Bacteria selected an enzyme that converts age-related protein damage back into lysine. On July 14, an article about CMLase, an enzyme that converts chemically modified lysine (CML) back into lysine, was published in Nature Communications. The authors made this reaction a condition for the growth of E. coli: cells with a working variant of the enzyme survived. Over five rounds of directed evolution, they tested more than 500 million variants. CML is a chemically modified lysine residue that accumulates on long-lived proteins. CMLase had already removed CML from model proteins and human lens, skin, and aorta samples outside the body. In the new article, the authors described how they found a variant of the enzyme that performs this task significantly better. The authors disabled lysine synthesis in E. coli: without this amino acid, the bacterium does not grow. Into the periplasm, the space between the two cell membranes, they directed a peptide of seven amino acids. One lysine in it was converted into CML. The entire peptide did not pass into the cytoplasm, where the bacterium receives nutrition. In the periplasm, variants of CMLase and trypsin, an enzyme that cleaves the protein chain after lysine, worked. Working CMLase converted CML back into lysine, trypsin cut the peptide, and short fragments entered the cell. The bacterium received lysine and formed a colony. The growth of the colony became a test of the entire biochemical chain. The starting protein the team searched for among 44,783 models of oxidases from AlphaFoldDB. They selected the form of the active center that accommodated the peptide with CML and found glycine oxidase CrGO from the thermophilic bacterium Calidithermus roseus. Then, random changes in this protein were selected by the cells themselves. After five rounds, CrGO-897 acquired 15 amino acid substitutions and a deletion of two amino acids. On peptide substrates, its catalytic efficiency increased more than tenfold compared to the original CrGO. When CML repair opened up access to lysine for the bacteria, the colonies themselves separated the working variants of the enzyme from hundreds of millions of others.

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On July 25, Elon Musk rejected Peter Thiel's interpretation and explained why Mars reduces the risk of consciousness disappearance. Elon Musk responded to Peter Thiel's retelling of the motivations behind his Martian project. According to Musk, political struggles on Earth do not explain his interest in Mars: he is talking about dividing risks between planets. French entrepreneur Brivaël Le Pogam retold a conversation with Thiel, who linked Musk's passion for Mars to the earthly culture war. In his response on July 25, Musk rebutted, "In this case, Peter is wrong about me." As long as people live on one planet, any common catastrophe for Earth threatens the entire human civilization. Musk believes that a self-sufficient settlement on Mars will separate a part of humanity from the earthly crisis by physical distance. In his model, distance gives time. A direct flight to Mars usually takes seven to ten months. The signal between the planets, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, takes from four to twenty minutes one way. Musk suggests that the months of flight create a quarantine in the event of a deadly pandemic, and the signal delay gives time to stop a computer virus or an artificial intelligence attack before it is transferred to Mars. These months are already being tried to be used in flight design: the Space Biostasis Coalition proposes to reversibly slow down metabolism on the way to Mars. Musk talks about a different role of the same distance: it should prevent one earthly crisis from immediately destroying both settlements. This logic requires a city that can live without constant help from Earth. SpaceX describes such a goal for Mars: more than a million inhabitants, millions of tons of cargo, and several thousand Starship ships. The company plans the first cargo missions to the surface of Mars for 2028 or later. Musk continues this chain beyond Mars. In his vision, Mars is a stepping stone for the spread of consciousness throughout the solar system, and then among millions of stars. Reducing the risk of consciousness disappearance, Musk puts below his personal interest in space exploration. He is more drawn to life among the stars and the chance to meet other life or traces of a long-extinct civilization.

