EurekAlert! passes on an advance in the technology of reprogramming cells: "In the past few months, a slew of papers have indicated that the therapeutic potential of a promising type of stem cell, called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, might be limited by reprogramming errors and genomic instability. iPS cells are engineered by reprogramming fully differentiated adult cells, often skin cells, back to a primitive, embryonic-like state. Given these problems, a team of researchers [wondered] if there might be a better way to regenerate lost tissue to treat conditions like heart disease and stroke. ... they outline a method to obtain a new kind of stem cell they call 'induced conditional self-renewing progenitor (ICSP) cells.' ... It's amazingly cool that we can dial adult cells all the way back to embryonic-like stem cells, but there are a lot of issues that still need to be addressed before iPS cells can be used to treat patients. So we wondered... if we just want to treat a brain disease, do we really have to start with a skin cell, which has nothing to do with the brain, and push it all the way back to the point that it has potential to become anything? In this study, we developed ICSP cells using a cell from the organ we're already interested in - the nervous system, in this case - and pushed it back just enough so it continued to divide, giving us a quantity that we were able to apply efficiently, safely and effectively to treat stroke injury in a rodent model. ... the [reprogramming gene] used here is conditionally expressed. This means that ICSP cells can only produce [the gene] when the researchers add a compound called tetracycline to laboratory cultures. When tetracycline is removed, the cells cease dividing and start differentiating. Then, once transplanted into to an animal model, ICSP cells are no longer exposed to tetracycline and take their growth and differentiation cues from their new environment."

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-03/smri-ans030711.php

Progress in DNA sequencing is similar to that of computing power in general - which is to say that overall capacity is increasing and cost per unit processed is falling at a staggering pace. Five years from now, sequencing your entire genome will likely cost less than the chair you're sitting on while reading this. Thus DNA sequencing is a poster child for speed of development in modern biotechnology: advances in understanding that would have required an entire research group and years of work a decade ago are now projects suitable for a single post-graduate researcher to complete over a semester off in one corner of the lab.

But so what? Why is this relevant to those of us following the early stages of the development of rejuvenation biotechnology? DNA sequencing seems like it's off to the side and down in the depths, one tiny part of the technologies involved in, say, repair of mitochondria or removal of senescent cells. Fortunately, here is one of the Halcyon Molecular folk to explain how DNA sequencing dovetails with the research we are interested in:

We are improving DNA sequencing to achieve our goal of turning biology into an information science. Along the way, various SENS approaches will be accelerated by improved DNA sequencing, and we present here specific experimental paths for using the tool in service of SENS. As one example, sequencing offers extreme technical shortcuts in molecular directed evolution techniques, allowing larger populations to be interrogated with fewer rounds of evolution and increased stringency of selection. This will accelerate attempts to find, improve, or evolve enzymes and other catalysts targeting age-related molecular damage. As another example, sequencing will enable better quality control of stem cells in both clinical and laboratory settings. We will discuss these specific experimental strategies and others that leverage improved sequencing to hasten progress toward saving lives via SENS therapy approaches.

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

Time here looks at Ray Kurzweil's timeline for the development of biotechnologies that can defeat aging: repair the old, remove biological damage, and eliminate frailty and age-related death. "The Singularity isn't just an idea. it attracts people, and those people feel a bond with one another. Together they form a movement, a subculture; Kurzweil calls it a community. Once you decide to take the Singularity seriously, you will find that you have become part of a small but intense and globally distributed hive of like-minded thinkers known as Singularitarians. ... At the 2010 summit, which took place in August in San Francisco, there were not just computer scientists but also psychologists, neuroscientists, nanotechnologists, molecular biologists, a specialist in wearable computers, a professor of emergency medicine, an expert on cognition in gray parrots and the professional magician and debunker James 'the Amazing' Randi. ... After artificial intelligence, the most talked-about topic at the 2010 summit was life extension. Biological boundaries that most people think of as permanent and inevitable Singularitarians see as merely intractable but solvable problems. Death is one of them. Old age is an illness like any other, and what do you do with illnesses? You cure them. Like a lot of Singularitarian ideas, it sounds funny at first, but the closer you get to it, the less funny it seems. It's not just wishful thinking; there's actual science going on here. ... People have begun to realize that the view of aging being something immutable - rather like the heat death of the universe - is simply ridiculous. It's just childish. The human body is a machine that has a bunch of functions, and it accumulates various types of damage as a side effect of the normal function of the machine. Therefore in principal that damage can be repaired periodically. This is why we have vintage cars. It's really just a matter of paying attention. The whole of medicine consists of messing about with what looks pretty inevitable until you figure out how to make it not inevitable." I don't see it as plausible that we'll have everything in hand by 2045, but if we make a good start now, then we could have enough to put us into actuarial escape velocity - gaining life expectancy faster than we age, and thus able to wait for far better technologies that arrive later.

