"A popular biohacking method mentioned in the document is the use of implantable devices, such as chips and antennas, to improve one's quality of life through technology."

Biohacking methods, including intermittent fasting, nutrition, sleep quality, physical activity, and cognitive stimulation, aim to optimize metabolism and increase health and longevity by activating epigenetic modifications. These strategies should be approached with caution and under medical supervision.

The document discusses the field of bioinformatics and algorithmic biotechnology, with a specific focus on the research conducted by scientists at St. Petersburg State University who received a grant from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation.

The document discusses the field of bioinformatics and algorithmic biotechnology, with a connection to biology and health optimization, as hinted at by the title query 'Biohacking Techniques'.

The gene editing technology mentioned in the document is CRISPR.

Dr. Reut Shalgi led the study mentioned in the document.

Biohacking techniques, such as genetic analysis and bioinformatics, have the potential to lead to breakthroughs in disease prevention and treatment, including the development of new antibiotics and therapies for aging, cancer, and other diseases.

Neurofeedback therapy is a biohacking method used to improve mental health, particularly for individuals with ADHD, trauma, and OCD.

Biohacking focuses on improving quality of life by slowing down aging through methods like nutrition optimization and inflammation reduction.

Biohacking techniques aim to optimize health and longevity through strategies like intermittent fasting, improved sleep quality, physical activity, hydration, and cognitive stimulation, with the goal of activating epigenetic modifications to enhance the body's resources.

Another goal of the biohacker's approach, besides prolonging life, is to live a healthier life.

"A popular biohacking method mentioned in the document is the use of implantable devices, such as chips and antennas, to improve one's quality of life through technology."

Title:

Content: Biohacking is a controversial practice, but Lepht Anonym accepts its risks. More than once he has ended up in the ER, leaving doctors perplexed by inserting chips and even boxes with connectors into his body.

Centuries ago, when a doctor wanted to try a new vaccine or a new drug that he had created … he tested it on himself. Many died while developing new medicines.

Some biohackers they see themselves as those pioneering doctors of the Middle Ages: they test on their own body biotechnologies that aspire to improve the human being, cure diseases, and evolve the human condition, to achieve the desired happiness. And some have also died trying.

The biohacking, also known by the name of DIY biology or DIYbio, has as purpose improve our human condition making nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and technological implants available to everyone. You have more information on this card:

From its origins, Humanity pursues immortality and eternal youth. Biohacking seeks to improve our human condition with cybernetic implants. We explain who biohackers are, and why chips are installed inside the body.

Biohackers implant chips, sensors, machines and other mechanisms with the aim of overcoming physical and intellectual limits.

There is an ethical branch o legal of biohacking that only experiments with implants that do not pose a health hazard, for example chips under the skin.

But another trend is committed to not setting limits, even at the cost of putting your health at risk. Its objective is to defeat all diseases, aging and even death, with the help of technology. Then we will stop being human to become transhumans.

A first step towards posthumanism, where Humanity could dispense with its own body and live eternally as data in a neurological network.

Tips and guide to buy a next-generation sports watch that fits your needs and helps you improve your sports goals.

Within these biohackers, grinders they are the most extreme version. It is the case of Lepht Anonym, a British biohacker that, as he tells us Business Insider, more than 50 chips, antennas and other devices have been implanted in the body.

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As only professionals can use anesthesia, all Lepht Anonym implants have been inserted into your body by volunteers, to live. Your goal is “improve our quality of life through technology“.

Lepth explains on his blog that inserts its own chips because “there is no other easy way to do it. I will not wait for someone with a research laboratory to endorse this search.“.

The first chip that this biohacker was implanted under the skin, it allowed pay in stores simply by touching the card reader.

It was also implanted some magnets under the fingers, which detected external sensors to feel the distance between hands and objects. This could help blind people to move without hitting obstacles.

Hackers and the computer world are increasingly present in television fictions. Surely at the moment we can think of a series that deals with these topics, but if you can only think of one or two, we have selected a few about hackers that we find interesting.