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Eight epigenetic clocks gave one blood sample age estimates that differed by an average of 17 years. In an article published on July 24, Aditya Johansson and Maxim Shokhirev applied eight epigenetic clocks to one publicly available set of whole blood samples. For each sample, the difference between the lowest and highest estimate was, on average, 17 years; for individual samples, it ranged from 4 to 45 years. Epigenetic clocks obtain a DNA methylation profile and calculate an age estimate in years. Methylation is the chemical marks on DNA that affect gene function. Based on such profiles, researchers compare groups of people, track changes over time, and evaluate interventions in aging studies. The eight formulas processed the same blood data but yielded strongly different numbers. The clocks are trained on different datasets and for different tasks, so each model translates methylation into age in its own way. Whole blood adds another reason for the variability: it consists of different cells, and their ratio changes the methylation profile. The age in such a report describes not the sample itself, but the pair "sample plus chosen model". This is what Johansson and Shokhirev showed with numbers: for one person, the lowest and highest estimates could differ by decades. Hence, the discussion about interventions becomes more accurate. The phrase "epigenetic age decreased" gains meaning when a researcher names specific clocks, tissue, and comparison method. Then it becomes clear which model translated methylation changes into years and what it is supposed to predict. Some clocks are trained to output age in years, others - risk of death or disease; the similarly sounding "rejuvenation" means different measurements for them.

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reaDream stated that it can choose a video scene of a person's dream with 67% accuracy based on EEG. On July 23, 2026, reaDream founder Ninon Lise Masclé reported on a test: EEG recordings before waking up were matched with clips from a deferred set. According to her, the system chose the corresponding scene in 67% of cases - approximately 50 times more often than random selection. EEG records the brain's electrical activity through sensors on the scalp. In Ninon Lise Masclé's presentation at Foresight Vision Weekend, the system receives a recording before waking up and selects one clip from a pre-prepared set. On the reaDream website, this experience is called Dream Replay: there, the EEG recording, the participant's story about the dream, and the video scene are shown side by side. The task is reduced to choosing among known options. The algorithm matches the signal with the clips, and the result is measured by the share of correct choices and compared to random selection. The phrase "decoding a dream" here describes exactly such a test: the recording before waking up should contain a sufficiently distinctive signal to associate it with one scene from the set. In 2013, Tom Horikawa and colleagues in a study in Science matched brain activity during sleep with reactions to visual stimuli during wakefulness and extracted categories of visual images. reaDream uses EEG, recorded by sensors on the head, not an fMRI scanner, for a similar task. Such a test allows comparing records and algorithms on one set of scenes. According to reaDream's statement, the EEG signal before waking up has already allowed associating the participant's dream with the corresponding clip more often than random selection would.

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On July 20, Ronald DePinho proposed testing TERT, a part of telomerase, as a general regulator of aging. In an author's article for Nature Aging, DePinho suggests testing brief, manageable increases in TERT across multiple aging traits while simultaneously measuring the risk of tumor growth. Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes, and in many adult cells, they shorten during division, while telomerase can lengthen them. TERT is the protein component of telomerase that participates in this process. In the article, DePinho assigns it a broader role, suggesting that TERT links telomere status to gene function, inflammatory signals, cells that have stopped dividing, and the stem cell reserve. DePinho proposes testing whether a single manageable mechanism can change multiple aging processes at once. Such an experiment should show which changes are triggered by TERT itself and which occur for other reasons. This idea has preclinical support. In a 2024 study, DePinho's group screened approximately 653,000 compounds and found a small molecule, TAC, which increased TERT production. In primary human cells and naturally aged mice, TAC reduced signs of cellular aging and inflammatory signals. In the brains of mice, the authors also described less neuroinflammation and preserved cognitive function. These results need to be broken down into the action of TERT and the action of TAC itself. The activator affects the cell through the MEK/ERK/AP-1 signaling pathway, so future experiments should separate the contribution of TERT, select tissues for intervention, and compare brief modes of its activation. Telomerase helps cells maintain their ability to divide; cancer cells use the same resource for growth. Genetic studies have linked inherited longer telomeres to an increased risk of several types of cancer. Therefore, testing TERT should, in a single experiment, measure both changes in aging traits and the risk of tumor growth. This is exactly how the author proposes to find a regime in which regeneration is not bought at the cost of oncological danger.

