People who reach a very old age may have their genes to thank. Genetic variants that help to prevent DNA mutations and repair any that do occur have been found in supercentenarians and semi-supercentenarians – people who reach the ages of 110 and 105, respectively.
“DNA repair mechanisms are extremely efficient in these people,” says Claudio Franceschi at the University of Bologna in Italy. “It is one of the most important basic mechanisms for extending lifespan.”
That’s good funding.
Berlin, Gerrmany — Michael Greve, founder of the Forever Healthy Foundation and owner of Kizoo Technology Ventures, announced today that he will make available an additional €300 million to be invested in rejuvenation biotech.
The funds, to be deployed via Kizoo, will be used to create and support more startups in the rejuvenation space. They will also allow Kizoo to maintain a strong commitment to its key startups during follow-up rounds and to advance the therapies from clinical development to public availability.
With this €300 million commitment, Michael Greve and Kizoo double down on their mission to accelerate the advent of rejuvenation biotechnology by doing lighthouse investments in entirely new, repair-based approaches that treat the root causes of aging and thus overcome age-related diseases. Through the creation of successful companies, they seek to inspire scientists, investors, and the general public by demonstrating that human rejuvenation is not science fiction anymore and that the resulting therapies are affordable and uncomplicated.
“This work confirms that there is a link between air pollution and how well the aging brain works,” senior study author and Columbia University researcher Andrea Baccarelli told The Guardian. “These shorter-term effects are reversible: when air pollution clears, our brain reboots and starts working back to its original level. However, multiple occurrences of these higher exposures cause permanent damage.”
Thankfully, it’s reversible.
Investing in inter-generational solutions for healthy aging — trent stamp, CEO, the eisner foundation.
Trent Stamp is the CEO of The Eisner Foundation (https://eisnerfoundation.org/), an organization founded by Jane and Michael D. Eisner (the former Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company), that identifies, advocates for, and invests in high-quality and innovative programs that unite multiple generations for the enrichment of our communities. Trent has been in this role since 2008 and under his leadership, The Eisner Foundation became the only foundation in the U.S. investing solely in intergenerational solutions, garnering many honors and awards including Generation United’s Leadership Award.
Trent is recognized as one of America’s leading experts on healthy aging and the benefits of intergenerational programs. He has recently been published on aging issues in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Next Avenue, and has presented at South by Southwest and the American Society on Aging’s annual conference, among others. He serves as a board member for Grantmakers in Aging and is on the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging’s Board of Academic and Policy Advisors.
Previously, Trent was the founding President of Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest and most-used evaluator of American charities and nonprofits, Vice President of Communications for Teach For America, a Presidential Management Fellow for the Social Security Administration, and a legislative aide for U.S. Representative Robert Matsui. Trent started his career as a Teach For America teacher in rural North Carolina.
Trent has regularly appeared as an expert analyst for national television and radio shows, including The Today Show, 20/20, Good Morning America, and The Daily Show.
Trent received his Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University and his B.A. in Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Eisner Foundation’s recent Stanford Social Innovation Review series, “Meeting the Multigenerational Moment” can be found here — https://ssir.org/meeting_the_multigenerational_moment#
Aging is the biggest risk factor for perturbation of the nervous system, even in the absence of distinct disease or trauma. For yet unknown reasons, the impulse conducting, myelinated projections and synaptic connections between nerve cells are especially vulnerable to aging-related degeneration. These pathological alterations often manifest as cognitive, sensory, and motor decline in older adults and represent a serious socio-economic challenge.
Malactivation leads to damage
Scientists have long assumed that inflammation plays an important role in this process. Mal-or overactivation of distinct cells belonging to the innate immune system—the microglia—appears to promote damage of nerve fibers and synapses in the aging central nervous system (CNS). In a recent project, scientists of the University Hospital Würzburg have now discovered an important role of the adaptive immune system.
Hey guys — you might like this interview I did with Brent Nally (CEO — Longevity Plan) about why humans can and should strive towards biological immortality. Very grateful for any subs to support the channel!
I interview Brent Nally, host of Lifespan News and CEO/co-founder of Longevity Plan, about the longevity movement and why he believes humans can and should strive for biological immortality. Covers scientific progress, the evolving longevity movement, why some oppose radical life extension and a brief section on Bitcoin.
Lifespan news: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-hyW-B6pWS8lPjZk4zLYcQ
Brent’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCwpkla04tVxHJUds2J2aqA
As founder of Longevity Vision Fund, I am often asked about the most promising life extension breakthroughs, from early cancer diagnostics to human avatars and everything in between. The simple answer is that there are many — but that’s probably not the kind of answer you were looking for!
Instead, let’s look at the latest longevity breakthroughs working on each of the five major levels of biological organization (cell, tissue, organ, organ system and organism) and what they each aim to accomplish.
In a study at The University of Alabama, aging fruit flies died faster than younger flies from a viral infection because of different genetic responses, lowering the older flies’ tolerance to the infection.
The findings published recently in G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics add to the understanding of innate immunity, the first line of defense against infections, which is not fully understood in humans, and prove the fruit fly, Drosophila, is a good candidate for aging immunity studies that could lead to advancements in treating viral infections in older humans.
“We are living in times where there is a substantial increase in aging populations, and we know there is a decline of immune function in humans as we age,” said Dr. Stanislava Chtarbanova, UA assistant professor of biological sciences whose lab led the study. “This is the first study to use the fly for investigating age-dependent, anti-viral responses. Our lab can leverage this genetic model to study the molecular mechanisms underlying aging immunity.”
The study is part of an effort by entrepreneurs and scientists, dreamers and schemers, to demonstrate aging is not inevitable.
Can low-carb diets like Keto help you live longer? I spent way too much time reading research papers and the answer seems to be…maybe.
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I love bacon.
On a beach trip with some college friends a few years ago, I was put in charge of breakfast. I made sure to buy eight pounds of bacon (one for every person on the trip) for our three days at the beach house.