His latest experiment, last year, has been his most troublesome. A box several centimeters long, with antennas, USB storage and connectors, was inserted under the arm. All went well until he hit his arm in a taxi, and began to swell. He had to go to the emergency room:

There the doctors told me that I was fatal, that they did not understand why I had put a box in my arm“.

In the end, he gave up: “They kept insisting that I take it off. I let them do it because they discovered that a hole had opened in one corner of the device and a large amount of a viscous substance was coming out“.

After that incident, Lepht Anonym has not updated his blog again.

The biohacking it is a practice that is just beginning. But without a doubt, it will go further. There are already medical biohackers, and the goal is to incorporate this branch of technology into medicine.

Put it in the hands of experts, because people’s health is at stake.

Biohacking methods, including intermittent fasting, nutrition, sleep quality, physical activity, and cognitive stimulation, aim to optimize metabolism and increase health and longevity by activating epigenetic modifications. These strategies should be approached with caution and under medical supervision.

Title:

Content: Home » biohacking, reprogramming mind and body to live better

biohacking, reprogramming mind and body to live better

by admin

It’s called “biohacking” and it comes from Silicon Valley. Listen: The long life diet: the longevity formula is calorie restriction …

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It’s called “biohacking” and comes from Silicon Valley.

A relatively new word that comes from the union of “biology” and “hacker” and indicates the attempt to positively influence the functioning of the organism, by hacking, ie trying to “force”, one’s genetic heritage. A strategy to live better and longer launched years ago by Californian top managers and which then spread throughout the world. How to upgrade the “operating system” of the human body? No manipulation, here we are talking about “reprogramming” and new lifestyles. “Our genetic heritage has enormous unexpressed potential that can be activated,” he explains Fabio Piccinidoctor and psychoanalyst, researcher of Food Sciences of theMarche Polytechnic University, author of the book “Biohacking Techniques: how to optimize metabolism to increase health and longevity”. “Biohacking aims to activate epigenetic modifications by awakening dormant genes to enhance the body’s resources.” While genetics studies the structure of DNA, epigenetics the way genes express themselves, i.e. how much they are turned on or off. “We’re talking about a set of strategies that aim to strengthen the body from a physical and mental point of view, first of all through nutrition, sleep quality, physical activity, cognitive stimulation”. One of the pillars of biohacking and the intermittent fasting, Piccini adds, which plans to concentrate the diet in a precise time span of the day (to be followed always under medical supervision). «But it is equally important to take care of sleep, we know very well that sleep debt accelerates aging and that 30-40 percent of people sleep too little. Just as it is essential to check thehydration. Physical training must also be intermittent, with recovery periods in place to allow the muscle layers to rebuild. And then, you have to keep learning something at any age, another pillar of biohacking: studying music or a new language, for example, to counteract cognitive degeneration”.

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THE QUALITY OF LIFE

Sandra Milo is one of the supporters of this well-being and longevity strategy. «I’m lucky, at 90 I’m in full health and I still have a great desire to enjoy life. I don’t know if it’s a matter of genetics, nor do I think there is a “magic formula” of longevity, but I have certainly always been careful to lead a healthy life. There is nothing more beautiful than reaching old age with a smile and in full autonomy », says the actress who baptized the first Biohacking Suite in Rome. “Our mission is not so much to lengthen life but to improve its quality by lowering the rate of morbidity,” explains Dr. Claudio Urbani, specialist in regenerative medicine, neuroscience and stress therapy, head of the longevity center Umb. «Biohacking aims to modify dormant functional responses from non-use, from muscular or cardiovascular function to flexibility. It is about regaining possession of the body and the mind-body axis, starting with stress management». Diagnosing your own state of “aging” involves a series of tests. «The measurement of oxidative stress which measures the quantity of free radicals and indicates any inflammatory states, plethysmography to evaluate the functionality of the microcirculation of the legs, impedancemetry to study body composition, fat and lean mass, nutritional status and hydration level. And only after the check is a tailor-made program created for each person. Among the suggested therapies, there is also that of the cold which stimulates the metabolism and reduces inflammation ».

