed steam-cooking bag, a bag with a special vent or a bag with added flavours, you decide.

The choices can sometimes seem daunting, but were here to help you make the right decision, as the right cooking bag can have a hugely positive impact on sales

As well as BBQ/oven bags, Sirane manufactures a wide range of other cooking bags including steam-cooking bags for oven/microwave (including a new stand-up version), nylon roasting bags and sous-vide bags and even multi-compartment bags.

For more information, visit http://www.sirane.com or email jeremy@sirane.com. Sirane is exhibiting at Packaging Innovations at Birminghams NEC in March. Visit us on our stand E12.

See more here:

PACKAGING INNOVATIONS 2017: Anti-microbial absorbent pads ... - WorldPressOnline (press release)

Forbes

This Company With Anti-Aging Drug Is Secretly Preparing For Trump's New FDA Forbes The term geroprotection is replacing life extension among scientists. One reason is that many people associate life extension with pseudosciences and health fads. Many also assume it means prolonging the frailty and suffering that comes at the ...

See the rest here:

This Company With Anti-Aging Drug Is Secretly Preparing For Trump's New FDA - Forbes

The weather radar used by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Amarillo will be down for approximately four days beginning Monday, Feb. 27 for technicians to install an important technological upgrade. The work on the WSR-88D has been scheduled to minimize any potential impacts to office operations and will be delayed if hazardous weather is forecast.

During the outage, radar coverage is available from adjacent radar sites including: Cannon Air Force Base, Frederick, Dodge City, Pueblo and Lubbock.

A crew will install a new signal processor, which replaces obsolete technology, improves processing speed and data quality, provides added functionality, and supports IT security.

This is the first of four major upgrades, known as service life extension projects, planned in the next five years to replace and refurbish major components of the 20 year old WSR-88Ds and to keep the radars operational into the 2030s. The $150M investment is being made by the three organizations that use these radars, the NOAA National Weather Service, United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration. The other service life extension projects include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal, and equipment shelters.

The tri-agency Radar Operations Center, which supports the radars, estimates it will take about 10 months to upgrade the signal processor on all 159 operational WSR-88Ds.

These radar upgrades will continue to support the mission of the National Weather Service which is to provide weather, water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy, as well as NOAA's broader mission to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources.

Please join the National Weather Service in Amarillo on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube today.

See the original post here:

Weather Radar in Amarillo Gets Upgrade - Guymondailyherald

They say there are only two things in life you cant avoid taxes and death. For our U.S. readers, you can actually avoid taxes by staying out of the country for 335 days or more. Its called a Foreign Earned Income Exclusionand it gives you about100K in tax-free income every single year. Youre welcome. As for death, we cant tell you how to avoid that yet but were going to let you know when that nut gets cracked becauselife extension science is the hip thing for billionaires to invest in at the moment.

In an article last year, we touched on the topic of aging which is an easier theme to discuss than death, but we didnt quite get into the bigger picture of extending life. There is actually a field on extending life called life extension science in which anti-aging is one of just many broad themes. Life extension sciencecomes in many names such as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, biomedical gerontology, and indefinite life extension. Heres the textbook definition:

Life extension science is the study of reversing or slowing down the processes of aging to extend the average or maximum lifespan.

According to Zion Market Research, the global demand for the anti-aging marketwas valued at $140.3 billion in 2015, and is expected to reach $216.52 billion by 2021. Medical experts, however, declared that the use of these products has not proven to have any effect on the aging process, a reason medical practitioners do not want to equate life extension science to the anti-aging industry identified closely with cosmetics and dermatology.

