Aubrey de Grey and Josh Mitteldrof, two big names of the aging field, discuss their diverging views regarding the nature of aging: is it programed or not?
Host: Nicolás Cherñavsky. Production: Nicolás Cherñavsky and Nina Torres Zanvettor. Editing: Nina Torres Zanvettor. Revision and subtitling: Nicolás Cherñavsky.
Aging happens in distinct stages marked by synchronized cellular changes across organs, as shown in Rockefeller’s largest-ever mammalian aging atlas. Their findings offer clues for targeting aging processes and reveal key age and sex differences in cellular dynamics.
If you compared photos of a maple tree taken in July and December, the difference would be striking: a vibrant green canopy in summer versus bare, stark branches in winter. What those images wouldn’t reveal is how the transformation unfolded—whether it was gradual or sudden. In reality, deciduous trees usually wait for environmental cues, such as changes in light or temperature, before shedding all their leaves within a brief span of one to two weeks.
When it comes to aging, we may be more like these trees than we realized.
Today I have the pleasure of speaking with a visionary thinker and innovator who’s making waves in the world of artificial intelligence and the future of human health. Dr. Ben Goertzel is the founder and CEO of SingularityNET, a decentralized AI platform that aims to democratize access to advanced artificial intelligence. He’s also the mind behind OpenCog, an open-source project dedicated to developing artificial general intelligence, and he’s a key figure at Hanson Robotics, where he helped create the well-known AI robot, Sophia.
Beyond AI, Dr. Goertzel is deeply involved in exploring how technology can enhance human longevity, contributing to initiatives like Rejuve, which aims to leverage AI and blockchain to advance life extension research. With a career that spans cognitive science, AI development, and innovative health tech, Dr. Goertzel is shaping the future in ways that will impact all of us. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Ben Goertzel!
Aging is an inevitable aspect of life, but age-related diseases are not an inseparable part of the aging process, and their risk can be reduced through a healthy lifestyle. Vitamin K has a broader impact than just blood clotting, and yet it remains overshadowed by other vitamins and underestimated by both doctors and consumers. Vitamin K (VK) is a multifunctional micronutrient with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, whose deficiency may cause age-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and osteoporosis. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the role of vitamin K as a protective nutrient in aging and inflammation. This review summarizes the current knowledge regarding the molecular aspects of the protective role of vitamin K in aging and age-related diseases and its clinical implications.
Westlake University in China and the California Institute of Technology have designed a protein-based system inside living cells that can process multiple signals and make decisions based on them.
The researchers have also introduced a unique term, “perceptein,” as a combination of protein and perceptron. Perceptron is a foundational artificial neural network concept, effectively solving binary classification problems by mapping input features to an output decision.
By merging concepts from neural network theory with protein engineering, “perceptein” represents a biological system capable of performing classification computations at the protein level, similar to a basic artificial neural network. This “perceptein” circuit can classify different signals and respond accordingly, such as deciding to stay alive or undergo programmed cell death.
Summary: A study reveals how brain cell interactions influence aging, showing that rare cell types either accelerate or slow brain aging. Neural stem cells provide a rejuvenating effect on neighboring cells, while T cells drive aging through inflammation. Researchers used advanced AI tools and a spatial single-cell atlas to map cellular interactions across the lifespan in mice.
This work sheds light on how interventions, such as enhancing neural stem cells, might combat neurodegeneration. By understanding these cellular dynamics, scientists can explore tailored therapies to slow aging and promote brain resilience. The findings also offer insights into conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, highlighting the importance of cell-to-cell interactions.
A new review by researchers from Oxford Population Health and the University of Iceland, published in Nature Aging, reveals how your DNA shapes reproductive health, fertility, and even life expectancy.
Led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and the University of Iceland, the review explores how genetic variations can explain differences in reproductive health and longevity.
The study provides the most comprehensive review of male and female genetic discoveries of reproductive traits to date, and provides new insights into how our DNA affects when we have children, the timing of menopause, and even how that is connected to how long we live.
Lithocholic acid is one of the metabolites upregulated during calorie restriction, and treatment of mice, worms and flies with this bile acid alone can reproduce the health benefits of calorie restriction.
Scientists used AI to estimate the brain age of 739 healthy seniors and found that lifestyle and health conditions impact brain aging.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have used an AI tool to estimate the biological age of brains from MRI scans of 70-year-olds. Their analysis revealed that factors harmful to vascular health, such as inflammation and high blood sugar levels, are linked to older-looking brains, while a healthy lifestyle was associated with younger-looking brains. These findings were published today (December 20) in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