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According to the studies, how does intermittent fasting help?

The document discusses the field of bioinformatics and algorithmic biotechnology, with a specific focus on the research conducted by scientists at St. Petersburg State University who received a grant from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation.

Title:

Content: • City
• Science and education
SPbU scientists were the first in Russia to receive a Zuckerberg grant: who are they and what will the money of the founder of Facebook be spent on?
Researchers of the Center for Bioinformatics and Algorithmic Biotechnology of St. Petersburg State University were the first in Russia to receive a grant from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation.
At the request of Sobaka.ru editors, they told about themselves, their work, and how they published one of the most cited articles in the history of modern Russian science.
• Bloomicon / Shutterstock
Alla Lapidus
Director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Algorithmic Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University
Although I am a physicist in my first education, I have always loved biology.
Once my dad, a nuclear physicist, said that without mathematics, biology can not develop, and I felt it.
In 1993, I received a grant from the National Institute of Agricultural Research of France and an invitation to take part in one of the first European genomic projects: decoding the genome of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, or hay bacillus (from which some antibiotics are obtained).
Then such a science as bioinformatics did not exist, and the genome of this organism was divided between many laboratories, simultaneously inventing methods of its reading, corresponding algorithms and protocols.
The results of this work were published in 1997 in the journal Nature.
“Then such a science as bioinformatics did not exist, and the genome of the organism was divided between many laboratories, simultaneously inventing methods of its reading, appropriate algorithms and protocols ”
Our Center in St. Petersburg was created by the Russian-American scientist Pavel Pevzner at the Academic University in the early 2010s on the wave of mega-grants.
We then moved to SPBU.
Initially, we worked with very specific DNA data isolated from single cells (e.g. bacteria).
This is not easy, because usually for the analysis of the genome, many cells are isolated, from which they receive a lot of DNA and work quietly.
If we need to analyze the genome of a single cell, then a single DNA molecule has to be multiplied by a certain laboratory method in order to be enough to read it.
However, early programs could not process these data, and our laboratory created a special tool for this.
To make it user-friendly, I was invited to St. Petersburg.
I went for six months and stayed for many years.
Over the years of our work in the center, we have gained fame on almost all continents.
We participated in the analysis of coronavirus genomes of patients of the 40th hospital, studied our St. Petersburg strains.
Analyzed data on brain cells, participated in the assembly of the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (also known as Koch's bacillus, the causative agent of tuberculosis).
Speaking about the Chan-Zuckerberg grant, I want to note one unique aspect.
The grant specifically spelled out the condition: in the scientific group applying for the grant, there must be women.
The purpose of this requirement is to support women in science and draw special attention to this topic.
We have girls in the laboratory, and their talent, knowledge, help us conduct research and, in particular, helped to participate in this competition.
• GoodStudio / Shutterstock
Alexey Gurevich
Senior Researcher, Center for Bioinformatics and Algorithmic Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University
When I was a student, I wasn ’ t going to become a bioinformatician at all, I was going to become a programmer.
However, everything changed in the magistracy.
We had a mandatory practice.
Someone went to Yandex, someone to JetBarins, and I chose a bioinformatics laboratory.
And so it remained in it.
Bioinformatics is a very broad field at the intersection of biology, computer science, mathematics.
One of its notable directions is the decoding of genomes.
The entire DNA of an organism can be represented as a very long string consisting of (in total) four different letters.
The length of the string can be different: in bacteria it is several million, in humans it is about three billion.
This chain cannot be deciphered at a time, so it is cut into pieces, read them and then assembled together.
This work is like putting together a puzzle of millions and even billions of pieces.
It is impossible to do this manually, for this we need special programs that we are in the center and developing.
