Antiaging expert Aubrey de Grey says there is a 50% chance that we reach longevity escape velocity by 2035.
I now think there is a 50% chance that we will reach longevity escape velocity by 2036. After that point (the “Methuselarity”), those who regularly receive the latest rejuvenation therapies will never suffer from age-related ill-health at any age.
— Aubrey de Grey (@aubreydegrey) March 142021
Leading biogerontologist João Pedro de Magalhães says that longevity pharmacology has come of age, and discusses rapamycin and Calico.
Dedicated to those who argue that life extension is bad because it will create overpopulation problems. In adittion to the fact that natality rates are dangerously decreasing in some developed countries, this is only one example of changes that may will take place well before life extension may create a problem of such type, if ever.
Plenty, an ag-tech startup in San Francisco co-founded by Nate Storey, has been able to increase its productivity and production quality by using artificial intelligence and its new farming strategy. The company’s farm farms take up only 2 acres yet produce 720 acres worth of fruit and vegetables. In addition to their impressive food production, they also manage the production with robots and artificial intelligence.
The company says their farm produces about 400 times more food per acre than a traditional farm. It uses robots and AI to monitor water consumption, light, and the ambient temperature of the environment where plants grow. Over time, the AI learns how to grow crops faster with better quality.
While this is great for food quality, it also helps conserve resources. The water is recycled and evaporated water recaptured so there is virtually no waste. The Startup estimates that this smart farm is so efficient that it produces better fruits and vegetables using 95% less water and 99% less land than normal farming operations.
Should interest those into links on aging/longevity and neuroscience.
The mammalian center for learning and memory, hippocampus, has a remarkable capacity to generate new neurons throughout life. Newborn neurons are produced by neural stem cells (NSCs) and they are crucial for forming neural circuits required for learning and memory, and mood control. During aging, the number of NSCs declines, leading to decreased neurogenesis and age-associated cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. Thus, identifying the core molecular machinery responsible for NSC preservation is of fundamental importance if we are to use neurogenesis to halt or reverse hippocampal age-related pathology.
While there are increasing number of tools available to study NSCs and neurogenesis in mouse models, one of the major hurdles in exploring this fundamental biological process in the human brain is the lack of specific NSCs markers amenable for advanced imaging and in vivo analysis. A team of researchers led by Dr. Mirjana Maletić-Savatić, associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Louis Manganas, associate professor at the Stony Brook University, decided to tackle this problem in a rather unusual way. They reasoned that if they could find proteins that are present on the surface of NSCs, then they could eventually make agents to “see” NSCs in the human brain.
“The ultimate goal of our research is to maintain neurogenesis throughout life at the same level as it is in the young brains, to prevent the decline in our cognitive capabilities and reduce the tendency towards mood disorders such as depression, as we age. To do that, however, we first need to better understand this elusive, yet fundamental process in humans. However, we do not have the tools to study this process in live humans and all the knowledge we have gathered so far comes from analyses of the postmortem brains. And we cannot develop tools to detect this process in people because existing NSC markers are present within cells and unreachable for in vivo visualization,” Maletić-Savatić said. “So, in collaboration with our colleagues from New York and Spain, we undertook this study to find surface markers and then develop tools such as ligands for positron emission tomography (PET) to visualize them using advanced real-time in vivo brain imaging.”
Following on in the vein of my recent topics, this week I am looking at mTOR. A crucial protein that performs the function of an enzyme that is critical for day to day function. There are so many terms and words, subjects and strategies, abound, and so many talk in terms where a basic understanding of the subject is necessary to benefit fully, that I decided to create a kind of library, or resource where you can brush up on all the core fundamentals. Should you stimulate mTOR or seek to restrict it? What will happen if I do? Is this a short term strategy or a lifestyle goal? And what is the real state of the science that underpins it all? These are all questions you, or friends, may have, or even may have heard but been unable to answer fully or concisely, hopefully these will help to reduce those issues. Next week I will be looking at its partner in crime, AMPK, together they exist in balance like a playground see-saw… Until then, have an amazing day…
In this video I will look at what mTOR is and how you can harness it to benefit your objectives. By controlling it we can achieve the balance we need which is to grow muscle to stay fit and strong, but also to not burn out too quickly, so we can live a long healthy life, with a long health span. Maximising anti aging to aid in longevity is delicate balance unique to us all and which varies depending on our current goals and objectives.