There seem to be two major schools of thoughts on dealing with prolonging life expectancy: life prior to death and life after clinical death. Life prior to death seem to have the most investment support, probably because its easier to invest in andwrite a check yourself while youre still alive. There are many ways to approach life extension including the following:

Curing age-related diseases or attacking the root cause of aging seem to hold the most promise because of the recent advances in genetics. Curing cancer is still in the detection and diagnostic era with a real cure still years to go. There will likely never be a single cure for cancer, but many different advancements such as earlier detection which reduces the mortality rate by up to 90% for some cancers. In the future, your smart toilet will read your urine in the morning and detect the cancer while your smart smoothie maker will automatically mixin aproper prescription so that by the time you get to work fire up your virtual reality simulator, youll be cured.

Digging deeper into nanotechnology, cloning, genetic modification, and SENS, you will realize, it is all about attacking the challenge of aging at the molecular or cellular level. (The exception is cyborg technology where you replace partly or wholly the human body with robotic technology). Were going to just dive right into 7 companies that are attacking the root cause of aging.

We last wrote about Human Longevity (HLI)in April of last year when they officially became a unicorn after taking in a $220 million Series B round bringing their total funding to $300 million. Last month they hired Cynthia Collins as their new Chief Executive Officer replacing Craig Venter, Ph.D., Co-founder and former CEO, who will remain at HLI as Executive Chairman and will continue to guide scientific vision and strategy. HLI unveiled their genome search engine last October 2016, in which they were exploringindividual human genomes in great detail. At that time, they had already sequenced 10,545 human genomesand went on to state:

The 10,545 human genomes are part of the HLIs database, which currently contains more than 30,000 high-quality genomic and phenotypic integrated health records. HLIs goal is to have one million integrated health records in the database by 2020.

With $300 million, theyre well on their way to building the worlds largest and most comprehensive database of whole genome, phenotype and clinical data.

Just last month, Google Alphabet took in a whopping $800 million investment into their life sciences branch Verily which makes us feel better about the fact that we havent heard squat lately from Calico. We first discussed theCalifornia Life Company (Calico) back in 2014 and since then this stealth mode startup has murmured very little about what they are doing with the staggering $1.5 billion in funding they have on hand. Since Larry Page of Google, its main advocate, is more driven by the technical challenge of solving the mysteries of ROI rather than aging, informing the public of Calicos progress isnt really on the top of his agenda.

One interesting anti-aginglife extension science company we covered before wasElysium Health. Unfortunately,the only news this startup is turning out lately isbad news. The only supplier of the two key ingredients (pterostilbene and nicotinamide riboside) in Elysiums anti-aging pill, Basis, just filed a lawsuit against Elysium this January 2017, for failing to make payments and for breach of royalties and trademark agreements. Added to this is a growing public criticism of Elysiums general marketing campaign which consumers believe ismisleading. Apparently, Basis which seem to be the only unique value proposition for Elysium is not the only company marketing pills containing the key ingredients pterostilbene and Nicotinamide Riboside (NR). ChromaDex, Elysiums only supplier of these ingredients, is also a supplier (probably the only supplier) of these same ingredients to dozens of other anti-aging brands under the trademark NIAGEN. Since they have 30 of the worlds top scientists on staff they should be able to think of a wayto clean this mess up.

Unity Biotechnology, Inc., a startup incorporated in 2009, is in the business of preventing, reversing, and halting the various diseases attributed to aging by working on senescent cells. Heres how they describe it:

Cellular senescence is a biological emergency brake cells use to stop dividing. Its an important anti-tumor mechanism, because it prevents cells from multiplying out of control. But after this brake has been pulled, senescent cells remain in the body, accumulating with age. And unlike normal cells, these cells secrete inflammatory molecules that harm neighboring cellsand tissues

And heres their pipeline:

The Company completed a Series B funding of $116 millionin October 2016 so they have plenty of funds to execute. Not surprisingly,Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPalis an investor alongside some big names like Fidelity, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Paul Allen of Microsoft.

SENS Research Foundation or Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) Research Foundation is not actually a business startup but a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 2009 by Aubrey de Grey. Peter Thielputs in $600,000 a year, while its founder and chief science officer, Aubrey de Grey, provides $5 million annually for this research foundation. SENS Foundations research emphasizes the use of regenerative medicine to age-related disease, with the intention of repairing damage to our bodys tissues, cells, and molecular processes.

