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Over the last 12,000 years or so, human civilization has noticeably reshaped the Earth’s surface. But changes on our own planet will likely pale in comparison when humans settle on other celestial bodies. While many of the changes on Earth over the centuries have been related to food production, by way of agriculture, changes on other worlds will result, not only from the need for on-site production of food, but also for all other consumables, including air.

As vital as synthetic biology will be to the early piloted missions to Mars and voyages of exploration, it will become indispensable to establish a long-term human presence off-Earth, namely colonization. That’s because we’ve evolved over billions of years to thrive specifically in the environments provided by our home planet.

Our physiology is well-suited to Earth’s gravity and its oxygen-rich atmosphere. We also depend on Earth’s global magnetic field to shield us from intense space radiation in the form of charged particles. In comparison, Mars has only patches of localized magnetism, thought to be remnants of a global magnetic field in the distant past. Currently, the Red Planet has no global magnetic field that could trap particle radiation from interplanetary space. Also, the Martian atmosphere is so thin that any shielding against space radiation of any kind is minor compared with the protection that Earth’s atmosphere affords. At the Martian surface, atmospheric pressure never gets above 7 millibars. That’s like Earth at an altitude of about 27,000 m (89,000 ft), which is almost the edge of space. And while the moon’s proximity to Earth could make it a better location than Mars for the first off-world colony, the lunar radiation environment is similar to that of Mars.

“The participants treated with AMX0035 demonstrated a significant slowing of ALS disease progression as measured by the ALSFRS-R. This is a milestone in our fight against ALS,” said Sabrina Paganoni, MD, Ph.D., principal investigator of the CENTAUR study.


An experimental medication slows the progression of the neurodegenerative disease called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, according to recently released results from a clinical trial run by investigators at the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company that manufactures the medication. The findings, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, offer hope that a treatment may one day be available for patients with ALS, a fatal condition with no cure that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord to progressively hinder individuals’ ability to move, speak, eat, and even breathe.

Called AMX0035, the oral medication is a combination of two drugs, sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol, that each target a different cell component important for protecting against nerve cell death.

In the CENTAUR trial, 137 participants with ALS were randomized in a two-toone ratio to receive AMX0035 or placebo. Over six months, participants who were treated with AMX0035 had better functional outcomes than those treated with placebo as measured by the ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R), a questionnaire that evaluates several activities of daily living such as a patient’s ability to walk, hold a pen or swallow food.

Rabia Nusrat, an environmental engineering student, Global UGRAD alumni, in her final year at University of Engineering and Technology, UET, Lahore, Pakistan and the first ideaXme public interviewer, interviews Shayan Sohail Sarwar, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Innovator and Chief Technology Officer PakVitae.

PakVitae:

PakVitae, founded in 2016, is a multi-million dollar clean water technology startup based in Pakistan.

The organisation’s mission is to provide 10 Million people with access to clean drinking water by 2022. https://www.pakvitae.org through offering the “worlds first ever intrinsically antimicrobial membranes that are biofouling resistant hence are failsafe”. In this ideaXme public interview discover details of their technology, as well as Shayan’s approach to innovation — “there can be no innovation without empathy”. https://www.linkedin.com/in/shayansohailsarwar/

Comment from PakVitae:

“We are a technology company. Our membranes are developed by a team of industry leading experts with decades of proven experience and success in the membrane industry. Applications include municipal water and wastewater treatment, industrial biotechnology, and food and beverage production.

Cellular Aquaculture — Feed The World and Save the Oceans — Lou Cooperhouse, President & CEO, of BlueNalu, joins me on ideaXme (https://radioideaxme.com/) to discuss his company’s technologies to provide the world with healthy and safe cell-based seafood products, and support the sustainability and diversity of our oceans — #Ideaxme #StemCells #Aquaculture #Oceans #Fish #Sushi #Poke #Ceviche #SustainableDevelopment #Agriculture #Health #Wellness #RegenerativeMedicine #Biotech #Longevity #Aging #IraPastor #Bioquark #Regenerage ideaXme BlueNalu Rutgers University Rich Products Sumitomo Chemical: Group Companies of the Americas KBW Investments.


Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador and founder of Bioquark, interviews Lou Cooperhouse, President and CEO of BlueNalu.

Ira Pastor comments:

Global demand for seafood is at an all time high, as consumers are increasingly choosing to eat an extraordinary variety of seafood products that exist worldwide. Unfortunately, our global supply for seafood cannot keep pace with this demand, as populations of marine species have halved since 1970. This is due to overfishing, illegal fishing, rising ocean temperatures, acidification, the effects of trawling, and a number of other environmental, social, and political challenges.

