Category Archives: Transhuman News

Surprisingly, exposure to a high background radiation might actually lead to clear beneficial health effects in humans, according to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Nuclear Research Center Negev (NRCN) scientists. This is the first large-scale study which examines the two major sources of background radiation (terrestrial radiation and cosmic radiation), covering the entire U.S. population.

The studys findings were recently published inBiogerontology.

Background radiation is an ionizing radiation that exists in the environment because of natural sources. In their study, BGU researchers show that life expectancy is approximately 2.5 years longer among people living in areas with a relatively high vs. low background radiation.

Background radiation includes radiation emanating from space, and radiation from terrestrial sources. Since the 1960s, there has been a linear no-threshold hypothesis guiding policy that any radiation level carries some risk. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent around the world to reduce radiation levels as much as possible.

Decades of scientific theory are potentially being disproven by the remarkable researchers at BGU, says Doug Seserman, chief executive officer, American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. These findings might even provide a sense of relief for those who reside in areas in the U.S. with higher-than-average background radiation.

According to BGU Professors Vadim Fraifeld and Marina Wolfson, along with Dr. Elroei David of the Nuclear Research Center Negev, lower levels of several types of cancers were found when the radiation levels were on the higher end of the spectrum rather than on the lower end. Among both men and women, there was a significant decrease in lung, pancreatic, colon and rectal cancers. Among men, there were additional decreases in brain and bladder cancers. There was no decrease in cervix, breast or prostate cancers or leukemia.

Using the United States Environmental Protection Agencys radiation dose calculator, the researchers retrieved data about background radiation from all 3,129 U.S. counties. The studys data regarding cancer rates was retrieved from the United States Cancer Statistics. Life expectancy data was retrieved from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington Medical Center.

It is reasonable to suggest that a radiation threshold does exist, yet it is higher than the upper limit of the natural background radiation levels in the US (227 mrem/year), the researchers write. These findings provide clear indications for re-considering the linear no-threshold paradigm, at least within the natural range of low-dose radiation.

Reference: Background radiation impacts human longevity and cancer mortality: reconsidering the linear no-threshold paradigm by Elroei David, Marina Wolfson and Vadim E. Fraifeld, 22 January 2021, Biogerontology.DOI: 10.1007/s10522-020-09909-4

Prof. Vadim Fraifeld and Prof. Marina Wolfson are members of the BGU Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics in the Faculty of Health Sciences and members of the Center for Multidisciplinary Research on Aging. Dr. Elroei David is a BGU graduate and now is a senior scientist at the Nuclear Research Center Negev.

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Decades of Scientific Theory Disproven: Beneficial Health Effects Found From High Background Radiation Exposure - SciTechDaily

Q. Is it possible that scientists will one day be able to slow down the aging of our bodies?

A. You may be dubious, but yes, it is possible. I know it seems that every living thing ages the flowers in the garden, our pets, and us. Yet a Harvard Medical School colleague who studies aging, genetics professor David Sinclair, tells me there are certain cold-water fish that may never die natural deaths. They die from injury or being consumed by a larger animal, but it's not clear they die naturally. Some are hundreds of years old, and still frisky.

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MONTREAL, April 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExCellThera Inc., a clinical-stage cell and molecular medicine company delivering molecules and bioengineering solutions to expand stem and immune cells for therapeutic use, and Ossium Health, a therapeutics company harnessing the power of stem cell science to improve treatment for patients with blood and immune diseases, announced today a collaboration agreement to evaluate and advance opportunities to combine their capabilities to further the goal of improving human health.

The collaboration plans to evaluate and advance opportunities to employ adult stem cells from deceased donors from Ossium Healths first-in-the-world bone marrow bank in conjunction with ExCellTheras ECT-001 cell expansion and rejuvenation technology, comprised of the UM171 small molecule and an optimized culture system, to treat blood cancers, improve solid organ tolerization and repair damage from radiation.

There is deep alignment between ExCellThera and Ossiums biotechnology platforms. We see immense potential in this new collaboration to build capacity and leverage complimentary expertise toward realizing a shared goal of improving outcomes for patients through regenerative medicine, said Dr. Guy Sauvageau, CEO and Founder of ExCellThera.

Ossiums world first bone marrow bank combined with ExCellTheras cell expansion and rejuvenation technology could create an invaluable new source of expanded and rejuvenated stem cells and bring the life-saving benefits of cell therapies to patients across the globe, said Ossium Co-Founder, President and CEO, Kevin Caldwell.