By learning how all these systems interrelate and interact, we can find the best pathway for our own personal journey, I hope this video goes some way to helping you chart that path.
If you want to know more about rapamycin which is the mTOR inhibitor mentioned, why not try this video next…
https://youtu.be/mbszWs1JX7c.
As always the links to the studies and information I referenced is below…
Twenty-five years of mTOR: Uncovering the link from nutrients to growth.
https://www.pnas.org/content/114/45/11818
MTOR Signaling in Growth, Metabolism, and Disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5394987/
Join the Transdisciplinary Agora for Future Discussions, Inc. — TAFFD’s.
A bi-weekly virtual town hall-like show presenting in-depth discussions on issues connected to African advancement in the 21st century ranging from science, technology, … See More.
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Mission.
Creating a space for discussions on ideas and issues related to the African condition, and develop a suitable narrative through multidimensional approaches to drive progress in Africa towards a sustainable and more prosperous future.
Vision.
Building from the present and critically reconstructed African past for a greater, highly advanced, cosmopolitan, peaceful, and prosperous future African civilization through meaningful and fruitful discourse and action.
Holding: TAFFD’s Africa.
Host: Chogwu Abdul.
Objectives.
To steer discourse and action for a needed cultural, scientific, and technological revolution in 21st century Africa.
To provide global exposure for African skills and innovations to opportunities for investments and industrial growth.
To provide a platform for dialogues towards creative solutions to contemporary African problems; social, political, and economic.
To drive consciousness and initiatives for conceptual, material, and infrastructural transformations necessary in actualizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa.
To promote Afrofuturism as a movement and philosophy of history, science, and development relevant for significant transformations and advancement in the technology, culture, and economy of Africa.
To pursue the vision of an African Enlightenment through the provision of an intellectual environment for stimulation and exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Mode of Execution.
The Africa Town Hall meetings will be conducted virtually, presumably as Zoom conferences, and streamed live on various TAFFD’s social media platforms.
Each session will consist of a focus either on a topical issue, idea, event, or institution(s) related to Africa and feature a panel of discussants (experts/resource persons drawn from diverse relevant fields) alongside an audience. The themes of discussion can range from science, technology, medicine, innovations, business, industry, education, art, creativity, entertainment, culture, politics, current affairs, futurism, etc., as connected to the African experience.
Each session further can either be a focus on a situation in a particular African country, the African continent/condition in general, the experience of Africans in Diaspora, or on a global issue/event as viewed from an African perspective or in the context of its implications for Africa.
Upon some necessary editing of the virtual meetings, these sessions may be developed/produced and uploaded as podcasts/videos on YouTube and/or other sites for wider public consumption.
Schedule.
Bi-weekly (i.e., once every two weeks and twice a month).
1st and 3rd Friday of every month at 18:00 WAT.
A one-hour (1 hour) program.
We help prepare people’s minds by talking about the current advantages of this new paradigm and what the future entails using a trans-disciplinary approach that is transposed through the TAFFD’s Quarterly Journal, TAFFD’s annual Magazine, TAFFD’s International/Local Conferencing, TAFFD’s Awards, and TAFFD’s Teens divisions of our organization.
TAFFD’s is grateful & honored to be supported/endorsed by the Lifeboat Foundation, USTP, International Longevity Alliance, Open Source Mode, Emerge, Aubrey de Grey, Catherine Demetriades, and by many people who wish to change the world through the proper use of technology.
JOIN US!
https://www.taffds.org
Scientists don’t actually agree on why we age (which I find a little wild), but there are a number of competing theories of aging.
I dug into 4 of the most representative and current. Any ones you’d add?:
Why do we age? Lots of theories have tried to explain the aging process, but the truth is scientists still don’t agree on a single reason.
Long but annotated! Most important here is human data for specific treatments due out starting in May or June. And apparently they had a mouse study where they expected a paper due out already but other groups chimed in to help with more testing so there is a delay.
Liz Parrish, CEO of BioViva Science and patient zero of biological rejuvenation with gene therapies, is interviewed by Zora Benhamou on her fresh podcast “HackMyAge”.
During the conversation, Liz enters deep into the world of gene therapies, either to cure monogenic diseases, multifactorial genetic diseases, or the mother of all diseases: aging itself.