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On July 23, fifteen cryobiologists and biostasis practitioners published the Berkeley Biostasis Classification. The proposed framework links the preserved portion of an organism, animal size, and recovery verification. In biostasis, experiments of different scales are compared: a brain slice conducts a nerve signal, a kidney survives storage, and nerve tissue preserves its structure. Each result answers its own question. The authors suggest describing any such experiment with three coordinates: what biological system was preserved, on an animal of what size, and with what observation its function was confirmed. The classification divides the task into nine thresholds from A1 to C3. Level A refers to the central nervous system: after warming, it should exhibit normal or minimally disrupted electrical activity. Level B includes the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and muscles; the animal should sense, move, and pass a behavioral test. Level C encompasses the entire organism. The digit denotes scale: small rodent, large mammal, or human. The authors call B1 the nearest common goal. A small rodent after cryopreservation and warming should perform a behavioral task and live long; life functions can be restored by transplantation or a support system. Such an experiment tests the entire path from senses to brain and from brain to muscles. In a March study by Alexander German and colleagues, vitrification, in which water in tissues is converted into a glassy state without ice crystals, allowed for the brief restoration in the hippocampus of adult mice of neuronal excitability, signal transmission between them, and plasticity. The researchers studied slices and the brain in the organism. B1 transfers the test to the level of animal behavior after cryopreservation. Now, the preservation of brain slices, nerve function, and the restoration of the whole organism receive different measurable tests. This will allow for the comparison of experiments that were previously difficult to put in the same row.

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On July 16, a study was published in Cell Stem Cell about old Javanese macaques that received vitamin C orally for 40 months. In their bone marrow, the pool of lymphocyte precursors increased, and two molecular age assessments shifted towards a younger direction. Bone marrow continuously produces blood cells, with its stem cells guiding descendants along two branches: the lymphoid branch, which gives rise to B and T lymphocytes that recognize specific threats, and the myeloid branch, which produces monocytes, macrophages, and other cells of the innate immune system. With age, the number of common lymphocyte precursors decreases, and production shifts towards myeloid cells. This shift begins in the bone marrow, before new immune cells enter the blood and tissues. In the study, the authors compared the bone marrow of old macaques that received vitamin C with a control group. Single-cell analysis showed more common lymphoid precursors and a more balanced choice between the two branches. The tissue age, calculated based on gene activity, was approximately four years lower. Epigenetic clocks, which read chemical marks on DNA, showed the same shift. The authors also identified progranulin (GRN) as a potential mediator between vitamin C and changes in the bone marrow. Recombinant progranulin reproduced some of the vitamin C-associated molecular shifts in cultured human cells. This protein can now be tested as a specific mechanism of age-related changes in the source of immune cells.

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Catherine Shelley presented protein domains designed from scratch that can be switched by light to bind and release a peptide. On July 24, Catherine Shelley from David Baker's laboratory spoke at a Foresight seminar about protein "hinges" that can be switched by ultraviolet and blue light. In a recording published on July 27, she showed a full cycle: light causes the domain to bind a peptide, release it, and repeat the action. The protein binds partners due to its shape. In 2023, Baker's team created protein hinges from scratch with two pre-calculated shapes. A peptide partner would convert such a hinge from a closed state to an open one. The authors verified the structures of both shapes and the transition between them using several experimental methods. Shelley's team added an azobenzene - a small molecule that changes geometry under light - to this hinge. It attaches to two sites on the protein. Ultraviolet light bends the azobenzene and brings these sites closer; blue light returns the molecule to its extended shape. The protein follows the change in distance and transitions to another spatial shape. In Shelley's presentation, seven out of eight variants after ultraviolet light changed peptide binding. For one variant, the team demonstrated three consecutive cycles: ultraviolet light enhanced binding, and blue light released the peptide. The light changes the distance within the protein, and the new protein shape changes its binding to the peptide. Thus, the shape becomes the working part of the mechanism. Fluorescence sensors on the protein separately confirmed the shape change, and repeated binding cycles confirmed the action itself. The position of the azobenzene attachment points and the strength of the binding to the partner affect the course of the cycle. In three variants, ten switches of ultraviolet and blue light preserved the switching. The team has already used such domains to cyclically bind and release the BIM-BH3 peptide, control protein attachment to a surface, and change the properties of a hydrogel. In the Foresight seminar description, Shelley says that the domains can be connected to other proteins. As a next step, she proposes assembling elements with different response times so that one protein part transmits action to another and starting with protein "walkers" moving along a fiber.