About ExCellThera Inc.ExCellThera is a clinical-stage cell and molecular medicine company delivering molecules and bioengineering solutions to expand stem and immune cells for use in novel one-time curative therapies for patients with hematologic malignancies and other diseases. ExCellTheras most advanced technology, ECT-001 Cell Therapy, combines a proprietary small molecule, UM171, and an optimized culture system. In pursuit of better treatments for patients, the company is building out its portfolio of products, as well as supporting best-in-class clinical trials.excellthera.com

About Ossium HealthOssium Health is a therapeutics company that leverages its unique deceased donor bone marrow banking platform to develop stem cell therapies for patients with life-threatening blood and immune diseases. Founded in 2016, the company is run by its Co-Founder, President & CEO Kevin Caldwell, and its Co-Founder, EVP & Chief Science Officer Erik Woods. The companys mission is to deploy cellular therapeutics and bioengineering to produce lasting gains in the health, vitality, and longevity of human beings. Ossium is a Public Benefit Corporation. Learn more about Ossium atwww.ossiumhealth.com.

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Excellthera and Ossium Health Announce a Collaboration to Advance Their Technologies and Platforms to Improve Human Health - GlobeNewswire

What if we could tackle multiple age-related ailments such as heart failure and kidney failure with a single injection, instead of piling on many different treatments? Thats the goal for Rejuvenate Bio, a Harvard startup working on a combination gene therapy to reverse aging in peopleand in dogs.

The company raised more than $10 million in its series A round to propel its gene therapy toward the market for the treatment of heart disease in dogs and toward the clinic for the treatment of aging-related conditions in humans, including heart failure, kidney failure, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

We are fortunate to double-dip on our dataoften, data generated in dogs not only serves as a step forward for animal health, but also as preclinical data for human health products, said Rejuvenate Bio CEO Dan Oliver, who co-founded the company alongside renowned geneticist George Church, Ph.D., and Noah Davidsohn, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral fellow in Churchs lab at Harvard and the companys chief scientific officer.

RELATED: BioAge picks up muscle-aging program from Amgen, bringing pipeline count to 3

A key experiment outstanding for us is an FDA safety trial if viewed from the animal health lens, which will also serve as a pre-IND toxicity study for human clinical trials, Oliver said.

Rejuvenate Bios treatment is a gene therapy that dials up expression of the genes sTGFbetaR2 and FGF21 to reduce levels of the cytokine TGF-beta1 and boost levels of the hormone FGF21, respectively. Both genes are associated with longevity.

What we have seen from using a combination of two genes is the ability to affect multiple age-related diseases at once, Oliver said.

Rejuvenate Bio published data in November 2019 showing that targeting these two genes in mice reduced kidney atrophy and reversed weight gain and Type 2 diabetes. The company had given extra copies of those genes, alone and in combination with each other and another gene called alpha-Klotho to see if they could boost the mices health and life spans. It found out that more isnt necessarily better, as mice that were given all three genes together fared worse than the other animals did.

The same year, Rejuvenate Bio teamed up with the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club on a study testing the gene therapy in dogs with mitral valve disease, the most common type of heart failure in dogs.

RELATED: Gene therapy to fend off aging? Buzzy Harvard startup Rejuvenate Bio says it works in mice

In dogs thus far, weve seen the ability to consistently overexpress those proteins. Weve had these treatments in dogs for over a year now and seen no adverse events, Oliver said. The company expects data from that study to read out later this year.

Rejuvenates series A comes from Kendall Capital Partners, gene therapy pioneer and AskBio president of therapeutics Katherine High, M.D., V Capital, Kdt Ventures and Digitalis Ventures.

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Rejuvenate Bio banks $10M to advance gene therapy for aging in humans and dogs - FierceBiotech

Blueberries

Rich in anthocyanins and pterostilbenes, blueberries are becoming a critical component of a science-based longevity program.

Blueberries contain specific flavonoid molecules that fight DNA damage and slow age-related damage to brain cells.

In studying longevity benefits of various compounds, scientists often use fruit flies as a laboratory model of ageing, said Life Extension.

The health site continued: What researchers discovered is that fruit flies live 10 percent longer when fed a regular diet containing blueberry extract.

Not only do the fruit flies live longer but they also show improved levels of physical activity.

These enhancements arise both from increased tolerance of oxidant stress and from beneficial changes in the way certain important genes are expressed.