Speaking of Peter Thiel, we all know whathes been up to and it makes some people question just how groundedthe man really is. Hes all over the news because of something thats downright uncomfortable for us to think about. Thats right, Peter Thiel is said to be thinking about getting blood transfusions from young men to help stop the effects of aging. Its a life extension science called parabiosis which is currently being investigated by at least two startups.

Mr. Thiel presently sits on the board of a startup called Alkahest which is studying the effects of parabiosis. $4.5 billion Spanish plasma company Grifols (NASDAQ:GRFS) owns 45% of the Company so theres a way for retail investors to get a bit of exposure. Theyre operating in stealth mode so not a lotof information available except for recent news that they appointed a Chief Medical Officer.

Alkahest isnt the only startupexploring parabiosis. According to an article by Vice Magazine, a Silicon Valley company called Ambrosia is working on human clinical trials. They charge $8,000 for the privilege of participating in the study and apparently at least 600 people signed up.Sounds like those young bloodshave something to offer us after all.

So there weve given you 7solid companies looking to extend your life span. Maybe you should slap some dollars in a robo-advisor like Betterment just in case you live to be 130 because soon thats going to happen. Of course this opens up a whole can of worms about sustainability of our planet. For those of you who are going to be nice and just die so the rest of us can live longer with more resources, we will still hook you up.

There are those who believe the possibility of life after you are clinically dead. These are advocates who put up companies that build facilities for cryonics and for uploading your mind into some machine. Mind uploading is an exciting space to explore because of the possible merging of current technologies such as brain activity mapping, AI, BCI, and machine learning. Still, there are companies catering to those who simply believe in being remembered and having a purpose even after death such as Bios for its environmentally friendly burial urns and Capsula Mundi for its burial pods. That whole mind uploading thing sounds amazing so we may have to cover that in a future article. Stay tuned and enjoy all those tax-free $$$.

Looking to buy shares in companies before they IPO?A company called Motif Investing lets you buy pre-IPO shares in companies that are led by JP Morgan. You can open an account with Motif with no deposit required so that you are ready to buy pre-IPO shares when they are offered.

Read more:

Life Extension Science Live Forever and Don't Pay Taxes - Nanalyze

--Press Release--

L3 MAPPS announced today that it has won a contract from Bruce Power to replace the existing Bruce B Unit 6 Digital Control Computer (DCC) system with all-new hardware. Three DCCs will be delivered to Bruce Power. The first unit (DCC-Z) will be used as a maintenance platform and is due to be installed in the first quarter of 2018. The other two DCCs (DCC-X and DCC-Y) are redundant units for plant operations and are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2019.

DCC systems are used to monitor and control the major reactor and power plant functions at CANDU* nuclear power plants. The new DCC system will feature the latest SSCI-890 CPUs and will replace the legacy Varian V72 computer systems and related equipment to ensure continuous, safe and reliable performance over the service life of the plant.

Our first DCC system, built in the early 1970s, was for the Bruce site. With this new project, we have come full circle, marking a new chapter in L3 MAPPS DCC business, said Michael Chatlani, Vice President of Marketing & Sales for L3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. We are happy to continue our long collaboration with Bruce Power. Leveraging our record of on-time, on-budget performance, we look forward to our further support of the Bruce site for many years to come.

Replacing the DCCs at the Bruce site is an important element of the Life-Extension Program at Bruce Power, said Mike Rencheck, President & CEO of Bruce Power. Bruce Powers Life-Extension program will mean the Bruce site will continue to power the province until 2064, and this is good news for families and businesses across Ontario. Bruce Power, and the electricity it provides Ontario families and businesses, is part of the solution over the short and long terms to provide a source of low-cost stable electricity.