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Christina Emily Sørensen suggests evaluating the bio-risk of AI across the entire workflow of a prepared biologist. On July 25, Christina Emily Sørensen published an essay on the bio-risks of language models. She proposes evaluating the model together with the actions of a prepared biologist: designing DNA, synthesizing it, working in a laboratory, and checking with organizations. The bio-risk check of a language model often boils down to a conversation: a researcher formulates a dangerous query, and the developer considers refusals. Such a test compares the behavior of model versions in dialogue. Sørensen suggests tracing the subsequent actions that turn the obtained information into a biological result. In a June report by the Danish Center for Biosecurity and AI Readiness, AI becomes part of a long sequence of actions. A prepared specialist uses programs to predict the effect of a genetic modification, design a DNA sequence, and check its properties before synthesis. After synthesis, they need materials, equipment, and laboratory procedures. Screening of synthetic DNA orders already compares the sequence and the client; previous filters were worse at recognizing proteins with a new sequence that preserved the old function. According to Sørensen, the biologist's goal gives meaning to a hundred ordinary questions, which may involve a protein, an expression system, or sample stability. The goal is already chosen before the dialogue, so the filter sees the formulation of the question, and the sequence of work consists of subsequent human decisions. Sørensen proposes measuring this sequence. In her model, the language model accelerates the search for variants for a prepared specialist; then comes the DNA order, access to equipment, laboratory staff, and internal rules. These actions have different control points: the supplier checks the order, the laboratory sets access to equipment, and the organization reviews an unusual project. The evaluation binds the model's response to the actions and resources that lead to the next step. In a 2023 MIT exercise, students without specialized training obtained information from chatbots in an hour that the authors considered dangerous. In a 2024 RAND study, teams built plans for a biological attack with and without a language model; RAND did not find a statistically significant difference in the viability of the plans. These studies measured different tasks and outcomes. A single score for "model danger" mixes conversation with the model, planning, and further material work. Programs for designing genetic interventions and proteins are needed by research laboratories, including those seeking new therapies. In Sørensen's model, risk assessment begins with the question: what is the next step that a person is able to take with the help of the model, and where does this step leave a trace for verification.

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At the International Congress of Mathematicians, Terence Tao delivered a lecture on how AI is changing the way mathematicians work with proofs. According to his forecast, machines will increasingly be able to propose or formally verify proofs, while humans will have to decipher their meaning and place in theory. Tao divides the work on a mathematical result into three parts. First, a chain of reasoning appears. Then, someone checks each step of the chain. After that, mathematicians understand why the argument works, which theorems it is connected to, and which problems follow from it. This last step Tao calls "digesting" the proof. AI accelerates the first part, and formal systems like Lean help with the second: a mathematician writes the proof in a strict language, and a computer verifies the logical transitions. However, colleagues still need to see the main idea, understand the conditions under which it works, and link it to already known results. In his lecture, Tao describes how this work is distributed over time: new results wait for verification, verified results wait for clear exposition, and published results wait for inclusion in textbooks and research by other groups. For the last step, the author and reviewer must understand the proof well enough to use it further. According to Tao's forecast, AI will increase the flow of mathematical answers faster than people can digest them. Therefore, value is created not only by the person who obtained the long proof, but also by the person who identified the working idea and explained it to others. In his verified summary, Tao describes digestion as understanding, contextualization, and explanation of the result. On July 25, Tao published the slides of his lecture and said that he had instructed AI to gather his previous public statements about AI, and then he himself checked and corrected the resulting overview.