READ MORE:How to live longer: The optimal amount of exercise you must do a week to boost longevity

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How to live longer: Best foods to add to your smoothie proven to extend your lifespan - Express

There's a pervasive notion in our society that nature is something outside, over there, other, from what we are as humans.

From religious texts teaching that God provided humans with dominion over Earth, to futuristic literature pitching nature as our past and human ingenuity and technology as our future, the narrative that humans are beyond or even superior to nature is deeply entrenched.

This separation, this othering of nature, has arguably enabled our rampant destruction of the rest of the living world, and even led some to claim that our human nature is incompatible with nature itself.

Now a huge international study involving geography, archeology, ecology, and conservation adds to the wealth of sciencesthat exposes this idea as the lie it is.

Researchers found that for most of our history, humanity has lived in equilibrium with our world, despite us having altered most of Earth's terrestrial surface far sooner than we realized.

"Societies used their landscapes in ways that sustained most of their native biodiversity and even increased their biodiversity, productivity, and resilience," said University of Maryland environmental systems scientist Erle Ellis.

Analyzing reconstructions of historic global land use by humans and comparing this to global patterns of biodiversity, the researchers found that by 10000 BCE humans had transformed nearly three-quarters of Earth's land surface - you can view an interactive map of their findings here.

This upends previous models that suggested most land was still uninhabited as recently as 1500 CE.

"Lands now characterized as 'natural', 'intact', and 'wild' generally exhibit long histories of human use," University of Queensland conservation scientist James Watsonexplained.

"Even 12,000 years ago, most of Earth's land had been shaped by humans, including more than 95 percent of temperate lands and 90 percent of tropical woodlands."

The shaping describes system level changes that have cascading ecological consequences, including negative outcomes such as the extinction of megafauna.

Yet these interventions also provided important ecological functions like seed dispersal and improvement of soil nutrients. This expanded habitats for other plant and animal species and increased biodiversity.

Nonetheless, the problematic idea that we're separate from nature has even infiltrated those fighting to slow our destruction of it.

"There's a paradigm among natural scientists, conservationists, and policymakers that human transformation of terrestrial nature is mostly recent and inherently destructive," said Watson.

In recent times, it's certainly appeared that way, but clearly this hasn't always been the case - humanity's presence hasn't always caused the life around us to wither away. The researchers note that in many areas, mosaics of diverse landscapes managed by people were sustained for millennia.

They used strategies like planting, animal domestication, and managing the ecosystems in a way that made the landscape not just more productive for us, but helping to support high species richness too.

"Our study found a close correlation between areas of high biodiversity and areas long occupied by Indigenous and traditional peoples," said Max Planck Institute archeologist Nicole Boivin.

"The problem is not human use per se, the problem is the kind of land use we see in industrialized societies - characterized by unsustainable agricultural practices and unmitigated extraction and appropriation."

What's more, in areas now characterized as natural, current high-diversity regions are more highly correlated with this historic land use than with current land use patterns.

"We need to recognize that some types of human activity - particularly more traditional land management practices that we see in the archaeological record or practiced today by many Indigenous peoples - are actually really supportive of biodiversity. We need to promote and empower that," said Bovin.

University of Maine anthropologist Darren Ranco noted that while indigenous people manage around 5 percent of the world's lands that currently contain 80 percent of the world's biodiversity, they have been excluded from management and access in protected areas like the US National Parks.

These findings make it clear that we need to empower Indigenous, traditional, and local peoples who know their lands in ways science is only just beginning to understand, explained Ellis.

While no one is suggesting we revert to technology-less societies of our past, the idea is to learn from different ways of living that have proven track records of longevity.

From there, we can find new and better ways forward with the help of our advanced technologies, and a big part of this is recognizing that we are part of nature just as nature is a part of us.

This research was published in PNAS.

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Humans Shaped Life on Earth For 12,000 Years, And It Wasn't All Doom And Destruction - ScienceAlert

The long sought-after fountain of youth may have been hidden in plain sight all along. Three new studies suggest strawberries may be associated with slowing down aging of the brain, cardiovascular system, and gut microbiome.

Keeping the mind sharp as we age

As a person ages, the brain can experience changes that result in impairments in learning, memory, gait, and balance. Sometimes these changes lead to early cognitive decline, disability, or falls among older adults.

In a recentstudyby Dr. Barbara Shukitt-Hale and her team at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 37 healthy older adults participated in a two-arm trial in which they consumed either freeze-dried strawberry powder beverages (24g/day, equivalent to two cups of fresh strawberries) or a calorie-matched control powder for 90 days. Participants completed a battery of balance, gait, and cognitive tests at baseline, midpoint, and conclusion of the trial.

