Lifeboat Foundation

Ahead of the Longevity Leaders World Congress, Cambrian’s James Peyer talks stepping stones and silver bullets in geroscience research.

Seattle-based longevity biotech YouthBio Therapeutics has emerged from stealth mode, revealing it is working on the development of “gene therapies aimed at epigenetic rejuvenation, particularly with the help of partial reprogramming by Yamanaka factors.” The company boasts some top longevity science talent, with Dr João Pedro de Magalhães serving as its chief scientific officer and Dr Alejandro Ocampo as lead research collaborator.

Longevity. Technology: Cellular reprogramming is hot, hot hot! YouthBio joins a growing list of companies, including Altos Labs, Shift Bioscience and Turn Bio, among others, all aiming to change the course of human health through this exciting, yet early stage, science. Like everyone else, we’ll be watching all the players very closely – where will the first major breakthrough come from?

Cellular reprogramming is the process by which aged cells can be returned to a pluripotent (embryonic-like) state. This process, which can be achieved using Yamanaka factors, also improves the cells’ aging hallmarks. Partial reprogramming means that Yamanaka factors are induced only for short periods, which is not enough to fully change cells beyond a point of no return but is enough to induce rejuvenation.

Somnium Space is developing a way for people to talk to their loved ones even after they die. All it requires is massive amounts of personal data.

The Interventions Testing Program is the gold standard for testing longevity drugs. What do the results say about which ones extend lifespan in mice? Rapamycin is a big winner!

New podcast w/ Richard Miller on the data on several longevity supplements including Acarbose, NR, Resveratrol, Fisetin, MCT Oil, Curcumin, Fish Oil + more!

Continue reading “Longevity Supplements — What Works & What Doesn’t?” »

Best known therapeutically as a treatment for bipolar disorder, lithium has long intrigued researchers with its potential age-defying properties.

The element has been shown in lab experiments to extend the lifespan of fruit flies and roundworms, while observational studies have suggested tap water naturally laced with trace amounts of lithium might improve human longevity.

Researchers at The University of Toledo have recently found that low-dose lithium acts as a powerful anti-aging agent in the kidneys.

Musing on living long enough to know.

Do aliens really exist? “It is virtually inconceivable to me that there isn’t intelligence somewhere in the universe,” says psychologist and astrobiologist Dr. Douglas Vakoch. “It’s just numbers.”

Continue reading “Messaging Aliens & Living Long Enough to Get A Response — Douglas Vakoch & METI” »

The world is aging, and with age comes vision decline. New research may have found how to improve eyesight in an accessible way.

It’s not quite the mythical fountain of youth but it is, perhaps, a start: Scientists have managed to engineer human skin cells to reverse 30 years of aging, resetting them to a much more youthful state in terms of certain molecular measurements.

While it’s very early days for the research – so we shouldn’t get carried away too quickly – the technique could play a major part in efforts to produce rejuvenative medicine that’s able to undo some of the damaging consequences of our bodies getting older.

What makes the research particularly notable is that the skin cells were reprogrammed to be biologically younger while still keeping some of the functionality that made them skin cells in the first place.

They could become a useful tool in tracking healthy (and unhealthy) ageing | Science & technology.