“This work is like putting together a puzzle of millions and even billions of pieces.
Manually it is impossible to do this, it requires special programs that we are in the center and develop. "
Why do we need this job at all?
From the genome, we can study the evolution of individual species, see how close they are to each other.
Also, individual genes are responsible for certain processes in the body.
It is important to understand which genes are responsible for what in order to effectively fight aging, cancer, and other diseases.
For example, now the scientists of our center are participating in an international project on a new assembly of the human genome.
It was already assembled in the 90s and 2000s, it was a breakthrough, but some parts of the genome remained unread.
Now the task is to read everything from the first letter to the last in all chromosomes.
In addition, in recent years, the focus of our work, including mine, has shifted towards antibiotics.
Now there are more and more bacteria that are resistant to these drugs.
New substances with antibiotic properties are increasingly difficult to find.
And here the help of bioinformatics is important: it is necessary to collect the genomes of microorganisms that can secrete potentially interesting substances, to analyze whether they are able to secrete a fundamentally new antibiotic for us.
• magic pictures / Shutterstock
Andrey Przybelsky
Senior Researcher, Center for Bioinformatics and Algorithmic Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University
To be honest, I have never been particularly interested in biology.
When I was at the Academic University, there was a laboratory for bioinformatics.
I was offered a job.
I didn ’ t even know that word then, I was skeptical, but I decided that if you don ’ t need to learn a lot of biology, you can try to program algorithms.
Over time, the new field so captured me that it is difficult for me to imagine that I will do anything else.
The most famous development of our center was the SPAdes genomic collection program (it was she who was supported by the Chan-Zuckerberg grant).
We created it to collect the genomes of bacteria, but now it is used around the world, working with the genomic data of viruses, fungi and other organisms.
From the very beginning, we focused not only on the quality of the algorithm (although we did not forget about it!), but also on the ease of use.
As a result, this program is actively used all over the world.
The article, where our algorithm is described, is in the TOP-500 articles in the world by citation for the last 10 years.
This is one of the most cited articles in the recent history of Russian science.
The program has hundreds of thousands of downloads.
“The article, which describes our algorithm, is in the TOP 500 articles in the world for citation in the last 10 years.
This is one of the most cited articles in the recent history of Russian science.
The second tool supported by the grant: QUAST.
This is a program for testing the quality of genomic assembly.
It is slightly less popular, although it is still among the actively downloaded by scientists from around the world.
• GoodStudio / Shutterstock
Anton Korobeinikov
Leading Researcher, Center for Bioinformatics and Algorithmic Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University
I came to bioinformatics not in the usual way.
In general, I have a thesis on statistics, and I still give lectures on statistical methods.
And yet, in bioinformatics, I see many problems that I could be useful in.
I am the head of the works supported by the Chan-Zuckerberg grant.
The peculiarity of this grant is that it is aimed not at future scientific discoveries, but at supporting and developing existing open source programs in the field of bioinformatics and biomedicine.
Our SPAdes genomic assembly software and QUAST genomic assembly quality analysis tool are just such.
They are completely free: that is, any scientist, researcher, doctor, any reader of Sobaka.ru can download the program and adapt it to their needs.
“Any scientist, researcher, doctor, any reader of Sobaka.ru can download the program and adapt it to their needs ”
What the money will go for: over the years of using SPAdes, we have accumulated a lot of experience in developing methods for assembling genomes.
However, now there is a change of generations of technologies for reading genomes: the data is becoming completely different.
And we want to adapt our design to them.
To turn it into a set of modules that any scientist, even not very well versed in software code, could quickly and easily adapt to their tasks.
In this way, we will lower the threshold for entering bioinformatics research and, hopefully, contribute to its development around the world.
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The document discusses the field of bioinformatics and algorithmic biotechnology, with a connection to biology and health optimization, as hinted at by the title query 'Biohacking Techniques'.