Bruce Power is Canadas first private nuclear generator, providing 30 percent of Ontarios power at 30 percent below the average residential price. The Bruce site, home to eight CANDU reactors in Tiverton, Ontario, is the worlds largest operating nuclear generating facility. The company is progressing with a series of incremental life-extension investments, including Major Component Replacement, to secure a clean, reliable and low-cost source of electricity for Ontario families and businesses for decades to come.L3 MAPPS has over 30 years of experience in pioneering technological advances in the marine automation field and over 40 years of experience in delivering high-fidelity power plant simulation to leading utilities worldwide. In addition, the company has more than four decades of expertise in supplying plant computer systems for Canadian heavy water reactors. L3 MAPPS also provides targeted controls and simulation solutions to the space sector. To learn more about L3 MAPPS, please visit the companys website at http://www.L3T.com/MAPPS.

Headquartered in New York City, L3 Technologies employs approximately 38,000 people worldwide and is a leading provider of a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military, homeland security and commercial platforms. L3 is also a prime contractor in aerospace systems, security and detection systems, and pilot training. The company reported 2016 sales of $10.5 billion. To learn more about L3, please visit the companys website at http://www.L3T.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, estimates, will, could and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the companys Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the companys recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

# # #

*CANDU is a registered trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, used under license by Candu Energy Inc., a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group.

More:

Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers - Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers (press release) (blog)

Kambalda has run on nickel dust since it kicked off the base metals Australian boom in the 1960s.

It is now facing having virtually no nickel production in the town by February next year, with Independence Group saying reserve life extensions at the harvesting phase Long nickel mine have proved unsuccessful.

Long which delivered 2365 tonnes of nickel to the BHP Billiton Kambalda concentrator in the December quarter and RNC Minerals Beta Hunt, which is now largely a gold operation, are the only producing nickel mines in Kambalda, where a series of operations have been put on care and maintenance amid low prices for the stainless steel ingredient since 2015.

Independence Group managing director Peter Bradford, who is also grappling with lagging development at the companys flagship Nova nickel- copper mine 160km east of Norseman, said drilling at Victor West had proven unsuccessful.

It is now hoping to find extensions at Long North, but said IGO could not expand a $2 million-$3 million a year exploration budget in Kambalda unless realistic targets were found.

In the first half we were drilling at what we call Victor West, but that work didnt prove to be successful and were getting ready to do some work at Long North, he said, adding the company was revisiting 3-D seismic data from a decade ago with new technology.

So were doing that work, but being miners, we are eternally optimistic that were going to find the next Moran at Long, Mr Bradford said.

But while we continue to maintain that optimism and pursue some of these mining extension opportunities, were also pragmatic, and in parallel we continue to make sure we have closure plans and that sort of thing up to date as we are required to by law.

He told analysts on an earnings call this week IGO could spend between $5 million and $6 million on mine closure at Long if reserve life could not be extended in the next year.

The glimmer of hope for nickel producers is a slight price rise over the past year amid an expected supply deficit. Mr Bradford is forecasting a supply deficit in excess of 100,000t by the end of this year, with recent mine closures in the Philippines cancelling the potential supply flood from the relaxation of Indonesias 2014 nickel export ban.

Panoramic Resources could bring Lanfranchi back if the nickel price, $US4.90 a pound yesterday, rose above $5/lb for a substantial period.

It would be likely to bring the Savannah project in the Kimberly online first, but Mincor will have a lead time of more than a year to bring Miitel or Durkin North into production if the price is right.

BHP Nickel West, which runs the Kambalda concentrator, the Kalgoorlie nickel smelter, and the Kwinana nickel refinery, is back in the black after delivering $US37 million in underlying earnings in the first half of the financial year, a $US136 million turnaround on the $US109m loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation it booked in the same period in 2015.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said the company would hold onto the once ailing asset, just three years after it failed to find a buyer.

It continues to show examples to the rest of the organisation as to how we can drive even more safety and productivity and Im happy with it in its form within the portfolio for now, he said.

