Progress on a better alternative to animal testing

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Progress on a better alternative to animal testing

Medicine depends on animal testing to assess drug safety and efficacy. The problem is that animal tests often fail to predict clinical responses. This means drugs that look promising in animal studies often fail to deliver in human clinical trials. In fact, one study found that more than 86% of drugs found to be safe and effective in animal studies fail to get FDA approval. A new article in Nature Biomedical Engineering reports on the creation of what may eventually lead to a replacement for animal testing.

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Vascular Tissue Challenge Update

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Vascular Tissue Challenge Update

Last June, the Methuselah Foundation and NASA officially launched the Vascular Tissue Challenge (VTC) at the White House Organ Summit, hosted by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The VTC includes a $500,000 prize purse from NASA for the first teams that can successfully create thick (>1cm), vascularized tissues that remain functional and alive for more than 30 days. Along with this is the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space’s (CASIS) “Innovations in Space Award,” providing an additional $200,000 to support a research opportunity onboard the International Space Station’s National Laboratory!

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Organovo Collaborates With Professor Melissa Little for Kidney Tissue Research

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Organovo Collaborates With Professor Melissa Little for Kidney Tissue Research

SAN DIEGO and MELBOURNE, Australia and SPRINGFIELD, Va., Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Organovo Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONVO) (“Organovo”), a three-dimensional biology company focused on delivering scientific and medical breakthroughs using its 3D bioprinting technology, today announced a collaboration with Professor Melissa Little and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia to develop an architecturally correct kidney for potential therapeutic applications.  The collaboration has been made possible by a generous gift from the Methuselah Foundation (“Methuselah”) as part of its ongoing University 3D Bioprinter Program.

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Scientists Correct Mutated Gene that Causes Sickle Cell Disease in Stem Cells

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Scientists Correct Mutated Gene that Causes Sickle Cell Disease in Stem Cells

For the first time, scientists were able to correct the genetic mutation that causes sickle cell disease in stem cells.

In a collaborative effort, researchers at UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), and the University of Utah School of Medicine fixed the mutation in modified stem cells from patients with the condition using a CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing approach.

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These companies search for a cure to aging– and their discoveries are amazing

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These companies search for a cure to aging– and their discoveries are amazing

The ideas surrounding life enhancement are not new—in fact, records show an interest in the mysteries surrounding human life for centuries.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores the idea of creating a life, while Doctor Who achieves life extension through regeneration. Wolverine's mutations let him heal away his problems, and Captain America froze himself into the 21st century. Just look at almost any Star Trek episode and you’ll see how fascinated people are with the idea of extending life.

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Irish scientists discover way to 'print' new bones to help those with deformities and catastrophic injuries

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Irish scientists discover way to 'print' new bones to help those with deformities and catastrophic injuries

Irish scientists have developed a revolutionary new process which allows them to make human bones using 3D printing.

The new process could eliminate the need for bone grafts and could even make new joints to replace hips and knees and offers hope to those with large and complex bone defects or who have suffered catastrophic injuries.

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Making memories stronger and more precise during aging

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Making memories stronger and more precise during aging

When it comes to the billions of neurons in your brain, what you see at birth is what get — except in the hippocampus. Buried deep underneath the folds of the cerebral cortex, neural stem cells in thehippocampus continue to generate new neurons, inciting a struggle between new and old as the new attempts to gain a foothold in the memory-forming center of the brain.

In a study published online today in Neuron, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers atMassachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in collaboration with an international team of scientists found they could bias the competition in favor of the newly generated neurons.

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Michael Sefton to receive Lifetime Achievement Award

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Michael Sefton to receive Lifetime Achievement Award

University of Toronto biomedical engineering University Professor Michael Sefton (IBBME, ChemE) has been named this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS). The award, issued by the organization’s Americas chapter, recognizes his immense contributions to the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

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Methuselah Fellowship Award Winner Tackles Macular Degeneration 

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Methuselah Fellowship Award Winner Tackles Macular Degeneration 

Typically, a fellowship and participation in a research study to cure a major disease would occur years after completing undergrad, possibly even after earning a PhD. But Jennifer DeRosa is not a typical student.

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Vascular Tissue Challenge Introduction Webinar

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Vascular Tissue Challenge Introduction Webinar

The Vascular Tissue Challenge is a $500,000 prize purse for the creation ofthick, human vascularized organ tissue in an in-vitro environment that maintains metabolic functionality similar to in vivo native cells throughout a 30-day trial period. The Methuselah Foundation's New Organ Alliance and NASA's Centennial Challenges Program have partnered to create this challenge with the goal of advancing research on human physiology, fundamental space biology, and medicine taking place both on the Earth and the ISS National Laboratory.

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Episode 005 with Dr John Geibel; Yale University

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Episode 005 with Dr John Geibel; Yale University

On this week's podcast, join us as we talk with Dr John Geibel, Director of Surgical Research and Professor of Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale University.  Discover how his team is working hard to develop the first iterations of 3-D printable organs, a goal that will revolutionize the medical organ industry and save thousands upon thousands of lives.

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Methuselah 300 Podcast Episode 004: Is a Synthetic Liver on the Horizon? With Dr Bryon Petersen

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Methuselah 300 Podcast Episode 004: Is a Synthetic Liver on the Horizon? With Dr Bryon Petersen

Join us on this week's podcast as we interview Dr. Bryon Petersen, who is researching and developing a new device that could bridge the gap for those awaiting a new liver so that those in need can have a quality of life impossible for them now.  You'll here about where he is in the stage of development, and what timeline he is working toward.

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Episode 003 Interview with Founder Dave Gobel Part #2

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Episode 003 Interview with Founder Dave Gobel Part #2

In this Episode of the Methuselah 300 Podcast, we’ll continue our interview with founder Dave Gobel as he explains more of the specific areas of regenerative medicine the foundation is working toward, some new partnerships and backers including NASA, and how he believes future life will be impacted in the near and mid term by exciting progress currently being made in medical research.

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Episode 002 of the Methuselah 300 Podcast

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Episode 002 of the Methuselah 300 Podcast

In this Episode of the Methuselah 300 Podcast, we’ll interview founder Dave Gobel and learn what planted the seed for the idea that would grow into the Methuselah Foundation. You’ll also learn the specifics of what innovations the foundation is working hard to create.

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