Participants in the strawberry group performed better on spatial memory tasks and word recognition tests relative to those in the control group. These findings show that the addition of strawberry to the diets of healthy, older adults can improve some aspects of cognition, although more studies with a larger sample size and longer follow-up are needed to confirm this finding. Based on these promising results in healthy individuals, we are now conducting a study among older adults whose health is compromised and we expect to see even greater improvement following strawberry supplementation, said Dr. Shukitt-Hale.

This research comes on the heels ofrecent publicationsthat indicate diets higher in long-termflavonoid intake, from foods such as strawberries, could contribute to reducing the risk ofAlzheimers Disease and related dementias.

Young at heart

Endothelium is a thin layer of cells that lines every blood vessel in the body. Its responsible for the relaxation and constriction of veins and arteries, playing a major role in blood flow, blood pressure regulation, blood clotting, and wound healing. High total cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol) can impair the function of the endothelium, clog arteries, and lead to heart disease, particularly in later years of life.

A newstudyfrom Dr. Britt Burton Freemans team of researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology asked middle-aged adults with moderately-high LDL cholesterol to drink beverages two times a day made from freeze-dried strawberry powder (25g in each) or a control powder for four weeks. After completing their first assigned beverage, they switched to the other one (strawberry/control) for an additional four weeks.

The health of the endothelium, measured by flow-mediated dilation, improved in the strawberry group one hour after drinking the beverage. Systolic blood pressure decreased two hours after drinking the strawberry beverage compared to the control, and this was more pronounced four weeks after the strawberry intervention.

The findings suggest that strawberries may improve endothelial function and be considered a specific food to include in a heart-healthy diet for aging adults with moderately-high cholesterol.

Promoting longevity bugs in the gut

Strawberries act as prebiotics and may increase gut bacteria associated with lean body weight, health, and longevity, according to a new study out of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The pilotstudyled by Dr. Zhaoping Li and her team at the Center for Human Nutrition considered whether strawberries would alter the gut microbiota. Rich in vitamin C and polyphenols,strawberrieshave already shown their potential to decreaseLDL cholesterol,blood glucose,insulin resistance, andother disease risk factors. The gut microbiota is the next frontier for scientific exploration of strawberries impact on health.

Fourteen adults were asked to follow a beige diet low in fiber and polyphenols for 8 weeks. Two weeks in, a 13g strawberry powder drink was introduced to the diet twice a day, for four weeks. Then the participants returned to a beige-only diet for the two final weeks without strawberries.

Drinking strawberry powder beverages twice a day for four weeks was associated with an increase of 24 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), or gut microorganisms. Once the participants returned to a beige-only diet, several of the OTUs reversed back to their pre-strawberry status, suggesting strawberrys role in influencing the gut bacteria.

Dr. Li shared, Consumption of strawberry increased the abundance of gut microorganisms that could lead to lean body weight, better health, and longevity.

Something as simple as making strawberries a regular part of the diet may be the key to delaying aging of both the mind and the body.

California strawberries are grown by over 300 family farmers who produce nearly 90-percent of American-grown strawberries. Harvested year-round along the coast, California strawberries nutritional value is easy to remember: 8-8-50; 8 large strawberries have less than 8 grams of sugar and just under 50 calories. A growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that strawberries can be part of eating patterns to improve cardiovascular, cognitive, metabolic, and gut health.

To learn more, visit http://www.californiastrawberries.com

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Can strawberries slow down the aging process? | Produce News - TheProduceNews.com

Air pollution affects the health of everyone everywhere. The World Health Organization estimates that outdoor ambient air pollution caused 4.2 million deaths in 2016. While many of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries, the health effects are felt by people all around the world.

Air pollution is created in part by burning fuel, which releases particles into the air. There are many types of compounds that can contaminate the air, including ozone and nitrous oxides. Once released into the atmosphere, it is difficult to mitigate the effects of the pollutants. Instead, a better strategy is to prevent emissions before they occur.

Greater use of renewable energy has the potential to reduce emissions and lower air pollution levels. For example, a study published in February in the journal Renewable Energy reports an analysis of hybrid energy systems that pull energy from fossil fuel-based sources, as well as renewable energy sources. For a case study of Iran, the researchers found that if renewable energy made up more than 72 percent of the energy system that would reduce CO2 emissions by 2000 kg per household annually.

