Anti-aging therapies targeting senescent cells: Facts and fiction

It's an exciting time to be an elderly mouse. Researchers believe that by removing senescent cells (cells with a persistent damage response), which naturally accumulate with age, senior rodents can regrow hair, run faster, and improve organ function. This strategy may bring us one step closer to the 'fountain of youth,' but it's important to be cautious and not hype, says a researcher of aging. -from sciencedaily, link to full article at source

Knowingly taking placebo pills eases pain, study finds| medicine news

A new study is the first to demonstrate beneficial placebo effect for lower back pain sufferers who knew they were taking 'fake pills.' Patients who knowingly took placebos reported 30 percent less pain and 29 percent reduction in disability compared to control group. 'Open-labeling' addresses longtime ethical dilemma, allowing patients to choose placebo treatments with informed consent-source sciencedaily link

It appears placebo can work even with knowledge of it being placebo, which should generate internal doubt about the validity of treatment.  Of course there'd be uncertainty you believe it's fake, but you can never be 100% certain in many cases.

brain computer interface | prosthetics| medicine| research | news article

Imagine being in an accident that leaves you unable to feel any sensation in your arms and fingers. Now imagine regaining that sensation, a decade later, through a mind-controlled robotic arm that is directly connected to your brain.-sciencedaily source

biotech news from past | better regeneration | genetics

The absence of a single gene, called p21, confers a healing potential in mice long thought to be reserved only for creatures like flatworms, sponges, and some species of salamander: regeneration. Researchers demonstrate that mice that lack the gene can regenerate lost or damaged tissue, suggesting that such an ability may be granted to mammals by blocking the effects of p21.-sciencedaily 2010 source

Spinal cord regeneration research in rodents | sciencedaily source | needs more research in humans

Injuries to the spinal cord can cause paralysis and other permanent disabilities because severed nerve fibers do not regrow. Now, scientists have succeeded in releasing a molecular brake that prevents the regeneration of nerve connections. Treatment of mice with “Pregabalin”, a drug that acts upon the growth inhibiting mechanism, caused damaged nerve connections to regenerate.-source