Link: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2048138,00.html

Decellularization is proving to be a versatile technology in tissue engineering: grow the tissue from stem cells or accept a donor organ, strip its cells to leave behind the extracellular matrix, and then repopulate it from the recipient's stem cells to make it ready for transplant. For example: "Heart bypass patients may soon be able to get new arteries without having to sacrifice vessels from other parts of their body, thanks to ready-made, off-the-shelf artificial blood vessels. Biomedical engineers have been trying to build replacement blood vessels, needed for coronary artery bypass surgery and kidney dialysis patients, for three decades. Researchers from Humacyte Inc., in Durham, N.C., discovered the trick: recruiting cells to build the vessel, then washing them away so the nonliving tissue is storable and works for anyone. ... The company has managed to make a "universal blood vessel. This is very practical and convenient for clinical applications. ... Other approaches, customized with a patient's own cells, take several months to prepare. ... Though Humacyte is starting to plan human clinical trials, it's too early to predict when the grafts would become available to the general public. ... [researchers] not yet know how much the grafts would cost, but anticipates it will be less than the $15,000-and-up for personalized grafts from patient's own cells. The company can use cells from multiple cadavers to generate hundreds of grafts at once, making production much cheaper."

Link: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-blood-vessels-20110221,0,6930611.story

One strand of stem cell research is learning how to construct exactly the type of cell needed: "researchers for the first time have transformed a human embryonic stem cell into a critical type of neuron that dies early in Alzheimer's disease and is a major cause of memory loss. This new ability to reprogram stem cells and grow a limitless supply of the human neurons will enable a rapid wave of drug testing for Alzheimer's disease, allow researchers to study why the neurons die and could potentially lead to transplanting the new neurons into people with Alzheimer's. ... These critical neurons, called basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, help the hippocampus retrieve memories in the brain. In early Alzheimer's, the ability to retrieve memories is lost, not the memories themselves. There is a relatively small population of these neurons in the brain, and their loss has a swift and devastating effect on the ability to remember. ... Now that we have learned how to make these cells, we can study them in a tissue culture dish and figure out what we can do to prevent them from dying. ... This technique to produce the neurons allows for an almost infinite number of these cells to be grown in labs, allowing other scientists the ability to study why this one population of cells selectively dies in Alzheimer's disease. ... The ability to make the cells also means researchers can quickly test thousands of different drugs to see which ones may keep the cells alive when they are in a challenging environment. ... [Researchers] demonstrated the newly produced neurons work just like the originals. They transplanted the new neurons into the hippocampus of mice and showed the neurons functioned normally. The neurons produced axons, or connecting fibers, to the hippocampus and pumped out acetylcholine, a chemical needed by the hippocampus to retrieve memories from other parts of the brain."

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-03/nu-hsc030211.php

Scientific American looks at the state of viral cancer therapies: "The adapted virus that immunized hundreds of millions of people against smallpox has now been enlisted in the war on cancer. Vaccinia poxvirus joins a herpesvirus and a host of other pathogens on a growing list of engineered viruses entering late-stage human testing against cancer. ... After a decade of development of so-called oncolytic viruses, the newest strains hold the most promise yet ... In a two-pronged attack, these viruses specifically target tumor cells while delivering a cargo of immune-boosting genes. In contrast, viruses that cause cancer, such as the human papillomavirus that is responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, disrupt a cell's genome, thereby triggering out-of-control growth. When the engineered viruses recognize and infect cancer cells, they replicate and sometimes destroy their hosts. Several of the viruses also release the gene for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) an immune system protein. The GM-CSF attracts a swarm of white blood cells and other immune system operatives that mount a further attack on the tumor. ... The vaccinia virus has been developed by the biotechnology company Jennerex ... Later this year, the company plans to launch a phase III clinical trial in advanced liver cancer patients, in which the virus will be added to standard antibody treatment."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tumor-virus-vaccines

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

The use of raw or heated ginger can help people shift to natural pain management.

In a recent study performed by researchers from the Georgia College & State University, it was found that consuming the world-popular root ginger can actually alleviate pain and reduce tissue inflammation.

Raw ginger vs. heated ginger

The researchers used raw ginger supplementation and heated ginger supplementation for two groups of respondents for a period of 11 days.  The respondents then underwent exercises that produced mild muscle soreness.  In short, some pain and inflammation was induced to test whether or not the ginger supplementation would work.

Raw ginger produced 25% less pain and inflammation within the period of one day, while the heated ginger reduced 23% less pain and inflammation.  The researchers concluded that daily consumption of ginger (ginger supplementation) can benefit individuals who are often exposed to exercise-related pain and tissue inflammation.  The said study has already been published in the medical journal Journal of Pain.

Why ginger is good for you

Ginger is naturally rich in antioxidants and other beneficial compounds like zingerones, which makes it a prime choice for people who want to naturally protect their bodies from free radical damage, stress-related fatigue, etc.

Other natural compounds in ginger also produce analgesic-like effects on the body, which is why it was effective in reducing tissue swelling/inflammation and pain in the study.