With hopes for a potential rise in the nickel price, Mr Bradford said near mine and regional exploration could become more attractive in 2018, even if Long did close.

We have not made any final decisions that far ahead, but my expectation is that in the event we werent successful in identifying reserve life extensions between now and February, we would pursue opportunities in a care-and-maintenance environment after the cessation of that reserve life, he said. The team on site is currently re-looking at some of the resource areas that may not have been viable in the past.

Link:

Kambalda faces future with no nickel output - The West Australian

--Press Release--

L3 MAPPS announced today that it has won a contract from Bruce Power to replace the existing Bruce B Unit 6 Digital Control Computer (DCC) system with all-new hardware. Three DCCs will be delivered to Bruce Power. The first unit (DCC-Z) will be used as a maintenance platform and is due to be installed in the first quarter of 2018. The other two DCCs (DCC-X and DCC-Y) are redundant units for plant operations and are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2019.

DCC systems are used to monitor and control the major reactor and power plant functions at CANDU* nuclear power plants. The new DCC system will feature the latest SSCI-890 CPUs and will replace the legacy Varian V72 computer systems and related equipment to ensure continuous, safe and reliable performance over the service life of the plant.

Our first DCC system, built in the early 1970s, was for the Bruce site. With this new project, we have come full circle, marking a new chapter in L3 MAPPS DCC business, said Michael Chatlani, Vice President of Marketing & Sales for L3 MAPPS Power Systems and Simulation. We are happy to continue our long collaboration with Bruce Power. Leveraging our record of on-time, on-budget performance, we look forward to our further support of the Bruce site for many years to come.

Replacing the DCCs at the Bruce site is an important element of the Life-Extension Program at Bruce Power, said Mike Rencheck, President & CEO of Bruce Power. Bruce Powers Life-Extension program will mean the Bruce site will continue to power the province until 2064, and this is good news for families and businesses across Ontario. Bruce Power, and the electricity it provides Ontario families and businesses, is part of the solution over the short and long terms to provide a source of low-cost stable electricity.

Bruce Power is Canadas first private nuclear generator, providing 30 percent of Ontarios power at 30 percent below the average residential price. The Bruce site, home to eight CANDU reactors in Tiverton, Ontario, is the worlds largest operating nuclear generating facility. The company is progressing with a series of incremental life-extension investments, including Major Component Replacement, to secure a clean, reliable and low-cost source of electricity for Ontario families and businesses for decades to come.L3 MAPPS has over 30 years of experience in pioneering technological advances in the marine automation field and over 40 years of experience in delivering high-fidelity power plant simulation to leading utilities worldwide. In addition, the company has more than four decades of expertise in supplying plant computer systems for Canadian heavy water reactors. L3 MAPPS also provides targeted controls and simulation solutions to the space sector. To learn more about L3 MAPPS, please visit the companys website at http://www.L3T.com/MAPPS.

Headquartered in New York City, L3 Technologies employs approximately 38,000 people worldwide and is a leading provider of a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military, homeland security and commercial platforms. L3 is also a prime contractor in aerospace systems, security and detection systems, and pilot training. The company reported 2016 sales of $10.5 billion. To learn more about L3, please visit the companys website at http://www.L3T.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, estimates, will, could and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the companys Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the companys recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

# # #

*CANDU is a registered trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, used under license by Candu Energy Inc., a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group.

Continued here:

L3 MAPPS to Supply Digital Control Computer System Hardware for ... - Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers (press release)...

In a collaborative project, the UOs Patrick Phillips tackles a problem of reproducibility while studying potential anti-aging compounds

Worms. Might they help us live a healthier and longer life?

Extending human life in ways that keep people both healthy and productive is a goal of many scientists, including the UO's Patrick Phillips.

His latest project, which he leads in collaboration with two other U.S. institutions, may not immediately move us closer to extending human life beyond the national average of 79. It has, however, opened a window on how basic research that which seeks fundamental knowledge about how something works should be done to harness robust results that speed progress toward medical advances.

