厚生労働省は7月30日、令和2年簡易生命表を発表した。これによると、日本人の平均寿命は女性は87.74歳、男性が81.64歳となり、過去最長となったことが分かった。男性に関しては9年連続、女性に関しては8年連続で過去最長を更新したとしている。過去記事でも国内での死亡者数が減少していることが報じられているが、COVID-19で亡くなる人が増えた一方で、がんや心疾患、脳血管疾患といったその他の病気での死亡率が低下しており、このため平均寿命が延びたとしている（令和2年簡易生命表の概況、テレ朝NEWS、NH…
Planted raises another $21M to expand its growing plant-based meat empire (and add schnitzel)
Swiss alternative protein company Planted has raised its second round of the year, a CHF 19M (about $21M at present) “pre-B” fundraise that will help it continue its growth and debut new products. A U.S. launch is in the cards eventually but for now Planted’s exclusively European customers will be able to give its new […]
Mixlab raises $20M to provide purrfect pharmacy experience for pet parents
Pet pharmacy Mixlab has developed a digital platform enabling veterinarians to prescribe medications and have them delivered — sometimes on the same day — to pet parents.
Biofourmis receives FDA breakthrough device designation for heart failure “digital therapy”
Kuldeep Singh Rajput, the founder of Boston-based Biofourmis, is imagining a future where heart failure patients go home with a prescription, a wearable sensor and an app. Today, a new FDA designation gets the company one step closer to that goal. Founded in 2015, Biofourmis is a digital therapeutics company that develops software to “augment” […]
Oova raises $1.2M to develop a better at-home kit for detecting a woman’s best time to conceive
Oova officially launched its Oova Kit that includes an at-home test that quantitatively measures two hormones, informing a woman — and her doctor — of her fertile days and confirming ovulation.
Glyphic Biotechnologies raises $6M to accelerate protein sequencing by orders of magnitude
The whole human proteome may be free to browse thanks to DeepMind, but at the bleeding edge of biotech new proteins are made and tested every day, a complex and time-consuming process. Glyphic Biotechnologies accelerates the critical but slow sequencing step, potentially cutting drug development times down by a huge amount, and the startup just […]
A magnetic helmet shrunk a deadly tumor in its first test
We’ve seen helmets and AI that can spot brain tumors, but a new hard hat can actually treat them, too. Researchers used a helmet that generates a magnetic field to shrink a deadly tumor by a third.
SoftBank-backed Embark Veterinary valued at $700M after $75M Series B
Now that you have that COVID dog, Embark Veterinary wants to help him or her be in your life for a long time by offering DNA testing with the goal of increasing their lifespan.
海洋研究開発機構、石油と同じ成分作る植物プランクトンを発見
海洋研究開発機構は19日、石油と同等の炭化水素を合成する能力をもつ植物プランクトンを発見したと発表した。この植物プランクトンはハプト藻の一種であるDicrateria rotunda（D. rotunda）で、過去にこうした能力を持つ生物は報告されたことはないという。この植物プランクトンは研究船「みらい」が8年前（2013年）に北極海で行った調査で見つけたもので、採取した計11種のDicrateria属のプランクトンを培養して詳しく調査したところ、全てが一連の飽和炭化水素を合成する能力を持っていたと…
RNA Breakthrough Creates High-Yield, Drought-Tolerant Rice, Potatoes
“Thanks to a breakthrough in RNA manipulation, crop scientists have developed new potato and rice varieties with higher yields and increased drought tolerance,” reports UPI:
By inserting a gene responsible for production of a protein called FTO, scien…