Since you have a more natural choice now, there’s really no need to depend on OTC analgesics and painkillers when dealing with post-exercise soreness.  If the soreness and pain is mild, then raw or heated ginger would be a good substitute for OTC painkillers and NSAID drugs.

Another reason why I’m advocating natural pain management is that OTC drugs often produce long term side effects. Both analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are notorious for long term side effects.

The information is available, but the common conception is that these drugs are so harmless that even kids can take them regularly without being exposed to certain risks for side effects.  This is simply not true.  For example, common OTC analgesics can produce the following side effects:

• Feeling of nausea
• Dizziness
• Vomiting
• Urinary problems
• Constipation
• Hives
• Slowed heart rate
• Muscle rigidness

Natural pain relief

Apart from ginger, there are other natural pain relievers that you can try:

1. Cayenne cream – Cayenne cream contains the compound capsaicin, which is found in chili peppers.  Studies show that capsaicin is capable of reducing tissue inflammation by lowering the levels of substance P in the body.  Substance P facilitates the transmission of pain signals.  Since it’s a topical agent, you can use it on any sore muscle easily.

2. Essential oil of black currant & evening primrose – The E.O. Of these two plants contain the compound gamma linolenic acid, which has been indicated for people suffering from arthritic conditions.  You can also try borage oil, which contains a higher percentage of gamma linolenic acid.

3. Cetyl myristoleate – CM is a type of natural oil found in fish and butter (dairy-based).  CM can help joints move more efficiently and also has anti-inflammatory properties.

4. Bromelain – Bromelain is a compound that naturally occurs in food like pineapples.  It naturally fights inflammation in the body.

5. Krill oil or fish oil – These two types of oil are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for the heart and inflamed tissues.

6. Boswellia – The boswellia plant has anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it a natural pain reliever as well.

7. Turmeric – A base ingredient for curries, turmeric contains the compound curcumin, which has been shown to reduce tissue inflammation in patients with arthritis and even psoriasis.

8. Arnica – Arnica is used in homeopathic treatments and is recommended for individuals suffering from pain and swelling after undergoing surgical procedures (especially around the knee area).  Arnica can be used orally or topically.

9.Aquamin – Aquamin is a type of seaweed which has also been touted as a natural anti-inflammatory agent. In addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, aquamin may also help people build healthier bones (according to a study published in the Nutrition Journal). 2,400 mg every day is recommended.

10. SAM-e – SAM-e or S adenosylmethionine is a type of amino acid that is naturally produced by the human body.  It can help lessen inflammation and it also affects the production of brain chemicals like dopamine, which are helpful in regulating mood and pain.

Sources:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
nutraingredients.com
nutraingredients.com
arthritis.about.com
medicinenet.com
msnbc.msn.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

Study shows that sufficient sleep especially among pregnant women lowers the risk of high blood pressure.

According to a study published in the October 1 issue of the Sleep journal, getting poor quality of sleeping during the first trimester of pregnancy may increase a woman’s risk of developing high blood pressure. The study was conducted by the University of Washington’s School of Public Health in Seattle and was led by epidemiology professor Michele A. Williams, ScD.

The pregnant woman may develop symptoms and complications which may appear in the later months of the pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a serious health condition that is linked to the excessive amounts of protein in urine and high blood pressure is one of its symptoms. This happens after 20 weeks of pregnancy and may increase a woman’s risk of developing eclampsia, a life-threatening condition acquired during pregnancy.

The Results

The study evaluated the health conditions of pregnant women who were in the habit of sleeping six, or less, hours per night and another group of women who consistently sleeps for 9 hours in the same conditions. It was observed that in the third trimester, the first group experienced systolic blood pressure that is almost 4 points higher than the second group. The researchers advised that pregnant women needs to get 9 hours of sleep every night since they have greater needs for sleep.

The researchers also observed women who slept more than 9 hours per night and found out that they had a systolic blood pressure of more than 4 points higher than the women with 9 hours of sleep. Despite of a very minimal difference, the increase in blood pressure is enough to bring a pregnant woman’s blood pressure into an alarming level. Pregnant women who consistently had 9 hours of sleep every night in their early months of pregnancy had an average systolic blood pressure of 114 on their last weeks of pregnancy.

The study consisted of a group of 1200 healthy pregnant women who answered questionnaires regarding their sleeping habits from their first day to the 14th week of pregnancy. 25 percent of the women slept for 9 hours, 13.7 percent slept for 6 hours, 55.2 percent had 8 hours of sleep, and another 10.6 percent had more than 9 hours of sleep. Over 6 percent of the group was diagnosed of having preeclampsia.  According to the survey and health examinations, women with less than 5 hours of sleep every night for the first 3 months of pregnancy have 10 times greater risk of developing preeclampsia.

The study only produced preliminary evidence with no sufficient information regarding the relationship between having too much and too less sleep to a pregnant woman’s blood pressure. Williams said that studies being conducted regarding sleep should put some attention on the effect of good sleeping habits to pregnant women.