At the same time, consumers are looking for more from their food choices. Consumers are increasingly concerned about animal welfare and the conditions in which fish are farmed and caught. In addition, they are increasingly concerned about their own personal welfare, as seafood can be a source of mercury, toxins and poisons, pathogens, viruses, and parasites, micro-particles of plastics due to plastic pollution in our ocean, and a variety of other environmental pollutants.

Using biotechnology to create a sustainable cell based seafood food resource.

Cellular agriculture (or aquaculture per our theme today) focuses on the production of products from cell cultures using a combination of biotechnology, tissue engineering, molecular biology, and synthetic biology to create and design new methods of producing proteins, fats, and tissues that would otherwise come from traditional agriculture or aquaculture.

Lou Cooperhouse, is President and CEO of BlueNalu, a company whose mission is to be the global leader in cellular aquaculture, providing consumers with great tasting, healthy, safe and trusted cell-based seafood products that support the sustainability and diversity of our ocean.

Deploying “AI for Good” In The Life Sciences — Tom Lawry, National Director for Artificial Intelligence, Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft, joins me on ideaXme to discuss how they are deploying artificial intelligence “at scale”, across the major organizations responsible for delivery quality, next generation healthcare to millions of patients and customers — #Ideaxme #Microsoft #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DeepLearning #Health #Healthcare #Wellness #Medicine #Pharmacy #Hospitals #Nursing #Insurance #Diagnostics #Data #Moonshots #Biotechnology #Longevity #LifeExtension #Aging #IraPastor #Bioquark #Regenerage


Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador, interviews Tom Lawry, National Director for Artificial Intelligence — Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft.

Ira Pastor Comments:

A set of tools that we have been hearing quite a bit about (and discussed a bit on the show) in recent years is the triad of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning and their respective applications (primarily in the drug discovery and development processes), in terms how university labs and startups are using some of these tools to better guide the rational drug design process, or more appropriately select patients for a clinical trial, per the field of personalized medicine.

Today we are going to go to the far end of the spectrum, to a view of the potential of these tools at “scale”, when they need to be deployed across the mega enterprises responsible for delivery quality, next generation healthcare to millions of customers.

Tom Lawry:

Tom Lawry is National Director for Artificial Intelligence — Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft. In this role he serves as a strategic advisor to provider, payer and life science organizations across the Americas, creating enterprise-wide AI initiatives designed to transform healthcare at scale.

He focuses on technological, process and cultural redesign leading to the creation of Intelligent Health Systems that better empower patients, consumers and clinicians.

Worldwide, 800,000 people die annually due to suicide (1 every 40 seconds) — There are more than twice as many suicides as homicides — Suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the US, and the 2nd leading cause of death among individuals between ages of 10 and 34 — Dr. Christine Moutier, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, joins me on ideaXme to discuss her organization’s work in suicide prevention science and impacting these disturbing trends — #Ideaxme #Suicide #Depression #MentalHealth #Psychiatry #Anxiety #Stress #Trauma #Coronavirus #Burnout #WellBeing #Resilience #Health #Wellness #Longevity #Aging #IraPastor #Bioquark #Regenerage National Institute of Mental Health National Academy of Medicine.


Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador and founder of Bioquark, interviews Dr. Christine Moutier, MD, Chief Medical Officer, at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

Ira Pastor comments:

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Suicide is a global phenomenon and occurs throughout the lifespan, and there are indications that for each adult who died by suicide, there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “Leading Causes of Death Report”, in 2017 suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of over 47,000 people; Suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34, and the fourth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 54. There were more than twice as many suicides in the United States as there were homicides.

Aiding Suicide Prevention Through Psychiatry.

Dr. Christine Moutier, MD is the Chief Medical Officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Moutier earned her medical degree and training in psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and has been a practicing psychiatrist, professor and dean in the UCSD School of Medicine, medical director of the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, and has been clinically active with diverse patient populations, such as veterans, Asian refugee populations, as well as physicians and leaders with mental health conditions.
She also served as co-investigator for the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression study (STAR*D), a large National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) trial on the treatment of refractory depression.

Dr. Christine Moutier’s Career in Psychiatry and Mental Resilience.

The masks could screen for the coronavirus at airports, hospitals, and offices. They could also double as a diagnostic test.


Sensors produce a fluorescent light when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes into the mask.

WOW! A reduction in air pollution means residents in Nepal can see Mount Everest from over 120 miles away for the first time in decades. https://bit.ly/3bPjlNt


An incredible photo shows Mount Everest visible for the first time in decades from the Nepalese city of Kathmandu.

A coronavirus lockdown-related reduction in air pollution has made the famous visible from the city 124 miles away, according to the Nepali Times. The photo was taken by Abhushan Gautam from the Kathmandu Valley on May 10.

Some 427 coronavirus cases have been diagnosed in Nepal, and COVID-19 has accounted for two deaths in the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.