In a new paper published Feb. 21 in the high-profile journal Nature Communications, Phillips and 33 collaborators got right to the heart of the challenge: Too many laboratory findings are not reproducible, and the genetic makeup of model organisms often responds differently to compounds thought to offer promise.

"Aging is universal. It is complex. Individuals die for many different reasons, so there is a lot of noise in the system," said Phillips, a professor of biology and acting executive director of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. "It is a challenge to figure out the elements necessary to change the process. To do this you have to approach the question at a scale that has never been done before. That's what our paper is about."

In their study, Phillips nine-member UO team and researchers from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California and Rutgers University in New Jersey carefully carried out experiments using identical protocols. They simultaneously tested the effects of 10 different compounds on life extension across 22 diverse genetic backgrounds drawn from three species of roundworms.

"This is the largest aging study that has ever been done on an animal hundreds of thousands of individuals have been tested," Phillips said.

Our study indicates that even when following the same methods, insufficient replication of trials could account for failures to reproduce previous studies, the research team noted in the paper. Our focus on rigorously adhering to defined methods to reduce variability between sites necessitated making choices about specific methodologies for which there was no standard across the field.

Locations of worm strains

Across the labs, the researchers identified six compounds that extended the lifespan in one strain of worms. Overall, two compounds had positive results across the various strains, with an amyloid dye, Thioflavin T, being the most effective; two other compounds offered promise under specific conditions. Genetic differences among the species are comparable to those found in mice and humans, the researchers noted.

More details about the science and Thioflavin T are covered in a news release issued by the Buck Institute.

Future experiments, Phillips said, will test these and other promising compounds in genetically diverse strains of roundworm species to see how they perform. Eventually, the most widely acting compounds could advance into testing in other animal models and, eventually, in human clinical trials.

The research emerged from three-year grants to each of the three collaborating institutions from the National Institutes of Health. It is part of an extension of the National Institute on Agings decade-old Intervention Testing Program that has targeted aging studies using mice at three other institutions. The roundworm project is known as the Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program.

Roundworms, which have a lifespan of two to three weeks, have a simple genetic makeup that is similar to mice, which in laboratories can live up to three years. Thus, Phillips noted, more individual worms can be used more cheaply in the course of experiments that span the life cycle.

Compounds that have been found to extend life in worms and mice have proved so far to be limited to organisms with a particular genetic background.

Roundworms

This is a dark side of studying a model organism, Phillips said. You have genetic uniformity in worms and mice, but humans are not genetically uniform. We know that different individuals respond differently to drugs and that the cause of disease is often different in each individual. Overcoming those limitations is a big part of the push toward personalized medicine.

From the outset, he said, the roundworm project has been about reproducibility in a way that mirrors the approaches used by the institutions studying mice.

We've had to invest a lot of time in coordinating activities, Phillips said. That's often an unstated part of the difficulty of doing science. For this, we've written hundreds of pages of standard operating procedures to try to normalize the research process.

There is a history in aging studies where one lab finds a result but another lab cannot reproduce it," he said. "Cancer studies are the same. Only about 25 percent of studies can be reproduced with similar results. This is a big emerging issue in science now, so we feel like our study is one of the best on reproducibility that has ever been produced.

For the project, the leaders of the three labs brought different specialties of nematode biology to the table: Phillips is an expert in evolutionary genetics; Gordon J. Lithgow of the Buck Institute is a specialist on chemical interventions; and Rutgers Monica Driscoll is an aging and health expert.

Can we expect to see extended human lifespans soon?

What we find in this worm may or may not work in mice or humans, Phillips said. We're looking at things that affect fundamental cellular processes that are conserved genetically across all animals.

Carrying basic research forward is a goal of the Knight Campus, a $1 billion initiative designed to accelerate the cycle of generating impact from discoveries. The Knight Campus, which has seen some recent behind-the-scences progress on staffing and the selection of architects and general contractors, will foster exchanges of ideas among basic-science researchers with applied scientists and entrepreneurs to foster that translational process.