The gene editing technology mentioned in the document is CRISPR.

Title:

Content:
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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A new CRISPR-driven technology for gene drive in plants

Weeds are a pesky irritant for most home gardeners, but in large agricultural settings, weeds can pose an especially deadly problem. For example, Amaranthus palmeri, known as Palmer's pigweed, has evolved in many areas to be completely resistant to modern herbicides, enabling it to take over fields of corn, soybeans, and other important crops. To make pigweed susceptible to herbicides again, you would need to change its genetics.

Spreading a specific genetic trait through a , even if that trait does not benefit those who carry it, is the purpose of a "gene drive." Gene drives can be used for many different applications. These are divided into two broad categories: population modification and population suppression.

Population modification can make mosquitos immune to, and therefore unable to spread, malaria, or make a crop more heat-tolerant in anticipation of climate change. Population suppression can be used to bring about local reduction or elimination of a weed or invasive species.

But any gene editing program needs to have strict built-in controls to keep the modifications localized to a specific area and to prevent other species from accidentally inheriting modified genes.

Now, Caltech researchers have developed a new gene drive technology, called ClvR (pronounced "cleaver"), that can be specifically customized to plant species, preventing accidental gene editing in cross-pollination situations.

Crucially, the technology can be designed to be self-limiting, only spreading the desired genes for a limited number of generations, thereby limiting their spread in time and space. The work is the first engineered gene drive in and the first to enable species-specific modification as well as the first to act at the level of plant sex cells.

A paper describing the new study was published in the journal Nature Plants on June 17. The research was conducted in the laboratory of Bruce Hay, professor of biology and biological engineering.

How do you genetically engineer a plant so that its offspring definitely will have a certain gene of interest? When breeding plants and animals, one of the two copies of a gene present in a parent is randomly inherited by a progeny.

Gene drive tips the inheritance scales in favor of one of these copies: the one on which the DNA responsible for bringing about gene drive is located. This results in its spread to high frequency in the population over time.

ClvR ensures that the genes of interest are passed on by affecting a plant's sex cells, or gametes. The ClvRsystem uses CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to ensure that if a gamete does not contain the desired gene, it will not survive. In this way, any future offspring will come from gametes with the desired gene.

The system works by using a so-called "toxin/antidote" paradigm. Cas9 (the "toxin") is programmed to destroy, in the adult stage, a gene required for gamete survival, essentially ensuring its death. But the catch is, gametes carrying ClvR are also provided with an undamaged version of the same target gene (the "Rescue" or "antidote"), which functions like an antidote to a poison, leading to the survival of ClvR-bearing gametes.

That Rescue—the key to the gamete's survival—is also linked to a cargo gene, the gene of interest that a researcher wants to spread into the plant population. In other words, the cargo gene hitchhikes along with the Rescue gene. This ensures that only the gametes that contain both will survive—essentially forcing the cargo gene into the population.

"There are two ways to win a race: Be better than all the other competitors or trip all of the other racers up," says Hay. In this case, the ClvR system trips up all other competing chromosomes that could be inherited by progeny by ensuring that only sex cells with the desired cargo survive.

Importantly, the ClvR system is customizable for different circumstances. The toxin and antidote genes can be chosen to be specific for the desired plant species, so that if the genetic information gets passed into another species, nothing will happen.

Additionally, the "cargo" gene can be designed for various purposes—for example, this gene could re-sensitize pigweed to herbicide or make an endangered plant more heat tolerant or disease resistant—a form of evolutionary rescue.

Finally, the ClvR system can also be engineered to bring about local suppression or elimination of a weed or invasive species through the creation of a high frequency of sterile females, which leads to a population collapse.

"The ClvR system provides a general species-specific tool for altering the genetics of plant populations in ways that can contribute to global challenges such as and resilience in endangered native species and ecologies threatened by and climate change," says Hay. "We are excited to collaborate with others on these problems."

More information: Georg Oberhofer et al, Cleave and Rescue gamete killers create conditions for gene drive in plants, Nature Plants (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41477-024-01701-3

Journal information: Nature Plants

Citation: A new CRISPR-driven technology for gene drive in plants (2024, June 27) retrieved 27 June 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-06-crispr-driven-technology-gene.html
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Overriding Mendel's laws: Researchers develop plant gene drive system for enhanced trait inheritance

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Dr. Reut Shalgi led the study mentioned in the document.