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In aging fibroblasts, further suppression of COPI barely changed cellular responses. On July 24, an article about the COPI complex was published in Science Advances. This complex of seven proteins assembles transport vesicles that the cell uses to transport proteins and lipids between the Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and endosomes. In cultures of human fibroblasts, suppressing each COPI subunit reduced the uptake of extracellular vesicles, but different subunits elicited different cellular responses. The Golgi apparatus packages and sorts cargo, while the ER assembles and folds many proteins. COPI returns part of the cargo from the Golgi to the ER and participates in exchange with endosomes, internal sorting stations. This allows the cell to maintain the composition of its compartments and take in extracellular vesicles, small particles containing proteins and signals from neighbors. The authors sequentially suppressed all seven COPI genes in dividing WI-38 fibroblasts. After each intervention, the cells took up more than twice as few labeled vesicles. The complex was then divided into two functional groups. Suppressing COPA, COPB1, COPB2, or COPD elevated ATF4, a protein that activates the ER overload response, and altered autophagy, inflammatory signals, and the cell's propensity for apoptosis. Suppressing COPE, COPG1, or COPZ1 increased the production of extracellular matrix proteins, a fibrous medium that holds cells in tissues. The seven COPI proteins elicited two distinct sets of cellular responses. For the second part of the experiment, the researchers treated WI-38 cells with etoposide for ten days and induced them into senescence, a stable cessation of division after damage. In these cells, the Golgi apparatus became larger and fragmented into scattered fragments, and vesicle uptake decreased. The authors also observed a decline in the levels of many COPI components in several senescence models. In etoposide-treated cells, additional suppression of COPI barely changed the measured stress, autophagic, apoptotic, matrix, and respiratory responses. The authors associate this with the weakening of intracellular transport networks during senescence. In 2023, another study showed that suppressing COPB2 and COPG1 killed senescent IMR90 fibroblasts in models of senescence induced by an oncogene or doxorubicin. The new study used a different cell line and etoposide; in it, individual subunits had different consequences, and senescent cells barely responded to further suppression. When searching for senolytic vulnerabilities, it is necessary to specify the protein, cell type, and the method by which the cell was induced into senescence.

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On July 15, PNAS published an international survey on how neurobiologists understand the connection between the mind and the brain, free will, and the future possibilities of their science. The final analysis included 2,657 people. The authors sent invitations to researchers who had published in neurobiology journals over the past ten years. 3,164 people responded; after checking the completeness of the questionnaires, 2,657 were included in the analysis. In the PNAS survey, 21.85% of participants partially or fully agreed that the development of neuroscience would allow for the duplication or transfer of human mental activity to a synthetic device. The question concerned the future possibilities of neuroscience. Participants were asked to assess whether knowledge of the brain could transfer mental activity to an artificial carrier. Almost every fifth participant chose to agree. In the same survey, 63.62% of participants supported reductive physicalism: they consider mental activity to be a function of the brain. Agreement with this position is encountered much more often than the expectation of uploading the mind. For the majority, physicalism has not yet turned into a forecast of transferring personality to a device. Answers about free will add another distinction. 59.26% of participants rejected the statement that the nervous system fully determines human behavior; 17.52% agreed with it. The authors associate this combination of answers with compatibilism, where free will coexists with a physical description of a person, or with the fact that the philosophical views of the participants are composed of different foundations. The survey records the views of brain researchers on several related questions: the brain creates the mind, the mind can be understood, and its transfer to a device is only allowed by a part of the participants. The authors have made the survey data and code available for further analysis of these responses.