With this research, you are seeing the classic impact cycle, Phillips said. You have a guy working in a most esoteric part of evolutionary biology something that you'd generally think could have no general impacts just to gain understanding about something about the world. It is important, but in terms of affecting human health, who knows? Understanding genetic variation is being recognized as being more important each day. And so what once seemed esoteric is now important for understanding translational medicine.

As scientists expand into studying stress and aging in terms of natural genetic variation in different species, then my area's unique contributions fit into a broader scale. We're looking at compounds in a way thats never been done before. We are identifying compounds that can affect health and aging, he said. What do we do with that?

The point is not to make worms live a long time. It's how we use the information. How might this translate a decade from now into something that could go into human clinical trials to try to help people to live longer healthier lives? Can we turn this basic research into something that is relevant? Are there potential drugs that could?

That could be a Knight Campus story, Phillips said.

By Jim Barlow, University Communications

Originally posted here:

A UO lab digs into worms in the quest to lengthen human life - AroundtheO

I have heard several variations of this narrative, however I have not been able to track down the source of this tale or its author.

I have heard several variations of this narrative, however I have not been able to track down the source of this tale or its author. I am sure that most of you have heard or read this story before. A teacher brings a large gallon glass jar in to the classroom. He sets it on a nearby table. Then, he pulls out a box of rocks and sets it next to the jar. He clears his throat, gestures to the rocks, and asks, Who would like to show us how much you can fit in the jar? Someone volunteers, he is summoned forward. He works quickly but carefully, astutely positioning rocks in the jar until it is satiated. Is the jar full? the teacher inquires. Yes! the students reply in strong unison. Can you fit any more in the jar? he asks. No! is the enthusiastic chorus. Next, the instructor produces a bag of pebbles, How about now? Somewhat hesitantly, another student raises her hand and is again beckoned forward. With greater care and less haste, she places a handful of pebbles at the top and by tapping, shaking, and rotating the jar, they make their way to fill the gaps below. Satisfied she has done her best, with hopeful confidence she returns to her chair. Is the jar full? the educator again inquires. Um, yes, is the students' cautious reply. Can you fit any more in the jar? he questions. No, they guardedly answer. Next, the instructor brings out a pail of sand. Many students begin to smile. How about now? he inquires. So another volunteer comes back to the table and using the same technique, filters the fine sand through the coarser maze of rocks and pebbles. The teacher gleefully asks, Is the jar full now? No one will venture a response. Whatever they might say, they fear it would be wrong. The professor ignores their silence, Can you fit any more in the jar? he questions. No answer. Without a word, the teacher reaches under the podium and brings forth a pitcher of water. Some students groan; others smile. Unable to contain himself, grinning he inquires, How about now? He doesn't ask for volunteers, but slowly he begins pouring the water into the jar. Gradually, it permeates every crack and crevice. He fills it to the top and then adds a bit more to overflow the jar. There is no doubt that the jar is now full. What can we learn from this? is his final query. Someone ventures to say, It means that no matter how much you've got going' on, you can always fit more in! No, the teacher exclaims, It means that unless you take care of the big things first, they will never get done!" I find myself dealing with the pebbles and sand in my life, topping it off with a large supply of water. However, I've discovered that it requires thinking and planning for me to handle the rocks. Those big and important things, are the ones that I find that without careful care I put off until tomorrow. Everyone is busy! All too often, our busyness distracts us from what is important, from what really matters, those things that could truly make a difference. Time Management doesn't usually bring relief or reduce stress, it just squeezes more into an already full day. Turn time management into how we spend our time, so that we do less. Multitasking is not really doing two things at once; it is merely quickly switching back and forth. Computers do this wellhumans dont. For us, it is actually inefficient and counter-productive. Keep a Time Log to fully understand what you do and how long you spend (or waste) on it; the results will likely shock you. Just Say No to some things even good things in order to protect yourself from over-committing and therefore being too busy to do anything well. Set Limits to how much you work, otherwise you will end up working as much as you are physically and mentally able, leaving no significant time for anything else. Know Yourself: I usually handle the pebbles and sand first and then attend to the rocks if there is time. This is not wise. I am handling trivial stuff at my peak, while reserving the important tasks for my low point. It takes an ongoing effort to do key tasks for times of peak energy, while doing lesser activities to slower times in the day. Do First Things First: Once you've taken steps to resume control over life's activities, there is then time to attend to the big things. Without the pressures of the little concerns, there is the freedom to focus on the important, removing us from the rut that all too easily goes from day to day, week to week, month to month, and even year to year without accomplishing much. Please join me today in putting first things first.