Tips to Maintain a Healthy Pregnancy

When pregnant, a woman is aware that she responsible, not only for her own health, but for the health and well-being of a growing life inside her womb.  For some, this complicates the simple.  But there is no need to worry.  Here are a few tips on how to maintain a health pregnancy:

Watch What You Eat

Pregnant women will tend to be very wary about a lot of things, especially when it comes to scrutinizing anything that they put inside their mouth. During pregnancy, a woman needs to be more aware of everything she eats, and it is important to know how one type of food can affect the small and fragile life growing inside them. Because of this, medical experts will advice pregnant women to:

• eat more fruits and vegetables
• drink more juices

This is to supply the body all the nutrients that it needs. Eating fruits is one of the easiest and most effective ways of fulfilling your nutrient requirement as a pregnant woman. You can choose to eat fresh fruits but when eating fruits from a can, choose the ones which are kept in their own juices and not in syrups and liquid sweeteners.

• Eating at least half an ounce of raisins a day can supply you with high amounts of potassium, fiber and iron and at the same time sating your craving for sweets without taking in too much sugar.
• Yogurt is loaded with calcium and it can supply as much as a quarter of your daily requirement. It is also a rich source of probiotics that help in improving digestion and nutrient absorption.
• Mixing cereals with sundries, nuts and berries can either serve as a wholesome breakfast or a fast-grab snack while you are on the go, avoiding the temptation of driving through a fast food for some greasy junk food. Notice that all of these foods are easy to find and make. Pregnancy is already as stressful as it can get. You don’t need to keep yourself worrying about what to eat.

Keep Moving

It’s hard to move around when you are pregnant especially during the last trimester. The fear of falling or slipping may prevent pregnant women from doing too many movements and they may tend to just stay home until the baby arrives. A walk in the park for a few minutes may be good enough to maintain a health pregnancy. But it’s also important to know that exercise does not only improve the your baby’s health while he’s inside you but it also keeps you healthy and may make labor much easier than when you’ve been spending most of your time at home doing limited movements.

According to a study conducted by the American Physiological Society, the earliest stage a person can start preventing the possibility of any heart disease is while he’s inside his mother’s womb. Exercise during pregnancy ensures a healthy heart for babies once they are born. While the pregnant mother is doing her exercises, the baby is also experiencing the same cardio workout and health benefits.

Bask in the Sunshine

Vitamin D deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency in pregnant women. This is according to a study on the health of pregnant women conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburg. Their levels of vitamin D were still below the borderline despite them taking vitamin supplements. Researchers said that the data may mean that women are not getting enough sunlight.

Visit your Doctor Regularly

A consistent prenatal checkup is a necessity to keep the mother and the baby healthy during pregnancy. It is also the best way of diagnosing any possible health complications at the earliest stage. Remember that a person’s mental and physical development starts in the womb, and there are studies to support this fact. Brain development starts really early and insufficient pre-natal support may cause long-term disadvantages.

Sources
webmd.com
naturalnews.com
naturalnews.com
articles.mercola.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

From the SENS Foundation: "To date, the dominant therapeutic strategy for both specific age-related diseases and (to the extent that it has been contemplated) the degenerative biological aging process itself, has been based on altering metabolic pathways. Biomedical research has centered on the detailed understanding of pathways seen to be contributing to disease etiology or pathogenesis, and the identification of putatively dysfunctional components hormones, receptors, enzymes, cytokines, etc), which are then targeted for manipulation by small molecules or other means in hopes of normalizing function and thereby alleviating symptoms or slowing progression of pathology. ... there is a critical flaw in the unconsciously-drawn analogy between its use in the development of therapies to manage specific diseases, and its potential for the treatment of the degenerative aging process. Unlike most non-communicative diseases, degenerative aging is not the result of the dysfunction of metabolic pathways, but of the the undesirable long-term side-effects of their normative biochemistry. Put another way: biological aging is the pathological result of perfectly-functioning, [healthy] metabolic processes. ... Thus, transposing the conventional drug-development pathway onto the aging process necessarily entails interfering with the normal metabolism - and doing on an indefinite basis, from the day that a 'patient' first begins therapy until his or her death. But of course, those same pathways evolved to ensure survival and fitness, and their existence and the normal mode of regulation are the very basis of ordinary health and function. We interfere with the intrinsic operation of such pathways at our peril."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sens.org/node/747

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

From h+ Magazine: "A new study [sheds] some light on how 'memory disturbances' in an aging mouse brain are associated with altered 'hippocampal chromatin plasticity' - the combination of DNA, histones, and other proteins that make up the chromosomes associated with the hippocampus. Specifically, the study describes an acetyl genetic switch that produces memory impairment in aging 16-month-old mice. Because the acetyl wasn't present in young 3-month-old mice, the study concludes that it acts as a switch for a cluster of learning and memory genes. ... when young mice are learning, an acetyl group binds to a particular point on the histone protein. The cluster of learning and memory genes on the surrounding DNA ends up close to the acetyl group. This acetyl group was missing in the older mice that had been given the same tasks. By injecting an enzyme known to encourage acetyl groups to bind to any kind of histone molecule, [researchers] flipped the acetyl genetic switch to the 'on' position in the older mice and their learning and memory performance became similar to that of 3-month-old mice. ... [Researchers hope] that the study of hippocampal chromatin plasticity and gene regulation in mice will help them to identify therapeutic strategies to encourage neuroplasticity (the formation of new neural networks in the brain), to improve learning behavior, and to recover seemingly lost long-term memories in human patients."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/neuro/switch-memory