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On July 22, a study on hematopoietic stem cells in sickle cell disease was published in Science Translational Medicine. Navitoclax restored the number of functional cells and their ability to reconstitute hematopoiesis after transplantation in mice; in patient cells outside the body, the drug improved colony formation. Gene therapy for sickle cell disease begins with a patient's own hematopoietic stem cells. They are extracted, modified with DNA or have a working gene added, and then returned after bone marrow preparation. The cells must then engraft in the bone marrow and produce new blood cells for years. The genetic construct is useless if the cell does not survive processing and engraft after transplantation. The St. Jude team studied these cells in mice and in human samples with sickle cell disease. The disease forces the bone marrow to constantly replenish damaged red blood cells. In hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, the authors saw oxidative stress, DNA damage, and signs of senescence - a state in which a cell stops dividing and functioning normally. In a mouse model, there were fewer functional long-lived cells in the bone marrow; human cells outside the body formed colonies poorly, i.e., groups of descendants of a single cell. Then, the researchers treated the cells with navitoclax - a drug used in this study to target cells with signs of senescence. In mice, the treatment restored the number of stem cells and the ability of transplanted cells to engraft in the bone marrow. In patient samples, navitoclax or a combination of dasatinib with quercetin improved colony formation. Senescence may be impairing the very starting material for gene therapy. The authors suggest checking whether processing stem cells with senolytics improves the quality of the cell product before autologous editing, when a patient receives their own modified cells back.

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In Norway, 12 patients with early Alzheimer's underwent plasma exchange with donors aged 18-24. On July 23, a report on the open pilot was released: participants with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers had 16-26 liters of their own plasma replaced with plasma from 18-24 year old donors. Researchers compared three procedure regimens, their burden on patients, and adverse events. Plasma is the liquid part of blood containing proteins, hormones, and signaling molecules. During plasma exchange, an apparatus removes it from the patient and simultaneously returns the replacement fluid. In an earlier Alzheimer's study, plasma was replaced with albumin and saline; here, the replacement fluid was plasma from young donors, and the course volume reached dozens of liters. The authors built the regimen around interstitial fluid - the medium around cells in tissues. According to their model, there are about three liters of plasma in human blood flow, and about twelve in interstitial fluid. The transition of albumin and IgG between these media should take approximately 48 hours, so the intensive regimen included nine-ten procedures with three plasma packs every two-three days. Four participants underwent an average of 17.4 liters of exchange over 23.8 days. The authors call the target change in the composition of this fluid "rejuvenation of the interstitial medium". Such a course requires compatible donor plasma, an exchange apparatus, a nurse, a doctor, and monitoring of reactions. All 12 participants completed the assigned course. The study recorded 59 adverse events; among the events the authors associated with the procedure were urticaria, symptoms of calcium reduction, cough, and dizziness. Three cases of generalized urticaria stopped the current procedure and required treatment. The intensive regimen cost approximately 6,650 euros per person. The authors suggest taking it as the basis for the next controlled trial, where they will compare clinical outcomes.

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The Biomarkers of Aging Consortium will hold a colloquium on the physics of aging at Harvard on July 28. The Biomarkers of Aging Consortium has announced a one-day Gerophysics Workshop: it will take place on October 6 at Harvard Medical School in Boston. The organizers are accepting abstracts for short talks; the day will conclude with a general work session at the board. Gerophysics seeks to identify measurable quantities in aging and the rules by which they change. Observed age-related changes set state variables, and a mathematical model describes their trajectory and predicts the outcome of interventions. When two models make different predictions for one measurement, experience can distinguish between them. On the program page, the organizers ask whether biological aging should be considered an inevitable thermodynamic decay or a property of complex dynamic systems with certain constraints. The program also includes the theory of aging, limitations of living matter, energy dissipation, and irreversibility. The announced lineup includes Pyotr Fedichev, Uri Alon, Maximilian Unfried, Laszlo Barabasi, and Jesse Poganik. At the general board, participants will discuss mathematical schemes, paradoxes, and tasks for further work. This conversation already has a backstory. In a report published on May 14, 2026, participants in the first Global Conference on Gerophysics described a meeting in Singapore: on March 5-6, 2025, 160 people and 31 speakers gathered there. They proposed collecting compatible data, giving physical definitions of aging and rejuvenation, building models to predict the effects of interventions, and comparing data from different species with human research. The colloquium brings together theories of aging around a testable question: what observations and intervention outcomes should a model predict. In October, this question will be put on a separate program and discussed in a general session at the board.