The conversation lasts for one hour and twenty minutes and has no waste. However, to go direct to certain themes use the following time marks:
0:00:00 Zora introduces the podcast: who is Liz Parrish and what the conversation will be about.
0:02:17 Liz Parrish begins her intervention in the podcast.
0:03:00 What is gene therapy and how Liz got involved in gene therapy applied to aging.
0:05:52 How Liz and her son are dealing with the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
0:08:05 How Liz got involved in becoming the first human treated with gene therapy to treat biological aging and what it means to go through gene therapy.
0:14:34 Current legal status of gene therapies and ways to get the treatment.
0:16:20 Current costs of undergoing gene therapies.
0:18:49 Why aren’t medical doctors applying gene therapies more than they actually are and what’s the role of medical tourism.
0:21:34 What prompted Liz to become the first patient to undergo gene therapy for biological aging.
0:25:25 How gene therapies compare with nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.
0:30:05 Why big pharmaceutical companies haven’t jumped into the field with more impetus.
0:33:20 How long will it take for gene therapies to become mainstream.
0:39:29 How gene therapies work and what is the experience for the patient that goes through it.
0:48:11 What can be expected from treating sarcopenia with gene therapy.
0:50:02 Where do the genes used in gene therapies come from.
0:53:12 What can expect someone who is treated with gene therapy to tackle dementia.
0:54:34 What are the major changes experienced by Liz in her blood markers since being treated.
0:56:38 When and how did Liz go through her gene therapies, not only for hTERT and Follistatin but also for Klotho and PGC-1alpha. What are the latter two all about?
1:02:15 How Liz envision the future of humans.
1:04:08 Liz comments on a coming paper BioViva is working together with Rutgers University.
1:05:38 Other studies in the pipeline.
1:06:45 Explanation of testing services and data storage offered by BioViva.
1:17:20 Liz on topical creams and/or small molecules for removal of senescent cells, and pills for telomeres lengthening.
1:19:16 Liz responds to “if you could meet your 20-year-old self what would you tell her”
1:20:03 What can people do to help Liz on her mission.
1:22:12 Resources to learn more about the future that is coming, genomics and gene therapy technology.
1:24:18 BioViva and Integrated Health Systems websites as well as social media sites where Liz and BioViva are actively present.
1:25:38 Words of farewell.
Websites:
HackMyAge: https://hackmyage.com/
BioViva Science: https://bioviva-science.com/
Integrated Health Systems: https://www.integrated-health-systems.com/
Here’s my latest video!
In November 2020, I made a HDL video based on a meta-analysis in ~3.4 million subjects that was published in July 2020. In Dec 2020, a larger study (n=15.8 million subjects) was published-those data are presented in the video, and compared against the meta-analysis.
In addition, I’ve tested my HDL 2 more times since November 2020, so how’s my progress for getting it into the optimal range? Also, I attempt to derive clinical significance by identifying correlations for higher HDL with lower Lp(a) and hs-CRP.
Studies referenced in the video:
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol and all-cause mortality by sex and age: a prospective cohort study among 15.8 million adults:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33313654/
HDL-C is associated with mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in a J-shaped dose-response fashion: a pooled analysis of 37 prospective cohort studies:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32283957/
Use of Lipoprotein(a) in clinical practice: A biomarker whose time has come. A scientific statement from the National Lipid Association:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31147269/
CRP studies:
Beta2-microglobulin for risk stratification of total mortality in the elderly population: comparison with cystatin C and C-reactive protein:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31147269/
High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Risks of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Japanese Population:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27268644/
The regeneration of damaged central nervous system (CNS) tissues is one of the biggest goals of regenerative medicine.
Most stroke victims don’t receive treatment fast enough to prevent brain damage. Scientists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, College of Engineering and College of Medicine have developed technology to “retrain” cells to help repair damaged brain tissue. It’s an advancement that may someday help patients regain speech, cognition and motor function, even when administered days after an ischemic stroke.
Engineering and medical researchers use a process created by Ohio State called tissue nanotransfection (TNT) to introduce genetic material into cells. This allows them to reprogram skin cells to become something different—in this case vascular cells—to help fix damaged brain tissue.
Study findings published online today in the journal Science Advances.