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

The Science for Life Extension Foundation helped organize the 2nd International conference on the Genetics of Aging and Longevity, held back in April in Moscow. Thanks to the Foundation staff, video from the conference is starting to make its way to a YouTube channel. Here are a couple of the videos already posted; you might want to keep an open eye for others as they arrive.

Dr. Bartke reported the first evidence that mutation of a single gene can significantly extend lifespan in a mammal, and [has] extensively characterized the phenotype of long-lived Ames dwarf mice, identifying several mechanisms that are likely to explain or contribute to their delayed aging and greatly prolonged longevity.

[The] research of Dr. Reis focuses on the molecular genetics of longevity and age-associated diseases, using both previously defined mutations and gene mapping. He managed to extend the lifespan of a nematode worm, C.elegans, 10-fold by only one mutation in the age-1 gene.

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

Spurring regeneration by use of signalling molecules is a promising field of medical development. Here is an example from the Technology Review: "scientists have identified a pair of peptides that can stimulate new cell growth and improve heart function in rodents induced to have heart attacks. [Researchers are] now testing one of the peptides, periostin, in pigs induced to have heart attacks. Because these animals have hearts similar in size to humans, they provide a good model for testing new therapies prior to human clinical trials. Preliminary results show that injecting the peptide into the pericardium, the lining around the heart, seems to help. ... [This] approach is, to some degree, in competition with stem-cell therapy, which is already being tested in humans. Scientists are working on different ways of harvesting and delivering stem cells to patients with heart disease, and clinical trials have so far yielded mixed results. Transplanted cells appear to have difficulty surviving and integrating into their new environment. In fact, some scientists suggests that benefit of cell transplants comes from the cells ability to stimulate innate growth. Triggering this process with peptides [may] be a simpler method of treatment of certain conditions such as cardiomyopathy [an enlarged heart] where the problem is lack of viable, contractile heart muscle cells."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=25139

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

The Humanity+ Summit will be held in June at Harvard: "The H+ Summit is part of a larger cultural conversation about what it means to be human and, ultimately, more than human. This issue lies at the heart of the transhumanism movement ... The H+ Summit is a two day event that explores how humanity will be radically changed by technology in the near future. Visionary speakers will explore the potential of technology to modify your body, mind, life, and world. What will it mean to be a human in this next phase of technological development? How can we prepare now for coming changes? We foresee the feasibility of redesigning the human condition and overcoming such constraints as the inevitability of aging, limitations on human and artificial intellects, unchosen psychology, lack of resources, and our confinement to the planet earth. The possibilities are broad and exciting. The H+ Summit will provide a venue to discuss these future scenarios and to hear exciting presentations by the leaders of the ongoing H+ (r)evolution." Amongst the confirmed speakers is biomedical gerontologist and engineered longevity advocate Aubrey de Grey, whose presentations are always well worth attending.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://hplussummit.com/

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

You'll no doubt recall the 2045 initiative backed by an enthusiastic high net worth Russian individual, which appears so far to be the opening stages of a serious long-term effort to convert a fraction of that net worth into the technologies needed for artificial, non-biological bodies capable of indefinitely supporting a human brain - and after that to move on to brain emulation and mind uploading.

I commented on this vision last year:

To my eyes, the most interesting aspect of this Russia 2045 initiative is that, unlike any other serious proposal I'm aware of, their focus is on getting out of biology and into machine bodies as rapidly as possible. ... In essence, this is a course to throw away as much of the body as possible as soon as possible - a path based on a different set of preconceptions about difficulty and efficiency on the road leading to an artificial brain hosting a once-biological human mind.

I'm of the opinion that this is not the most optimal path towards the defeat of aging, based on my understanding of the relative difficulty of building a full-featured neural interface and life support system for the brain versus realizing rejuvenation biotechnology that can repair the biological chassis we have now - even leaving aside the issue that an uploaded or emulated copy of your mind is just a copy of you, not you. In the long run we will all be wholly artificial, of course, but it seems premature to be aiming for that now versus after the advent of molecular nanotechnology and the capacity to build functional replacements for biological components (e.g. blood cells, brain cells, and so forth) that are better than the original. It is, however, very important for the general future of engineered longevity to have a diversity of approaches, disagreement, and enthusiastic people with resources and vision. At the very least, in a world in which artificial bodies are being developed with the stated goal of preventing people from aging to death, it becomes that much easier to gather support for work on the biotechnologies that can repair the damage of aging.