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Content:   • Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are characterized by an aggregation of misfolded proteins that damage nerve cells.
  • “Chaperones” are proteins that monitor and regulate protein folding and aggregation in the cell.
  • A recent study has investigated the role of chaperones in the context of Huntington’s disease and ALS.
  • The study found that a distinct set of chaperones could prevent the formation of protein aggregates. However, they failed to do so in Huntington’s disease and ALS.

ALS is a progressive neurological disease. In the United States, there are an estimated 5,000 new cases each year.

ALS affects nerve cells that control voluntary movement, leading to muscle weakness, paralysis, and eventually death. There are currently no treatments or cures.

Like other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease, ALS is also characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain.

Misfolding of proteins commonly occurs in healthy cells, and molecular chaperones, a class of proteins in cells, can regulate and prevent misfolding and accumulation.

However, in cases of neurodegenerative disorders, including ALS, the mechanisms underlying the accumulation of misfolded proteins remain poorly understood, posing a challenge to the development of therapeutic interventions.

A recent study, published in the journal Nature Communications, has investigated whether chaperones produced by cells could prevent the aggregation of the proteins related to Huntington’s and ALS.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Reut Shalgi, a professor of nano biotechnology and nanomedicine at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, told Medical News Today:

“Our study shows that cells have the toolkit to combat pathological aggregation related to ALS, and this is already encoded in the genome. We found that there are different tools, i.e., chaperones, that are optimized to handle and prevent pathological aggregates of different types.”

“Unfortunately,” she continued, “our cells just don’t know how to activate the specific toolkit that is needed for each different type of pathological aggregate.”

“Identifying the optimal toolkit to fight aggregation in each disease type and understanding how they work, as we have done here, is only the first step.”

During protein synthesis, amino acids become linked together in a linear chain. This chain of amino acids subsequently undergoes folding to acquire a three-dimensional structure, forming a biologically active protein.

This three-dimensional configuration is essential for the protein to perform its biological function.

Chaperones are a class of proteins produced by cells that assist with the proper folding of other proteins. Moreover, chaperones can also facilitate the refolding or degradation of misfolded proteins and prevent the aggregation of proteins.

This function of chaperones is critical, as protein misfolding and aggregation can damage cells.

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and ALS, are characterized by the formation of aggregates of specific proteins.

For instance, the formation of ‘Huntingtin’ protein aggregates is a hallmark of Huntington’s disease, whereas ALS is characterized by aggregates of several proteins, including FUS and TDP-43.

Previous studies have shown that certain chaperones can prevent the aggregation of the Huntingtin protein. Chaperones belonging to the HSP70 network have a protective effect against aggregation of this protein.

The HSP70 network consists of the HSP70 family of proteins and chaperones belonging to the HSP40/DNAJ family. The proteins in the HSP40 family help regulate the activity of the HSP70 proteins.

However, there has been limited research into chaperones that could protect against the aggregation of ALS-related proteins, such as the FUS protein. The present study characterized and compared chaperones that could protect against the formation of protein aggregates involved in Huntington’s disease and ALS.

Both Huntington’s disease and ALS are characterized by mutations in respective proteins that form aggregates.

In the new study, the researchers used laboratory cultured cells expressing the mutant Huntingtin and FUS proteins to characterize chaperones that could prevent protein aggregation.

The researchers first characterized the differences in the expression of genes for chaperone proteins in cells expressing these mutant proteins.

In cells expressing the mutant Huntingtin protein, the researchers found increased expression of genes for chaperone proteins, including those belonging to the HSP70 family and other stress proteins.

In other words, these results suggest that the cells responded to misfolded Huntingtin protein by activating a stress response.

In contrast, there was a decline in the levels of the HSP70 proteins in mutant FUS-expressing cells. Chaperone proteins play an important role in maintaining an equilibrium between the synthesis, folding, and degradation of proteins.

The lower levels of chaperone proteins in mutant FUS-expressing cells thus suggest a disruption of this equilibrium.

The researchers then investigated if there were chaperones that could repress the aggregation of the mutant Huntingtin and FUS proteins.