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Science Corporation reported that the PRIMA system received the CE mark for sale in Europe on July 22. Science Corporation reported that DEKRA issued the CE mark to PRIMA. The company is preparing sales in 30 European countries, submitting reimbursement applications, and connecting clinics; the first commercial implant is expected in Germany. Geographic atrophy in age-related macular degeneration destroys the center of the retina - the area with which a person reads, distinguishes faces, and sees fine details. Photoreceptors there die, but the inner nerve cells of the retina are preserved in some patients. PRIMA transmits an image to them and uses them as input to the visual pathway. The surgeon places a 2x2 millimeter square implant under the retina. Glasses translate the image into near-infrared light, and the photoelements of the implant convert it into electrical impulses for the retina's neurons. The brain receives a central prosthetic image; the user changes the magnification in the glasses to decipher letters and details. In pigmentary retinitis, the MCO-010 gene therapy makes the remaining bipolar cells respond to light. PRIMA uses a different pathway: electronics deliver an external signal to the preserved retinal cells. Clinical results are described in the PRIMAvera study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In an open study without a control group with another treatment, 38 people with severe geographic atrophy received the implant; 32 underwent a year-long assessment. In 26 of them, prosthetic visual acuity improved by at least 0.2 logMAR - approximately ten letters in a standard table. The trial register notes that the result was compared to each participant's initial vision. In March, Science reported on the PRIMA application for the CE mark; now the company says the mark has been issued. Real access to the system will appear as clinics begin to perform operations, teach the use of glasses, and receive reimbursement. PRIMA adds a new input to the visual system where age-related damage has already destroyed light receptors.

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FDA Committee Recommendation

The FDA advisory committee recommended including six peptides in the list for pharmacy compounding on July 23-24. The committee advised adding BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c, Epitalon, and Semax to the list of substances for compounding under section 503A. Emideltide did not receive support, and the final decision will be made by the FDA.


The 503A section allows a pharmacy to prepare a medication based on a prescription for a specific patient. The 503A list defines which active substances a pharmacy can use as starting materials. Therefore, the vote concerns the possible legal path for peptides that are already being sold by longevity clinics and foreign sites as "research" substances.


Three weeks before the vote, FDA staff had recommended rejecting all seven candidates. For Epitalon, they cited a lack of publications on efficacy for insomnia, the risk of an immune reaction, and impurities in peptide synthesis. The committee took a different stance: Epitalon received 7 votes in favor and 5 against, with one abstention, while Semax received 8 votes in favor and 5 against. Emideltide was rejected with 6 votes against and 7 in favor, with one abstention. During the PCAC meeting on July 23-24, the quality of substances, clinical data, and the role of the doctor and pharmacist in individual prescriptions were discussed.


Committee member David Pope, a pharmacist at XiFin Pharmacy Solutions, explained his vote in favor of Epitalon: "The doctor and pharmacist assess the risk and decide if the peptide is suitable for a specific patient." The majority of the PCAC recommended the six substances for the 503A list. Now, the FDA will prepare a draft rule, gather public comments, and decide whether pharmacies can use these substances to manufacture medications based on individual prescriptions, as cited in FDA reports, July 2026.

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Biocomputing Ethics

On July 27, neurobiologists and bioethicists published a proposal for rules in Nature regarding laboratories that connect brain organoids to computational systems. The authors advise obtaining separate donor consent for this purpose, and if the donor cannot be reached, the project should be reviewed by an independent commission. A brain organoid is a small three-dimensional cluster of neurons grown from stem cells.