If governments were to put in place policies to reach that proportion of renewable energy production, they could reach this target very soon,said the studys first author Armin Razmjoo at the Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya in Spain in an email to The Hill.

The physical and mental health effects

Air pollution has been studied intensively for several decades, and the evidence for its negative effects on health has only grown.

The more we look the more we see in terms of different health outcomes that are associated with air pollution and then also the health effects at low levels of air pollution,said environmental epidemiologist Cathryn Tonne, an associate professor at ISGlobal, to The Hill.

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Some of the long-term healtheffects are directly related to inhalation of air pollution and particulate matter (PM), affecting the lungs. Researchers are also concerned about its effects on children, who because of their size are exposed to more pollution per surface area than adults.

Initially, much of the research focused on the respiratory system, which as you know is quite intuitive that your lungs would be impacted by what you breathe in, saidTonne. It's associated with such an enormous range of health outcomes.

It affects lung function and neurodevelopment, and in fetal development, it is also linked to preterm births. Other long-term health effects are related to the cardiovascular system, brain and even kidney function. A study published in 2018 in PLOS One found a connection between county level air pollution and prevalence of chronic kidney disease among the Medicare population.

Recent research has also tied air pollution levels to mental health and depression. For example, a study in Spain found links between increased air pollution concentration and increased odds of depression in a population over the span of five years. Other research has found links between increases in particulate matter and visits to the emergency room for mental health reasons.

Air pollution effects are really the most common diseases, says Tonne. You take diseases that are very common in a population and add air pollution, which leads to additional diseasein the population. That's where you really see the big burden thats attributable to air pollution.

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Environmental racism

Exposure to air pollution and other types of pollution are not equitable. Exposure is dictated by race,said author and ethicist Harriet Washington, who dives into environmental racism and its effects on African American communities in her book A Terrible Thing to Waste. It's because of our social and political behavior over the centuries, a long history of relegating African Americans to only being able to live in certain places, and in places that were the least desirable for human habitation.

We are seeing these health effects in Black communities and communities of color. Risk of death related to air pollution is higher among these populations, especially in men, Black people and people who are eligible for Medicaid, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. And environmental racism that increases exposure to pollution not only increases risk of mortality, it affects cognitive abilities and neurodevelopment, Washington discusses in her book.

On correlations and thresholds

Because of the nature of pollution exposure and how it is studied, much of what we know is based on correlations and long-term observational studies. But that does not make the evidence any less important.

We've developed a bad habit as a culture, in minimizing the importance of correlation,said Washington. In fact, if this evidence comes from different sources and all points to the same risk factor that lends power to the correlation. Sometimes correlations are the best evidence we can get.

We have to ask how powerful the correlations are, Washington said. If they are powerful enough to account for a good amount of the risk, then thats actionable, especially when considerate people's lives are being lost, she said. Sometimes these correlations tell us very powerfully that we have a source of injury.

Many air pollution studies in recent years have focused on low-level exposure to air pollution, like that found in many areas in Europe and the U.S.

They're looking at different health outcomes but almost universally find evidence of health effects at low levels of air pollution and in some cases really low levels of air pollution,said Tonne. So we're talking about Denmark, Sweden, parts of the US that have very, very low levels of air pollution.

For example, a study in Gothenburg, Sweden, found associations between low levels of air pollution and ischemic heart disease in all participants and stroke in women. The air pollution concentrations were around 13 and 9 micrograms per cubic meter for PM10 and PM2.5.

There seems to be no threshold, no safe level of air pollution, says Tonne. And this is concerning because the way air quality is regulated is often based on thresholds.

Regulating for our health

Many current air pollution regulations have established thresholds for pollution concentrations and may also focus on specific geographic hotspots. What policies could do instead of focusing on thresholds or hotspots is to focus on shifting the whole distribution of exposure in a population downwards,said Tonne. Policy should focus not just in urban areas where you might have exceedances under the current standards, but also in rural areas where there's still important air pollution from agriculture and other sources.

Governments could choose to focus on incentivizing renewable energy. For example, Denmark has achieved 30 percent renewable energy. Germany has done even better at nearly 52 percent renewable energy during the first three months of 2020.

There are some things we know to do that we simply aren't doing, Washington said. It's a staggering variety of ailments and incapacitation that is due to air pollution, and...we're not acting against it vigorously enough.

A version of this story appeared on The Hill.

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The links between air pollution and long-term physical and mental health, and how renewable energy can change things | TheHill - The Hill