In any case, the 2045 Initiative is back in the press again, and here are a couple of items:

Russian Mogul to 'Forbes' Billionaires: Limitless Lifespans Can Be Yours

First up is the development of robots that can be controlled by the human mind. After that, and ideally within 10 years, Itskov wants to develop robots that can actually host a flesh-and-blood human brain, via surgical transplant. In twenty years time, things get even more interesting: Itskov anticipates "uploading" the contents of the human brain into a robot, yielding eternal life via artificial body. By 2045, he'd like to replace those 'bots entirely - with holograms. Since February, Itskov has stayed plenty busy working on his "Avatar" plan ... With a lab of scientists reportedly already working on the program in Russia, Itskov has now branched out to the U.S, with plans to open a San Francisco office this summer and host a futurity conference - called Global Future Congress - in New York later this year.

His next step: Itskov has published an open letter to the world's richest people, urging them to back the initiative - and consider volunteering themselves as potential avatars. "I urge you to take note of the vital importance of funding scientific development in the field of cybernetic immortality and the artificial body. Such research has the potential to free you, as well as the majority of all people on our planet, from disease, old age and even death."

Billionaires: Russian Mogul Wants to Upload Your Brains Into Immortality

Earlier this year, a Russian media mogul named Dmitry Itskov formally announced his intention to disembody our conscious minds and upload them to a hologram - an avatar - by 2045. In other words he outlined a plan to achieve immortality, removing the human mind from the physical constraints presented by the biological human body. He was serious. And now, in a letter to the members of the Forbes World's Billionaire's List, he's offering up that immortality to the world's 1,266 richest people.

...

"Currently you invest in business projects that will bring you yet another billion," Itskov writes. "You also have the ability to finance the extension of your own life up to immortality. Our civilization has come very close to the creation of such technologies: it's not a science fiction fantasy. It is in your power to make sure that this goal will be achieved in your lifetime."

This last note is absolutely true with regard to the SENS vision of rejuvenation biotechnologies as well: the wealthiest people in the world have it in their grasp to build a way out of aging for everyone, given that the baseline medical technologies would probably cost in the ballpark of a billion dollars and ten years to demonstrate in laboratory animals. Yet so far, they are not showing much interest - wealth doesn't grant vision, sadly, so we should all be pleased when a high net worth visionary does turn up, even if he's not working to our own favored plan of action.

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

From the MIT Technology Review: "Alzheimer's patients given a drug that is already used to treat immune disorders saw their condition stabilize in a small study presented at a conference this week. Study participants were given the compound - known as intravenous Ig, or IVIg - for three years. During this period, they showed no signs of further cognitive decline or memory loss. ... All participants in the study had mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Only four received the optimal dose of IVIg over three years. These patients showed no decline from their baseline state in cognition, memory, daily functioning, or mood - all expected effects of the disease. Patients who initially received a placebo but were later switched to IVIg treatment declined more slowly while receiving the drug. IVIg [contains] a mixture of antibodies isolated from the pooled plasma of blood donated by healthy people. The assumption is that this blood by-product contains antibodies from the healthy donors that attack the damaged proteins in Alzheimer's patients. ... such results [should] inspire a large number of scientific studies aimed at identifying the functional ingredients in the immune mixture, so that others could potentially develop a synthetic form. ... I really do hope that it turns out to work, because then it gives a good platform to start finding out what components are in there, What is it in the IVIg - is it selective antibodies against beta-amyloid, against tau, or something else?"

Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428546/study-suggests-alzheimers-disease-can-be/

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

We accumulate random nuclear DNA damage - mutations - as we age. This is understood to increase the risk of cancer, as the more mutations that occur the greater the chance that one will be of the rare type that can spawn a cancer, but there is some debate over the degree to which nuclear DNA damage contributes to aging itself. Here researchers add some more data to the picture: "Hundreds of mutations exist in leukemia cells at the time of diagnosis, but nearly all occur randomly as a part of normal aging and are not related to cancer, new research shows. [Researchers] have found that even in healthy people, stem cells in the blood routinely accumulate new mutations over the course of a person's lifetime. And their research shows that in many cases only two or three additional genetic changes are required to transform a normal blood cell already dotted with mutations into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). ... The study is the first to investigate how often mutations typically develop in healthy stem cells in the blood. ... In recent years, [researchers] have sequenced the genomes of 200 patients with AML to try to understand the mutations at the root of the disease. Without fail, each patient's leukemia cells held hundreds of mutations, posing a conundrum for scientists, who have long believed that all the mutations in a cancer cell are likely to be important for the disease to progress. ... But we knew all of these mutations couldn't be important. It didn't make any sense to us that so many mutations were present in all the cells in the tumor. ... Every person has about 10,000 blood stem cells in their bone marrow, and the researchers found that each stem cell acquires about 10 mutations over the course of a year. By age 50, a person has accumulated nearly 500 mutations in every blood stem cell. ... Mutations are known to develop in cells as we age, but no one had any idea how many mutations occur in blood stem cells and how frequently they develop. These random, background mutations occur during cell division and are unrelated to cancer. Our DNA can tolerate a huge number of these hits without any negative consequences. But if a cancer-initiating event occurs in one of these stem cells, it captures the genetic history of that cell, including the earlier mutations, and drives leukemia to develop. ... scientists were surprised to see that the total number of mutations varied by age, not by whether a patient had leukemia. Thus, a healthy person in his 40s had just about the same number of mutations in his blood stem cells as a leukemia patient of the same age had in his cancer cells."