To more specifically identify chaperones that could prevent the aggregation of the Huntingtin and FUS proteins, the researchers used cultured cells expressing either the mutant Huntingtin or FUS protein and a specific chaperone protein.

They induced the cells to express each of a selection of 66 chaperones, which included proteins from the HSP70 network.

The researchers found that specific chaperones facilitated the formation of mutant Huntingtin protein aggregates, whereas others protected against the accumulation of such protein aggregates.

They obtained similar results for the mutant FUS proteins. The groups of chaperones that facilitated or inhibited the aggregation of the mutant FUS protein were distinct from the corresponding chaperones modulating the formation of Huntingtin aggregates.

Some chaperone proteins exist in two forms, a full-length version (-FL) and a shortened version (-short). The researchers found that the DNAJB12-short protein prevented the formation of the Huntingtin protein aggregates, whereas the DNAJB12-FL promoted the aggregation of the Huntingtin protein.

A chaperone belonging to the HSP70 family, Hspa6, also enhanced the formation of Huntingtin protein aggregates. Moreover, the results from the initial gene expression experiment suggested upregulation of the HSP70 family in cells expressing the Huntingtin protein.

In other words, the cells produced a maladaptive response by expressing certain HSP70 family proteins, such as Hspa6, that enhance protein aggregation in response to the expression of the mutant Huntingtin protein.

In cells expressing the mutant FUS protein, DNAJB14 chaperone protein reduced the levels of aggregates. In contrast, certain chaperones, such as the DNAJB5 chaperone protein, enhanced the aggregation of the mutant FUS protein.

Similar to the DNJAB12 protein, DNAJB14 also exists in short and full forms. The researchers found that the formation of a complex between DNAJB14-FL and DNAJB12-FL was necessary to prevent the aggregation of mutant FUS protein.

Also, these protective effects of the DNAJB14-DNAJB12 complex were mediated through its interaction with the HSP70 protein.

The researchers also found that the short forms of DNAJB14 and DNAJB12 did not become a complex or interact with HSP70, thus lacking a protective effect against the mutant FUS protein aggregates.

These results are unlike those obtained with the mutant Huntingtin protein, where the short form of DNAJB12 enhanced the formation of aggregates.

The researchers then investigated how DNAJB14 protected cells from the aggregation of the mutant FUS protein. In the initial gene expression experiment, the researchers found that the expression of genes for chaperones belonging to the HSP70 family was repressed in cells with mutant FUS protein aggregates.

In a subsequent experiment, they found that the expression of DNAJB14 normalized the expression of genes encoding chaperones belonging to the HSP70 and other families.

The authors noted that the interaction of the DNAJB14-DNAJB12 complex with the HSP70 protein was necessary to prevent the aggregation of mutant FUS protein, but the expression of the HSP70 gene was repressed in cells expressing the mutant FUS protein.

Thus, as seen with the Huntingtin protein, although the cells were capable of producing chaperones that could counter the formation of the mutant FUS protein aggregates, they failed to produce the required adaptive response in response to the aggregates.

“In the future,” Dr. Shalgi told MNT, “we hope to develop tools that will facilitate the activation of the right toolkit for each of these aggregates, toward helping patients fight these aggregates, and move toward disease-modifying therapies for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.”

Biohacking techniques, such as genetic analysis and bioinformatics, have the potential to lead to breakthroughs in disease prevention and treatment, including the development of new antibiotics and therapies for aging, cancer, and other diseases.

Neurofeedback therapy is a biohacking method used to improve mental health, particularly for individuals with ADHD, trauma, and OCD.

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'It saved my life,' ADHD, trauma, OCD patients turn to neurofeedback therapy

Posted at 8:18 AM, Apr 05, 2024
and last updated 2024-04-05 08:18:12-04

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Cracking the code to wellness is now costing Americans $1.8 trillion annually.

For the average American, that breaks down to more than $5,300 per year.

Those numbers come from the Global Wellness Summit's 2024 trends report.

The report also shows that the global wellness economy, which generated $5.6 trillion in 2022, will continue to surge and reach $8.5 trillion within the next three years.