In biocomputing, researchers apply an electrical signal to the organoid through microelectrodes and read the neurons' response. The computer uses this response as a calculation result; such systems have already performed simple pattern recognition and prediction operations. Cells for organoids are often donated by people participating in medical research, and the cell line can be maintained for years and used in new projects.


According to the article's authors, consent for biomedical work does not imply consent for computational and commercial tasks, such as voice or face recognition systems. The authors suggest that laboratories create new lines with explicit consent for computational applications. For old lines, it is necessary to recontact the donor; if this is impossible, the project is evaluated by an independent commission with neurobiologists and engineers.

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Liver Support Project


Pluristyx and WFIRM are collaborating on a project to create a temporary liver support system. The team aims to establish a cell production process for a liver construct that can temporarily support a patient awaiting a transplant. The team's nearest goal is to set up the process and conduct the first test by December 2026.


The project involves measuring the production of albumin, blood clearance of bilirubin, urea synthesis, release of clotting factors, and metabolic profile to determine the functionality of the liver cells. These measurements will serve as criteria for the cell component to be accepted into the liver construct. Pluristyx is preparing a bank of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and a protocol for their conversion into liver cells.


WFIRM is developing the liver construct and testing its functionality, while ReMDO is preparing regulatory documents for commercial application. The participants have divided the tasks among themselves, with Pluristyx providing the cells, WFIRM placing them in the construct and testing its functions, and ReMDO preparing the path to clinical application, as reported in InSPA program. The project aims to create a reproducible chain for temporary liver support, with the December test showing whether the team can connect the cell bank, functional tests, and tissue construct into one process.

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Brain Data Rights

Researchers Julian Sandbrink and Michael Young published a review on implantable brain-computer interface data on July 27. They propose five guarantees: protecting de-identified records, giving individuals control over their data, separating data consent from surgical consent, limiting secondary use, and pre-defining monetization rules. An implantable brain-computer interface, or iBCI, reads brain electrical activity and translates it into commands for a cursor, speech synthesizer, prosthesis, or stimulation system.


The device collects raw signals, extracted features, decoded intentions, and algorithm parameters trained on the user's data. In their review in Communications Medicine, Sandbrink and Young describe the path of these records: from implant to clinic and manufacturer to cloud provider and algorithm developer. Treatment creates a long-term digital record of the nervous system's activity. The longer a person uses the device, the more closely it is tied to their clinical chart and decoder recognizing movement or speech.


The authors start with de-identification, proposing to protect records that may still retain individual characteristics after removing common identifiers. Patients should be given access to their data, the right to manage its transmission, and knowledge of who uses it. Consent for record storage, research, and algorithm training should be obtained separately from surgical consent. They also propose limiting secondary use that could harm individuals, such as profiling, manipulation, or discrimination. A separate issue concerns revenue from patient records: under what conditions do clinics, manufacturers, or intermediaries receive it. In the US, this topic has already led to the introduction of the MIND Act bill in the Senate.

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University Study


The University of Missouri and Altos Labs have registered a trial of sirrolimus in 225 healthy women with APOE4. On July 27, a phase I study record appeared in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry. Women aged 45–65 will be randomly assigned to either sirrolimus or a placebo; neither the participants, researchers, nor outcome assessors will know who received the treatment.


The study aims to begin enrollment in December 2026. APOE4 is a variant of the APOE gene associated with an increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Researchers are looking for changes in the brain before memory problems appear, including measurements of brain blood flow. Sirrolimus, or rapamycin, reduces the activity of mTOR, a cellular regulator that receives signals about nutrition, growth factors, and energy storage.


The new protocol will test whether a four-week course of sirrolimus changes brain blood flow. A previous open-label pilot study by Ai-Ling Lin's group found that 23 adults without cognitive impairment who took 1 mg of sirrolimus per day for four weeks showed increased blood flow in several brain areas, with a growth of more than 15% in a subgroup of APOE4 carriers. The results will be published in Nature Aging, July 2026.

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