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120719132606.htm

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

More rejuvenation of stem cell function demonstrated in mice: "Researchers have rejuvenated aged hematopoietic stem cells to be functionally younger, offering intriguing clues into how medicine might one day fend off some ailments of old age. ... The paper brings new perspective to what has been a life science controversy - countering what used to be broad consensus that the aging of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) was locked in by nature and not reversible by therapeutic intervention. HSCs are stem cells that originate in the bone marrow and generate all of the body's red and white blood cells and platelets. They are an essential support mechanism of blood cells and the immune system. As humans and other species age, HSCs become more numerous but less effective at regenerating blood cells and immune cells. ... Researchers in the current study determined a protein that regulates cell signaling - Cdc42 - also controls a molecular process that causes HSCs from mice to age. Pharmacologic inhibition of Cdc42 reversed HSC aging and restored function similar to that of younger stem cells. ... We know the aging of HSCs reduces in part the response of the immune system response in older people, which contributes to diseases such as anemia, and may be the cause of tissue attrition in certain systems of the body. ... One reason the research team focused on Cdc42 is that previous studies have reported elevated activity of the protein in various tissue types of older mice - which have a natural life span of around two years. Also, elevated expression of Cdc42 has been found in immune system white blood cells in older humans. In the current study, researchers found elevated activity of Cdc42 in the HSCs of older mice. They also were able to induce premature aging of HSCs in mice by genetically increasing Cdc42 activity in the cells. ... To test the rejuvenated cells, the researchers used a process known as serial competitive transplantation. This included extracting HSCs from young (2-4 months) and aged (20-26 months) mice and processing them in laboratory cultures. Young and rejuvenated cells were then engrafted into recipient mice. This allowed scientists to compare how well young and rejuvenated aged HSCs started to repopulate and transform into different types of blood cells. It also confirmed that HSCs rejuvenated by targeting Cdc42 do function similarly to young stem cells."

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120503125808.htm

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

This weekend sees the Humanity+ 2012 conference in Melbourne, Australia, and you'll find good press on the topic of radical life extension at the Age:

When British gerontologist Aubrey de Grey talks about radical life extension for humans - decades, even centuries more of existence - he is not imagining us slogging by with brain plaque, loose dentures and walking frames. Rather, we would be in rude health, with all the hallmarks of age in abeyance, even retreat. No wrinkles, fraying organs, leaky bladders or aching joints. And not much need for aged care or pensions. ... In a world where life expectancy has already dramatically increased over the past century or two, we now face the likelihood of being able to custom-order fresh organs and body parts on 3D-printers, and to treating the basic causes of ageing with the likes of stem-cell therapy and nanotechnology.

De Grey and [Natasha] Vita-More, in Melbourne for this weekend's Humanity+ conference, are in the vanguard of futurists who believe that looking great or designing our bodies to suit (blue skin and magenta eyes anyone?) will be fringe benefits. That is because, in a fast-approaching era of living longer, healthier lives, it is expected we will have time to enjoy the wisdom and opportunities of getting older - we won't be so focused on all the medical appointments, decrepitude and fragility associated with old age. ... de Grey, who once said some of today's infants might live to 1000 years old, and who not so long ago was viewed sceptically by other scientists for his insistence that ageing is a preventable, treatable medical condition, now sees much broader acceptance of his ideas among scientists.

''Attitudes have changed enormously,'' he says. ''The feasibility of what I have been proposing is now generally accepted. It took a long time, because essentially ... people who were expert in regenerative medicine didn't know about ageing; and people expert in ageing didn't know about regenerative medicine.''

A bigger battle has been with the attitudes of the general population, who view ageing as natural and inevitable and who, asked if they would like to have much longer lifespans, deliver predictable objections, often saying they would get bored (so much for the human imagination). De Grey says these responses are because people don't think of ageing in the same category as other diseases: if they understood they could live much longer without medical problems or signs of ageing, they would be enthusiastic. ''They just don't think of [ageing] as a plausible target for medicine.''

Convincing at least a sizable minority of the public is absolutely necessary for the future growth of funding and the research community. On the large scale and over decades of time, the goals that are accomplished are generally those that are talked about, desired, debated, and looked forward to - the possibilities that are present in the great ongoing cultural conversation to a significant degree, in other words. That has a lot to do with the ease of raising funds and the influence upon career choices for up-and-coming scientists and technologists, amongst other factors. The first phase of producing working rejuvenation medicine by following the SENS approach - to fully rejuvenate mice in the laboratory - is a billion dollar program, something that will require a supportive and vocal community of at least tens of millions of supporters in the wider public.