A driver of those staggering stats is ‘biohacking,’ which is the term for do-it-yourself biology.

It has generated 951 million views on TikTok and over on Google, there's been a 900% increase in searches for ‘biohacking.’

"The way that i like to describe it is using what we know about biology to help us become better versions of ourselves," said Britney Cirillo with Alternative Therapeutics.

‘Biohacking’ can be anything from using a smartwatch to track our heart rate to jumping in an ice bath and neuro-feedback therapy.

The idea behind neuro-feedback therapy is that we can essentially re-train our brain to tackle mental health issues like depression, anxiety, trauma, and OCD, which Emily Dean suffered from for about a decade.

"Was pretty afraid to even leave my house alone. At my worst, I was unable to care for my physical health," said Dean.

Dean ultimately needed to check into the hospital as her mental health declined.

After being discharged, she discovered neurofeedback therapy.

"It completely changed my life," said Dean.

Dean said the sessions at Alternative Therapeutics in Cuyahoga Falls provided relief that medications and traditional therapies could not.

"We're not your average counseling practice," said Cirillo.

Cirillo uses neurofeedback therapy to balance electrical activity in a patient's brain, regulating delta, theta, alpha, and beta levels.

"If any of those brainwaves are being overproduced or underproduced, that will correlate with symptoms that the client is experiencing," said Cirillo.

The goal is to essentially retrain the brain using operant conditioning, a learning process in which voluntary behaviors are rewarded.

"We tell the brain to do a certain thing when it does that certain thing, they're rewarded instantly by that video game that they're playing," Cirillo.

I was so interested in how it works that Cirillo gave me a taste of a typical session.

My goal was to keep the flames of a fire burning bright and the sound of the crackling strong while playing a game on a tablet.

Cirillo was checking to make sure my brain was in an ideal zone.

I only sat there with the tablet for a short time, but a typical therapy session lasts about 20 minutes.

"And so, with more and more practice, the brain starts to recognize what it's supposed to do and it reinforces that pathway, strengthens it to the point that that's their new normal," said Cirillo.

Despite gaining popularity during this ‘biohacking craze,’ neurofeedback therapy is still considered experimental.

"I think it's an interesting phenomenon," said Dr. Robert Lufkin with the USC School of Medicine.

Lufkin said regulating the brain could give people better outcomes when it comes to their mental health.

"I think in my opinion, this can have beneficial effects on an individual," said Lufkin.

Lufkin said regardless of what form of ‘biohacking’ people choose, it's shifting the balance of the doctor-patient relationship.

"It's certainly exploding in recent years, and I think it reflects the fact that all of us as, as patients are taking control of our own health," said Lufkin.

Dean is beyond grateful she gained control.

"Neurofeedback therapy and Alternative Therapeutics saved my life," said Dean.

After completing 20 sessions five years ago, Dean has been able to maintain her progress with a few booster sessions, along with some tools to help her navigate the world.

A world that, for years, Dean navigated with crippling fear.

"Before neurofeedback I was afraid to go to the grocery store alone. Last year, I went to California alone. That is something that I never thought would be possible for me," said Dean.

With insurance companies still considering neurofeedback therapy experimental it is not covered.

However, Cirillo said many of her clients have success when they submit for out of network reimbursement.

On average, people will need about 20 sessions to get the end results they're looking for.

Biohacking focuses on improving quality of life by slowing down aging through methods like nutrition optimization and inflammation reduction.

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Content: Verb L
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According to the studies, how does intermittent fasting help?

Biohacking techniques aim to optimize health and longevity through strategies like intermittent fasting, improved sleep quality, physical activity, hydration, and cognitive stimulation, with the goal of activating epigenetic modifications to enhance the body's resources.

According to the studies, how does intermittent fasting help?

Another goal of the biohacker's approach, besides prolonging life, is to live a healthier life.

According to the studies, how does intermittent fasting help?

It reduces the risk of lifestyle-related diseases, such as metabolic disorders.