Submitted by Robert McNary, 4-H Youth Development Specialist

Excerpt from:

Extension: Taking care of the rocks in your life - The Carthage Press - Carthage Press

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Discuva Ltd, the antibiotics drug discovery and development company, today announced that its collaboration with Roche, originally initiated in February 2014, has been extended to February 2018 under a new contract amendment. The collaboration is focussed on the discovery and development of new antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria using Discuvas proprietary SATIN technology platform. Financial terms of the extension have not been disclosed.

To date, the collaboration has resulted in multiple lead programmes that target Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria currently causing challenging antibiotic-resistant infections. The candidate antibiotics were identified from a phenotypic screening process and triaged using Discuvas proprietary SATIN technology to identify compounds with the optimal profile to progress successfully to the next stage of development. The collaboration extension allows the combined Roche/Discuva team to continue exploring these compounds in order to expedite the development of these novel antibiotic chemotypes towards essential medicines.

This contract amendment enables the programmes to benefit from the exceptional input of both parties and move the programmes more efficiently towards patients, stated Dr David Williams, CEO of Discuva. We are passionately committed to establishing a succession of novel antibiotics to meet the challenge that the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance represents.

In February 2014, Discuva and Roche entered into a worldwide collaboration and license agreement for the discovery and development of new antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections caused by multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria using Discuvas proprietary SATIN technology platform (http://www.discuva.com/roche-and-discuva-join-forces-to-combat-life-threatening-infections-caused-by-multi-drug-resistant-bacteria/).

About antibiotic resistance

Antibacterial resistance represents a major threat to public health worldwide. The problem is getting worse due to the lack of new effective treatments being authorized recently, which may lead to infections becoming more difficult to treat. In addition, many more people die of complications caused by secondary infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria because the side effects of the treatment for their primary condition reduces the patients defence to bacteria, leaving them vulnerable to an increasing range of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

In the USA, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that more than two million patients are affected by drug-resistant infections each year, with direct healthcare costs as high as $20 billion and with additional costs to society for lost productivity potentially doubling these figures. At least 23,000 die as a direct result of antibiotic resistance in these increasingly dangerous infectious agents.

In a report published jointly by the European Medicines Agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the international network ReAct Action on Antibiotic Resistance, at least 25,000 patients in the EU die each year from infections due to bacteria that are resistant to many medicines, and infections due to these bacteria in the EU result in additional healthcare costs and productivity losses of at least 1.5 billion each year.

AboutDiscuva

Discuva aims to revolutionise the treatment of disease caused by bacterial infection by discovering and developing new antibiotics against highly drug-resistant pathogens. The companys innovative proprietary technologies both identify new small molecule drugs against novel bacterial targets and facilitate their progression through to drug candidates with low clinical resistance, providing real solutions to the threat of global antibiotic resistance. Based in Cambridge, UK, Discuvasdrug pipeline is focused on providing therapeutics for currently untreatable hospital and community-based infections.For furtherinformationvisit http://www.discuva.com.

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Discuva Announces Extension of Ongoing Pharma Collaboration to ... - Business Wire (press release)