Aubrey de Grey is right in saying that attitudes have changed enormously over the past decade - it's a whole different world in the scientific community when it comes to talking about aging and longevity, and more importantly when it comes to the respectability of doing something about extending healthy human life. We can hope that over the next decade much the same happens for the public at large, as the newfound respect and interest for longevity science spreads from researchers to be absorbed into the common wisdom.

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

From In Search of Enlightenment: "Looking back over our species' history, as told in fossil records, what do we find? ... Prehistoric human remains have never revealed individuals older than about 50 years of age, and humans had a life expectancy at birth of 30 years or less for more than 99.9% of the time that we have inhabited this planet. ... So for most of our species' history there was little progress in terms of increasing life expectancy at birth. But things began to change in the 19th century. Advances in technology (e.g. the sanitation revolution), medical knowledge, material resources and changes in behaviour helped change the future course of our species. ... The fossil records of the 21st century will be unique in our species' history for two reasons. Firstly, there will be more human remains this century than in any other century (because of the size of the human population). Furthermore, the vast majority of these deaths will be caused by chronic disease and will afflict people after the age of 60. Isn't it odd, given how many people are projected to suffer and die from chronic disease and given the rapid progress that is being made in the biomedical sciences, that we don't invest more of our energies into tackling the leading cause of chronic disease? Namely, aging. When future generations look back at the 21st century they will wonder why we didn't act sooner to try to ameliorate the high risks of morbidity and mortality that currently ravage our bodies and minds."

Link: http://colinfarrelly.blogspot.com/2011/12/fossil-records-past-and-present.html

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

The end of last month marked the close of the eighth year of Fight Aging!, and here we are in year nine of this bullheaded endeavor - the idea that the good can eventually drive out the bad in the online world of information on aging, longevity, and what best to do about the degenerations that await us all. Optimism shines eternal, I know, but as the science of human rejuvenation becomes ever closer to reality, the shysters and the marketeers of the "anti-aging" industry must eventually go the way of the real snake oil salesmen of old, travelling cart and all. Along with them must go the apologists for aging, the people who would force death upon everyone, and the other malignant naysayers.

Eight years was more than long enough for me to traverse that interesting section of life during which one first starts to notice the signs of decay - the things that don't work quite so well anymore, the initial small signs of what will be a lot worse later on. It makes it a good deal harder to avoid dwelling upon just how lousy the human condition is, all things considered. But that's all relative: I can tell you that the human condition is a raw deal because I can look ahead and see just how much of an improvement is possible through well-envisaged future technologies - not that there's anything special about being able to do that, but in this era we can be a lot more specific than our visionary ancestors. We can explain in some detail how we will defeat all disease, eliminate suffering, and of course remove aging as a threat to life and health. No serious, knowledgeable thinker can argue against these goals as possible and plausible, given our present understanding of physics and biology. We are machinery, our malfunctions are only a matter of atoms out of place, and precision control of atoms will be the basis for all of our technologies sooner or later. The world is our oyster in the realm of what is possible, but as always the question is how soon that future will arrive.

To my eyes, and as I noted recently, I think that this is absolutely a question of when the serious funding turns up. Progress towards rejuvenation biotechnology - the real, make a big difference therapies, not this incremental mainstream drug development that makes up nearly all present day work - is limited far more by money now than by the will to get the job done. A decade ago, this wasn't the case; the money wouldn't even have been solicited because the research community was stuck in the conservatism of silence regarding aging. Speaking of rejuvenation through medical science was the quick road to losing your funding.

It has been a privilege to watch those old attitudes dissolve so rapidly, a great deal of which is thanks to the efforts of volunteer groups like the Methuselah Foundation, outspoken advocates like Aubrey de Grey, and the support of hundred of grass-roots donors and thousands more people who made their own modest contributions to changing the culture of aging research. Every time I come across a new abstract listed in PubMed in which the authors say of their research "and this merits further investigation as the potential basis for a therapy to slow aging and extend healthy life," I am reminded to just how great a battle was won - and how recently. It was nothing less than a sea change, absolutely necessary as a precursor to what will come next.

But we're not getting any younger, the wages of success are to be taken for granted, and next year it'll be "but what have you done for me lately?" Rightly so, really - resting on laurels never got anything accomplished. The near future is a matter of money, and more so than the recent past: how much is going towards the most successful organizations and those working most directly on rejuvenation biotechnology, like the SENS Foundation. Money is the limiting factor for the progress produced by those organizations, as they are still comparatively small, with much room for growth in the work they can usefully start on within weeks of a check being written.

As a final thought for today, I'll note that there are days when it really doesn't seem like it has been eight years I've been doing this. But when you stop to look at the details early 2012 is a whole different world from early 2004. It might not look all that different when you stick your head out of the door, but change is happening.

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm