A superb and fun interview with Dr Michael Fossel and why he believes telomerase therapy is the most direct route to dealing with aging.
An interesting paper about Urchins and how some species effectively do not age (like some lobsters) by expressing telomerase.
Note the researcher makes the classic mistake about telomere biology not understanding the correlation between a short lived species which has longer telomeres and one that has negligible senescence and considerably shorter telomeres. The same applies to mice and men, mice have much longer telomeres than us but live about 3 years max.
The frequently made misconception about telomeres is that telomere length defines or causes aging, it does not. An organism’s telomere length has little to do with how long it lives or how fast it ages. People often point out, some animals, such as mice, have long telomeres and a short lifespan, while other animals, such as humans, have much shorter telomeres but longer lifespan.
Irina Conboy is making some amazing advances in aging and rejuvenation research at Berkley. The Conboy lab has been steadily making progress in regenerative medicine and is potentially a few years from having something viable in terms of regenerative medicine. It would be amazing if the community could get behind a single breakthrough project like Irina is working on and making sure this technology arrives soon.
SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket with NASA CRS 7 Dragon launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida photo credit Carleton Bailie SpaceFlight Insider.
OK. In scientific terms, it is only a ‘hypothesis’ — the reverse of the ‘Disposable Soma’ theory of ageing. Here how it goes.
For the past several decades, the Disposable Soma theory of ageing has been enjoying good publicity and a lively interest from both academics and the public alike. It stands up to scientific scrutiny, makes conceptual sense and fits well within an evolutionary framework of ageing. The theory basically suggests that, due to energy resource constraints, there is a trade-off between somatic cell and germ cell repair. As a result, germ cells are being repaired effectively and so the survival of the species is assured, at a cost of individual somatic (bodily) ageing and death. To put it very simply, we are disposable, we age and die because all the effective repair mechanisms have been diverted to our germ cell DNA in order to guarantee the survival of our species.
The theory accounts for many repair pathways and mechanisms converging upon the germ cell, and also for many of those mechanisms being driven away from somatic cell repair just to ensure germ cell survival. In the past two or three years however, it is increasingly being realised that this process is not unidirectional (from soma to germ), but it is bi-directional: under certain circumstances, somatic cells may initiate damage that affects germ cells, and also that germ cells may initiate repairs that benefit somatic cells!
I can’t even begin to describe how important this bi-directionality is. Taking this in a wider and more speculative sense, it is, in fact, the basis for the cure of ageing. The discovery that germ cells can (or are forced to) relinquish their repair priorities, and that resources can then be re-allocated for somatic repairs instead, means that we may be able to avoid age-related damage (because this would be repaired with greater fidelity) and, at the same time, avoid overpopulation (as our now damaged genetic material would be unsuitable for reproduction).
Continue reading “The ‘Indispensable Soma’ theory of ageing” »
A nice article from Kurzweil AI on a transhumanist & life extension bus tour. If you haven’t contributed, please do so! Anyone from any country can donate, and even $5 helps! http://www.kurzweilai.net/transhumanist-party-presidential–… and the Indiegogo campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/…/immortality-bus-with…/x/6837406…
Google Ventures and the Search for Immortality
Bill Maris has $425 million to invest this year, and the freedom to invest it however he wants. He’s looking for companies that will slow aging, reverse disease, and extend life.
My newest initiative I’m very excited about. Please support it and contribute to it! Thanks!
Mark Zuckerberg was on Facebook last night conducting his regular Townhall Q&As, with a few not-so-regular people including Stephen Hawking and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Of the celebrity cast, Hawking was the only one who diverted the social media titan’s attention to science, asking him:
My latest story for Vice Motherboard: Is it time to start phasing out the institution of marriage now that we’re soon going to be living indefinitely? And what are the rules with marrying robots?
