Category Archives: Human Longevity

By JENERALI ULIMWENGU

Last week I found myself joining India (and a great part of the world) in mourning a monument, in the person of the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, who had passed at the young age of 92.

I use the adjective young because the legacy this girl leaves behind her is forever juvenile and evergreen, so much so that she qualifies to be used in that famous expression Death be not so proud, by John Donne.

For, indeed, when you consider the work of this most illustrious diva, how can you not agree that even those that poor death believes to be able to overthrow do not in reality die.

What one achieves in those few days allowed by life offers enough span in which one expresses oneself as one wills to do and to expire only when one is assured of having done ones duty to humanity.

I came into contact with the Nightingale of India in high school, via the kind intervention of an Indian fellow student (I think his name was Akberali if I remember well) who taught me one of her famous sons, Mera Saya and soon I could sing it more or less well, and learnt what it meant: Wherever you go, my shadow will always follow you. I came to encounter that song many places I visited, until it soon became clear to me that it was a song that mobilised a lot of sentimental energy.

Of course, visiting India was such an occasion, but the song was in so many other places, including ones where I had not expected such a huge Indian artistic influence, such as when I visited Morocco for the first time in the 1970s, and found out, to my utter surprise, that Indian music was very much in vogue there.

Much has been said about Lata in the wake of her departure, but one thing remains incontrovertible. It is not only the longevity of her life that made her fame, for individuals abound who live as long as Methusellah but in the end leave only memories of disgust and bother, while some live only brief candle in the wind existences but upon death leave the world disconsolate.

The obvious example here is the Hollywood goddess, Marylin Monroe who got that title from Elton John, and others can be cited.

Longevity came in handy for Lata, yes, but she was helped by the fact her work as an artiste accompanied her nation in joy and sorrow, serenading a new and confident India at the dawn of a difficult and thorny independence, through the tribulations of the early years of the Cold War (a disastrous war with a no-less-assertive China), the imperious rule of a number of prime ministers including Indira Gandhi.

It could be said to have been decided by fate rather than her own volition, but every time her country were in dire need she was there to pride solace to sinking spirits and healing for bruised souls. No wonder, then, that most commentaries dwelt on the 1962 Indian disaster when it is aid that when she sang, Jawaharllal Pandit Nehru, the father of Indian independence, could not contain his tears.

Such women they tend to be all female can be found throughout history, as recent examples will show us. A quick search will tell us of the French icon, Edith Piaf, the Egyptian Oum Kulthoum, the American Joan Baez, the Cuban Celia Cruz, the South African Miriam Makeba, the Lebanese Fayrouz and others.

A nation is made up of so many elements, some of them even inimical to each other. In the case of India, a nation that was colonised by the British at the time that it was, saw itself sliced into two right at independence, and has ever since rekindled its aggressive antipathy to this day, so much so that the worst is feared every time flareup is reported in that zone.

Of course, it has never been all conflict, strife and war. Even the most fearsome warriors find a time to pause and engage in tournaments and festivals to allow themselves a breather. It is during those moments of respite that we experience the expressions of the beautiful representations of the human spirit, including sentiments of non-platonic love and the pursuit of sensual pleasures.

The combination of this and the patriotic fervour expressed when countries, nations and societies are faced with existential threats is what makes people like Mangeshkar immortal. They become the embodiment of a people when that peoples very existence is denied like Makeba under Apartheid; or Joan Baez under Richard Nixon, or Kulthoum under Israeli occupation; or Celia Cruz under the American embargo on Cuba; or Fayrouz amidst Israels pulverization of Beirut; or Joan Baez during Americas carpet-bombing of Vietnam.

To all these women of courage laced with beautiful voices, I raise my goblet to you: Meera saya, saathu hooga!

Jenerali Ulimwengu is now on YouTube via jeneralionline tv. E-mail: [emailprotected]

Read this article:
Go well Nightingale of India, your melodies will live forever - The East African

Decades of research has shown that limits on calorie intake by flies, worms, and mice can enhance life span in laboratory conditions. But whether such calorie restriction can do the same for humans remains unclear. Now a new study led by Yale researchers confirms the health benefits of moderate calorie restrictions in humans and identifies a key protein that could be harnessed to extend health in humans.

The findings were published Feb. 10 in Science.

The research was based on results from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) clinical trial, the first controlled study of calorie restriction in healthy humans. For the trial, researchers first established baseline calorie intake among more than 200 study participants. The researchers then asked a share of those participants to reduce their calorie intake by 14% while the rest continued to eat as usual, and analyzed the long-term health effects of calorie restriction over the next two years.

The overall aim of the clinical trial was to see if calorie restriction is as beneficial for humans as it is for lab animals, said Vishwa Deep Dixit, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Pathology, Immunobiology, and Comparative Medicine, and senior author of the study. And if it is, he said, researchers wanted to better understand what calorie restriction does to the body specifically that leads to improved health.

Since previous research has shown that calorie restriction in mice can increase infections, Dixit also wanted to determine how calorie restriction might be linked to inflammation and the immune response.

Because we know that chronic low-grade inflammation in humans is a major trigger of many chronic diseases and, therefore, has a negative effect on life span, said Dixit, who is also director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging. Here were asking: What is calorie restriction doing to the immune and metabolic systems and if it is indeed beneficial, how can we harness the endogenous pathways that mimic its effects in humans?

Dixit and his team started by analyzing the thymus, a gland that sits above the heart and produces T cells, a type of white blood cell and an essential part of the immune system. The thymus ages at a faster rate than other organs. By the time healthy adults reach the age of 40, said Dixit, 70% of the thymus is already fatty and nonfunctional. And as it ages, the thymus produces fewer T cells. As we get older, we begin to feel the absence of new T cells because the ones we have left arent great at fighting new pathogens, said Dixit. Thats one of the reasons why elderly people are at greater risk for illness.

For the study, the research team used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine if there were functional differences between the thymus glands of those who were restricting calories and those who were not. They found that the thymus glands in participants with limited calorie intake had less fat and greater functional volume after two years of calorie restriction, meaning they were producing more T cells than they were at the start of the study. But participants who werent restricting their calories had no change in functional volume.

The fact that this organ can be rejuvenated is, in my view, stunning because there is very little evidence of that happening in humans, said Dixit. That this is even possible is very exciting.

With such a dramatic effect on the thymus, Dixit and his colleagues expected to also find effects on the immune cells that the thymus was producing, changes that might underlie the overall benefits of calorie restriction. But when they sequenced the genes in those cells, they found there were no changes in gene expression after two years of calorie restriction.

This observation required the researchers to take a closer look, which revealed a surprising finding: It turns out that the action was really in the tissue microenvironment not the blood T cells, Dixit said.

Dixit and his team had studied adipose tissue, or body fat, of participants undergoing calorie restriction at three time points: at the beginning of the study, after one year, and after two. Body fat is very important, Dixit said, because it hosts a robust immune system. There are several types of immune cells in fat, and when they are aberrantly activated, they become a source of inflammation, he explained.

We found remarkable changes in the gene expression of adipose tissue after one year that were sustained through year two, said Dixit. This revealed some genes that were implicated in extending life in animals but also unique calorie restriction-mimicking targets that may improve metabolic and anti-inflammatory response in humans.

Recognizing this, the researchers then set out to see if any of the genes they identified in their analysis might be driving some of the beneficial effects of calorie restriction. They honed in on the gene for PLA2G7 or group VII A platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase which was one of the genes significantly inhibited following calorie restriction. PLA2G7 is a protein produced by immune cells known as macrophages.

This change in PLA2G7 gene expression observed in participants who were limiting their calorie intake suggested the protein might be linked to the effects of calorie restriction. To better understand if PLA2G7causedsome of the effects observed with calorie restriction, the researchers also tracked what happened when the protein was reduced in mice in a laboratory experiment.

We found that reducing PLA2G7 in mice yielded benefits that were similar to what we saw with calorie restriction in humans, said Olga Spadaro, a former research scientist at the Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study. Specifically, the thymus glands of these mice were functional for a longer time, the mice were protected from diet-induced weight gain, and they were protected from age-related inflammation.

These effects occurred because PLA2G7 targets a specific mechanism of inflammation called the NLRP3 inflammasome, researchers said. Lowering PLA2G7 protected aged mice from inflammation.

These findings demonstrate that PLA2G7 is one of the drivers of the effects of calorie restriction, said Dixit. Identifying these drivers helps us understand how the metabolic system and the immune system talk to each other, which can point us to potential targets that can improve immune function, reduce inflammation, and potentially even enhance healthy lifespan.

For instance, it might be possible to manipulate PLA2G7 and get the benefits of calorie restriction without having to actually restrict calories, which can be harmful for some people, he said.

Theres so much debate about what type of diet is better low carbohydrates or fat, increased protein, intermittent fasting, etc. and I think time will tell which of these are important, said Dixit. But CALERIE is a very well-controlled study that shows a simple reduction in calories, and no specific diet, has a remarkable effect in terms of biology and shifting the immuno-metabolic state in a direction thats protective of human health. So from a public health standpoint, I think it gives hope.

More here:
Calorie restriction trial reveals key factors in enhancing human health - Yale News

The first true longevity biotechnology family

There comes a time in everyones life when finding the perfect work-life balance becomes challenging. For many researchers and clinicians, work often takes precedence over everything else. Our desire to succeed professionally, push AI-driven research to new heights, and take novel drugs toward clinical trials can force us to set aside personal priorities like a spouse, family, personal and spiritual growth. There are many of us who enjoy and relish our professional lives, and theres nothing wrong with that. For example, immersing yourself completely in longevity research for the betterment of humankind is a very noble cause from the perspective of effective altruism.

But at the same time, it can be easy to normalize working long hours and exerting ourselves under extreme amounts of stress. Also sometimes, its just not possible to make changes at work. However, the lack of balance between professional and personal life can cause burnout (a syndrome that can impair job performance and result in poor health). So no matter how challenging it becomes to balance your professional and personal life, it is crucial to try and find a balance because it actually helps improve your physical, emotional and mental well-being. After all, whats the point of living a long and healthy life if youre neither happy nor feel fulfilled?

In my quest to figure out the perfect formula for a healthy work-life balance, a thought struck me: its very rare, almost impossible to find a PhD couple working in longevity. There are almost 8 billion people on the planet and it is safe to assume that around 3 billion of them are in their reproductive years. However, finding your true better half is sometimes very hard, and for some people it is almost impossible. It is especially difficult for scientists in the nascent field of longevity biotechnology - a new credible science of healthspan extension.

The longevity biotechnology industry is rapidly emerging with hundreds of scientists joining the field just in the past few years and multiple biotechnology companies openly stating life - and health - extension as their primary goal and operating within the credible biopharmaceutical framework. Over 2,500 scientists from all over the world regularly attend the annual ARDD meetings, thousands of medical doctors are engaging in longevity medicine, and there are tens of thousands of longevity enthusiasts.

After a series of articles covering the wonderful women in longevity medicine, on this Valentines Day I would like to point your attention to the worlds first Longevity Couple - two highly-educated and impactful professionals in this emerging new branch of biomedicine, who found each other, got married, and are living the dream, enjoying each others company, and making this world a little bit better every day.

Ned is 54 but looks at least 15 years younger. He is a serial company builder and a drug hunter, having co-founded four biotech companies: Syrrx, Achaogen, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, and UNITY Biotechnology. Collectively these companies have raised over $2 billion in the financing, have led to three successful IPOs, and two M&A acquisitions (Syrrx and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals were acquired by Takeda and Allergan, respectively). Ned is also responsible for four FDA-approved medicines, including Alogliptin, Trelagliptin, Zemdri, and Kybella. Apart from this, Ned holds dozens of allowed patents in various fields such as nano volume crystallography, antibiotic resistance, aesthetic medicine, and cellular senescence. His academic qualifications include a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and an AB in Biology from Harvard.

Dr. Maria Konovalenko obtained her PhD in the biology of aging in a joint program between the ... [+] University of Southern California and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

Maria is 34 but looks like a teenager. She is currently Scientist in Residence at Formic Ventures, a diversified venture capital firm that makes early stage investments in biotechnology startups focused on human longevity and tools that help accelerate scientific research. From 2008-2016, Maria was part of a team at a Moscow-based non-profit called The Science for Life Extension Foundation and has been raising funding for longevity and regenerative medicine research from both government and private sources. She is also one of the organizers of the Genetics of Aging and Longevity Conference series. Maria obtained her PhD in the biology of aging in a joint program between the University of Southern California and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. She got both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, probably the best physics and engineering school in the post-Soviet space.

In 2015, Ned was visiting the Buck Institute for Research and Aging to set up a new company. It was there that he crossed paths with Maria, who at the time was doing research on aging of stem cells in respiratory epithelium as well as the overlap between mTOR signaling and cellular senescence. Ned knew right then that he wanted to meet Maria. But he didnt want to approach her with a simple hi because he knew that wouldnt make much of an impression. Instead, he decided to take a different route.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JULY 29: Laura Deming of National Geographic Channels' 'Breakthrough' attends ... [+] the Getty Images Portrait Studio powered by Samsung Galaxy at 2015 Summer TCA's at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 29, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Samsung)

He rented a house in Napa Valley and recruited Laura Deming, a fellow longevity enthusiast whose work focuses on life extension, and using biological research to reduce or reverse the effects of aging. Ned and Laura planned a series of parties at Neds house as a way for Ned and Maria to meet with plausible deniability. The parties were spaced out by two weeks. The strategy worked; and after the second party, Ned invited Maria to a dinner date. I had no idea it was a date, Maria admits. Ned had to tell me explicitly, this is a date and Im interested in you. The two started dating and got married in 2018.

Not only are Ned and Maria a super successful PhD couple, they also maintain a very healthy balance between their professional and private lives. Being partnered with other scientists is something that will bring you tremendous joy and peace and simplicity in your life said Ned when I asked for his opinion on whether scientists should date other scientists, non-scientists just care about other things in the world.

Ned David and Maria Konovalenko

In this interview, we talked about how they met, what they talk about over breakfast (spoiler: it includes discussions on research papers and other cool stuff), how they spend their time together as a longevity couple, and we also talked about some of their favorite video games.

The world of biogerontology is very small and almost everyone knows each other, and for someone who spent over 18 years in the field and co-founded the largest conference in aging research for drug discovery, I know pretty much everyone. There are several well-known couples working in the field and I am hoping to cover them in the next Valentines Day edition, but no couple is as colorful and famous as these two PhD love birds.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Ned, tell us how you first became interested in longevity biotechnology? And how did that help you to meet Maria?

Ned David: Before I ever worked on anything related to longevity, I spent about 12 years as a drug hunter where I would build companies and put molecules in the clinic. I got involved in a project where we had to eliminate senescent cells; so we put a company together in that space. While I was incubating this company at the Buck Institute, I would see Maria walk by my office a few times a day because my office was right between her lab and the bathroom. Thats when I decided to meet this woman. I knew that simply going up to her and saying hi would be a terrible idea, so I actually recruited Laura Deming to help me. Laura and I came up with a plan of throwing a series of parties and inviting guests, but the purpose of these parties was so I could meet Maria with plausible deniability. When we were about 80% of the way through with the first party, and she hadn't shown up, I thought oh my God, we put all this energy and effort into this whole thing and she's not here! Then about an hour before the party was ending, she walked in and I was like oh yes, I'm so excited! We talked for three hours straight and that's when our relationship began.

Alex Zhavoronkov: How many parties did it take for you to go on your first date?

Ned David: The parties were spaced out by two weeks. At party one, I think Maria thought I was cool and interesting, but there were another two weeks until party two. We had a date after that party but she didn't seem to fully recognize that I was interested in her.

Maria Konovalenko: I had no idea it was a date. Ned had to tell me explicitly, this is a date and Im interested in you.

Ned David: You know, whatever kind of receptor allows one to detect if someone's interested in them, Marias has a loss of function. Id often notice when another male is interested in her, Id point out and say, you know that guy was flirting with you? And she would have no idea.

Maria Konovalenko: That's true. I can see what's going on around other people, in terms of romantic interests, but I can never detect anything that is directed at me. I don't know if its for the better or for worse.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Maria, now that we know the story from Neds perspective, can you tell us your perspective?

Maria Konovalenko: I have been a fan of Laura Deming even prior to being invited to the parties. So when she reached out to me with the invitation, I was really excited to go. The reason I was so late to reach the party was because there was a Conference on Effective Altruism at which Elon Musk was speaking that day at the Google offices in Menlo Park. Just imagine the geography; Menlo Park to Napa Valley was about a four-hour drive. I could barely feel myself after such a long drive but when I walked in and met Laura, I was so excited. But Laura very, very sweetly said, I actually have a co-host, come meet Ned. And so we started talking and didn't stop for three hours straight. And it was so amazing. I shared notes from the Gordon conference on aging that I went to, and we discussed some recent talks and I was just very impressed with how well-versed Ned was in the biology of aging.

Ned David: She thought my hair was weird.

Maria Konovalenko: Yeah, a little bit. I also met Neds son and it became obvious that we all share a love for video games.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Which ones?

Maria Konovalenko: At the time it was StarCraft. We also play DOTA and New World.

Ned David: Honestly, both Maria and I play a lot of video games.

Maria Konovalenko: But I don't do shooters, I'm more into strategy games.

Alex Zhavoronkov: So you both have a passion for video games. How much time do you think you spend playing video games each week?

Ned David: Since I have a lot of work to do these days, I can maybe carve out 20 minutes over the weekend.

Alex Zhavoronkov: What about you, Maria?

Maria Konovalenko: I would say I have a little bit more time than Ned.

Alex Zhavoronkov: So I'm curious to know how different it is, from the experience standpoint of any past relationship, to be in love with somebody who is also in longevity and is a scientist?

Ned David: I would say it means everything. Having the same values as your partner is the most important thing because ultimately, what are values? Its the things you care about. And ultimately, you are the sum of the things you care about, right? And if you end up caring about the same things as your partner, everything is easy. People always talk about relationships being lots of work. We've been together for almost seven years. It is not any work. Being with Maria is as easy as breathing.

Maria Konovalenko: I would second that from my perspective as well. Definitely.

Ned David: We almost never get into conflicts, you know, except occasionally over her playing too many video games.

Maria Konovalenko: .

Alex Zhavoronkov: Do you think you would ever be able to date somebody who is not a scientist or doesnt work in longevity?

Maria Konovalenko: Absolutely not. Well, first of all, I don't think I want to ever date anybody else.

Ned David: Yeah, but if suddenly either of us was vaporized from this earth, right? First of all, Maria is the love of my life. And you could screen through the other 3.5 billion humans and I would not find someone as well matched to the things I think are cool and beautiful and that I care about. I don't think it's longevity per se, but I do think it would be cuckoo not to be partnered with another scientist.

Alex Zhavoronkov: One of my friends once advised me not to marry another scientist because if I do, we would always end up competing with each other as scientists and one of us would have to take a dominant role. Do you feel that at all in your relationship?

Ned David: Some people might have a relatively narrow definition of what it means to be a scientist. Like, at an academic institution, people are competing for grants and tenure. Thats just neither of us. Thats not our lives. What's funny is, both of us are competitive athletes, but I don't think I'm fundamentally a very competitive person. And neither is she. Were fundamentally interested in building things that last and are beautiful, like making medicines.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Do you ever get into scientific arguments? And if yes, who takes the upper hand?

Maria Konovalenko: Rather than arguments, we have discussions.

Ned David: Yeah, we have epistemological disagreements.

Maria Konovalenko: If there is a bottleneck, let's say in a discussion of some sort, more often than not, it stems from me missing a certain piece of the puzzle or a certain anecdote. And then Ned and I always reach a consensus in the end. We have ongoing intellectual discussions that are not necessarily scientific in nature.

Ned David: They tend to be epistemological. Like the debate about what is knowable. And how do you know that you know something? So one area I think we have an ongoing debate about is the probability of general AI and its impact on our species. We also have different views on the pluses and minuses of social media and how it impacts science.

Alex Zhavoronkov: And what about longevity science?

Ned David: Almost every day.

Maria Konovalenko: Yeah.

Ned David: In the last 48 hours, two interesting papers came out. Each of us found the papers independently. She actually posted about it on social media without discussing it with me. We didnt even talk about what it did or didnt mean.

Maria Konovalenko: And these arent disagreements.

Ned David: Her reaction to the paper on limb regeneration was that it was really beautiful; my reaction to it was that this is the very beginning of that enterprise and how now is the time for omics to try to break apart what's going on.

Maria Konovalenko: And I dont disagree with that at all.

Ned David: So it just means we took different things from it.

Alex Zhavoronkov: So you discuss papers every day? Thats heaven!

Maria Konovalenko: Its absolute heaven! We also come up with ideas for experiments and we generate new ideas.

Ned David: This morning over coffee we talked about doing omics in that Xenopus regeneration model.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Do you have any plans of publishing papers together?

Maria Konovalenko: No.

Ned David: Because we don't live in a critically paper-driven world. She's now a venture capitalist investing money; I'm a company builder and drug hunter. So that's kind of where our mind goes.

Alex Zhavoronkov: How do you spend most of your free time together?

Ned David: Either cooking, walking the dogs, or watching some TV shows.

Alex Zhavoronkov: What about activities that are related to longevity?

Maria Konovalenko: We used to run together but now our backs wouldn't allow for that.

Alex Zhavoronkov: You guys have a little bit of an age gap as well, right?

Maria Konovalenko: 18 years apart.

Alex Zhavoronkov: So statistically, if you look at male and female longevity, Ned is expected to die sooner than you. Are you concerned about that at all?

Maria Konovalenko: Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor have a very, very big difference in age. In an NPR interview, they were asked the same thing and the older spouse said if she dies, she dies.

Alex Zhavoronkov: So the next question is, would you consider doing something about it? Ned, any plans for longevity interventions?

Ned David: Usually Im very proactive but the only thing I'm doing right now is rapamycin.

Maria Konovalenko: We also exercise a lot.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Do you know of other couples like you, who are longevity-focused and successful?

Maria Konovalenko: Well, there is Kristen Fortney and Justin Rebo - both of them are in longevity.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Oh, it slipped my mind, Kristen is a dear friend. I will need to add them to my list and interview them for Valentines longevity article next year. Also, there is Morgan Levine and her husband Zachary Levine. I think both of them were at Yale and now are going to Altos Labs. Both are established scientists and Morgan made contributions to aging biomarkers but I think that they are not openly promoting longevity biotechnology. It may be a good idea to interview them one day.

Alex Zhavoronkov: What would you like the readers to know about a longevity couple? What makes you proud about being together and being in longevity?

Maria Konovalenko: I don't know if it makes me proud but every day I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world being married to Ned. Pride would be the wrong word. It's just being able to share my life and my time with a very like-minded person who I share a lot of values and interests with. That's kind of the coolest thing.

Ned David: Same.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Is there any additional incentive to do more work on longevity when youre in a relationship?

Ned David: I would say so. Actually, we do some things together from the longevity protocol. So every year we do a full-body MRI.

Maria Konovalenko: To catch any early cancer.

Alex Zhavoronkov: Very cool idea.

Maria Konovalenko: We also do a liquid biopsy test for the same reason, and we do those things absolutely together.

Ned David: In all probability, just given genetics and our athletics thing, the thing that will likely kill us is cancer. And so, if you can basically every six months do a cancer screen for the whole body, right? That's what we're doing.

Alex Zhavoronkov: One last question for the other scientists in longevity, what would your recommendation be to find each other, and should they find each other?

Ned David: I absolutely think that for single people that are studying science, being partnered with other scientists is something that will bring you tremendous joy and peace and simplicity in your life. When I reflect on times before Maria, the silly disagreements that one got into because non-scientists just care about other things in the world, right? And having to go back and endure those value systems just sounds like a horror show.

Longevity Valentines

There are other famous families in academia where each spouse is working on aging and can call each other Doctor, including the famous Gorbunova and Seluanov laboratory at Rochester and Kristen Fortney and Justin Rebo and I hope to see more as the industry expands and more credible people join the field and partner. I am looking forward to covering these wonderful families next year. It is also worthwhile to highlight the wonderful and highly successful longevity physicians who, to the best of my knowledge are still single: Dr. Evelyne Bischof, Dr. Christine Huang Yuan, and Dr. Dina Radenkovic. Many of these wonderful scientists usually convene at the ARDD conference transpiring annually at the University of Copenhagen. I hope that Ned and Maria longevity union will serve as an example and model for the many of us in the longevity community.

See the rest here:
Forever In Love And In Love With Forever: Introducing The World's First True Longevity Couple - Forbes

In the dark reality of the pandemic, a long-running classic has brought a sense of hopeful nostalgia to the stage.

The Lion King is back in Seoul after nearly 3 years, and has once again shown why it captures so many hearts.

As the curtains go up, the audience is immediately enraptured by the march of animals as Futhi Mhlong, who has been playing mandrill Rafiki for the past 14 years, sings Circle of Life.

Even though the iconic entry of the animals through the aisles has been removed from the production this time, due to concerns over COVID-19, this is the moment when even those familiar with the beloved story from watching the 1994 animated film during childhood discover a fresh look of the story.

Giving this freshness is the double event approach, which shows the audience both the puppets and their puppeteers, allowing the puppeteers to visually express their emotions.

Julie Taymor created something which works in perfect harmony, a double event where not only you are watching animals on the stage, youre watching humans to help drive this human story through, Anthony Lawrence, who plays the villain Scar, told reporters during a press conference in Seoul last week. For me, I have moments where I am Scar the human, and I also have my moments why Im Scar, the lion, he added.

Getting used to the double event took a lot of practice for the actor. This included watching videos of the animals at the beginning of each rehearsal to assimilate their moves, as well as learning traditional Southeast Asian dances. The production drew on these exotic dances to bring lions to life in a unique way, according to Lawrence and other actors.

I spent a lot of hours training in front of a mirror to see exactly what I look like, and what the puppet looks like on top of my head, Lawrence said.

More importantly, actors had to learn how to incorporate themselves into their animal characters.

I try my best to focus on not only the (Southeast Asian dance) techniques, but also incorporating my human qualities into not only my body, but also linking it ... to the physicality of the mask thats attached to my head, Amanda Kunene, who plays lioness Nala, told reporters.

In addition to its theatrical mastery, the story itself has the power to send each audience member on an emotional journey.

No matter what youre going through, no matter what youre feeling, when you come into the theater and the lights go down, youre going to go on an emotional journey and have an experience that is like no other thing that youll experience, Dashaun Young, who has been playing Simba for years, said. He added that South Korean audiences do not shy away from expressing their emotional journeys through social networking services.

Ive gotten so many messages from people just trying to say how they felt about the show. And thats been a beautiful thing to see and respond to, and (be able to) talk to all you guys, Young said.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)

Original post:
The power of two: Double event secret behind stage longevity of Lion King - The Korea Herald

Back in 1907, Elie Metchnikoff was intrigued the number of centenarians in parts of the Bulgarian population; he found out that villagers living in the Caucasus Mountains enjoyed a daily tipple of a fermented yoghurt drink and discovered that a Lactobacillus probiotic appeared to foster improved health and long life.

Longevity.Technology: Metchnikoffs work inspired other scientists, including Japanese microbiologist Minoru Shirota; Shirota developed a new strain of friendly bacteria named Lactobacillus casei and turned his discovery into one of the first commercially-available probiotics, Yakult. Since then, fermented and probiotic foods, such as yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, miso and kimchi, have risen in popularity, crowding the chiller aisle and prompting shoppers to take their gut health seriously, and 115 years after Metchnikoffs discover,scientists have developed a probiotic that could make healthy aging as easy as opening the refrigerator.

The work on this next-generation probiotic took place at theInstitute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) in Guwahati, India and was led by scientist Mojibur Khan and Professor Ashis Mukherjee, director of the institute, in collaboration with Professor M C Kalita of Gauhati University and research scholars Arun Kumar and Tulsi Joishy. In previous research, the team had examinedbacteria of curds prepared using boiled milk and raw milk from dairy farms in Assam, India, and identified and isolated a potential probiotic bacterium.

This was taxonomically characterised as Lactobacillus plantarum strain JBC5, and the research team have tested its effects on our favourite longevity worm, Caenorhabditis elegans.

In a paper published in the journalAntioxidants, the researchers detail the following positive effects:

Although nematodes and humans might seem rather different from each other, 83% (15,344 sequences) of the C. elegans proteome has human homologous genes [2]. This means that the new probiotic might be able to delay the onset of age-related diseases suchas those linked to inflammation or a decline in cognitive functions, as well as being able to increase immunity in the elderly.

Having filed a patent, the team are now developing a yoghurt using this probiotic bacteria which they hope will deliver the same health benefits as demonstrated in C. elegans, as well as possibly having a positive effect on lifespan.

Commenting that aging is generally associated with a higher risk of age-related health issues, such as obesity, neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinsons, Alzheimers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, autoimmune and inflammatory bowel diseases), Professor Mukherjee said the team was hoping for a swift route to commercialisation to that people could benefit as soon as possible [3].

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358202764_A_Potential_Probiotic_Lactobacillus_plantarum_Improves_Longevity%5B2%5D https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC310876/%5B3%5D https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/scientists-find-new-probiotic-promoting-longevity/

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New probiotic that promotes longevity and healthy aging discovered - Longevity.Technology

Hearts Radiant, a Spanish startup thats building a longevity coach for seniors with the goal of extending quality of life through app-based personalized coaching designed to combat and even prevent frailty has closed a seed round of funding as it gears up to launch in the U.S., eyeing Floridas 4M+ over 65s.

We covered the startup as it came out of stealth to announce pre-seed funding for its digital coach, aka Rosita Longevity, back in October 2020. It followed that by launching out of beta in Spain at the end of 2020 and went on to amass around 2,000 very active users, with an average DAU/MAU of 30%.

The app is offered as both paid or a lighter, freemium version.

Over the first months we worked on creating adherence and medical plans and by September 2021 we came out of beta and launched our first paying cohort, says co-founder Juan Cartagena. The cohort was capped to 40 users paying an average $60/quarter because it involved many manual processes.

Over the last five months we have been working on automatizing those processes while delivering the service to those users (aside the other ones on the free version). To this day we have had just one person churning and an average DAU/MAU of about 80%, which is incredible for a non-chat product.

The idea for a personalized digital coach to motivate seniors to make lifestyle improvements to raise their quality of life and even, potentially the number of healthy years they can live grew out of an in-person spa/retreat for seniors run by the wife-husband founder team.

Digitizing programs developed at the spa and proving that digital coaching and other remotely delivered technologies can be as effective as in-person therapies is a key part of Hearts Radiants mission, as it works to scale a business that sells longevity as a service.

A clinical trial on its approach is still ongoing, with progress having been delayed somewhat by COVID-19. But the startup tells TechCrunch it plans to publish research on its methodology soon, possibly this summer.

The app-based coaching program packaged as Rosita Longevity focuses on encouraging (gentle) exercise as a way to boost seniors mobility and decrease frailty, as well as increasing their social connections (via cohort-based group classes) for an age group that can suffer especially from loneliness and associated mental health issues.

The app organizes seniors into different cohorts depending on their physical condition and muskulo-eskeletical symptoms in order to tailor support with AI used to help develop a personalized plan per user, based on information they provide about their mobility and any illnesses/conditions etc.

But core to the program is motivational coaching which is provided by (human) healthcare professionals who, while they are dispensing advice/classes digitally, are certainly not made of pixels.

The app-delivered program also provides seniors with other information on how to live better for longer, such as advice on diet, or provides support to manage chronic pain, such as through targeted physiotherapy, in addition to serving up info on relevant emerging research around ageing and longevity.

When you download the app you go through an evaluation process where Rosita learns where you are today and relevant issues of your past health, helps you set the goals for your next months and proposes an action plan to achieve them. The plan combines live and recorded sessions, follow up tests and group chats with our specialists that will cover all the questions and issues our seniors have, explains Cartagena.

We have found these group sessions very relevant in the senior community because as you age, most of the pathologies affect them in a very similar way (comorbidities are very similar and close in symptoms) so it feels very productive to group them in terms of learnings and follow ups.

Users inside of a cohort get a personalized plan but are coached in teams per cohort, leveraging social health and peer dynamics. So we are connecting the human part with the automated part for most impact, keeping a healthy trainer ratio, he adds.

The 2.4 million ($2.8 million) seed round was led by Barcelona-based impact fund, Ship2B ventures. Other investors include JME Ventures, KFund, Seedcamp, Bankinter, Seedlink Health, Telefonica Wayra, the University of Chicago, and a number of business angels including Cristobal Viedma (founder of Lingokids) and Poonam Sharma (a health veteran at Oscar Health).

As well as the seed funding the planned expansion into the U.S. where Cartagena says it will (at least initially) opt for the same b2c model, charging seniors to access a Prime version of the app that unlocks access to more classes/therapies the startup wants to spend on R&D with the goal of developing what he describes as longevity biomarkers with biomechanics and artificial vision.

Which is a condensed way of saying the startup hopes to be able to use computer vision/machine learning technologies to automate the detection and assessment of frailty/prefrailty in seniors to better tailor programs and interventions, even if the only hardware in the room is a relatively old smartphone with a not-so-amazing camera.

Further plans for the seed funding are to expand longevity plans to more specific cohorts based on a combination of behavioral patterns and health history so it can offer increasingly customized programs.

The holy grail of all of this is preventing frailty before it happens, adds Cartagena. Frailty and prefrailty are like being diabetic and prediabetic: It is just a matter of where you set the bar. Neither prefrailty nor prediabetes gets much attention but the impact to society is very large. We want to find the people who have the risk of becoming prefrail much much earlier, in their 60s and early 70s.

We are initially very focussed on functionality, which includes biomechanics, muskulo-eskeletical changes and other areas related (such as gait strength or patterns) that are proxies to mental health (even stronger than cognitive tests!) and literally life expectancy. As we grow we will combine these tests with other lifestyle data, blood tests, microbiome and epigenetic clocks.

Tests for frailty and prefrailty exist, but geriatricians can easily point a frail person by looking at how they walk a couple of steps. Therefore an AI might be able to do the same, he adds.

Asked about the ongoing clinical trials it intends to demonstrate the effectiveness of its digital programs, he suggests the key variable is consistency noting that the current paying cohort is doing 320 minutes+ of exercise a week (which even for in person coaching is amazing for the senior community).

What I believe we have proven with our pre-seed round, is that you can achieve high adherence and results with virtual coaching, Cartagena adds. The WHO recommends 150 minutes of physical activity for seniors per week (the average is less than 50 and most do 0 minutes (walking does not count)), and we are achieving a lot more than that (320 in paying users and 170 in non-paying users), plus people are feeling better so they are also becoming more active outside the App, which we do not measure properly yet. This amount of activity in seniors in really unheard of in geroscience.

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Spains Rosita Longevity, an app that helps seniors be more active, is headed to Florida - TechCrunch

As you can see, resveratrol is a potent phytonutrient with a number of physiological benefits. The downside? Resveratrol metabolizes quickly, making it absurdly difficult for the human body to utilize. So, how can we fully harness the power of this phytonutrient? Enter: piperine.

At mindbodygreen, we love resveratrol's antioxidant activity and longevity support so much that we knew it needed to be a part of the lineup of botanical bioactives (which includes big longevity players like glutathione, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) in our ultimate multivitamin+ formula (i.e., not your typical multi).* So, in addition to resveratrol derived from Japanese knotweed (the technical plant name is Polygonum cuspidatum), we added piperine from black pepper to directly promote resveratrol's bioavailability by aiding in its absorption.*

Stronger together, this dynamic duo works together to tackle oxidative stress, promote cellular resilience, and support longevity.*

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This Phytonutrient Is The Antioxidant & Longevity Player You Want On Your Team - mindbodygreen.com

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Soil tillage on farms may significantly reduce the availability in crops of ergothioneine (ERGO), an amino acid produced by certain types of soil-borne fungi and bacteria that is known as a longevity vitamin due to its potent antioxidant properties, according to new research by an interdisciplinary team at Penn State. The study is among the first to demonstrate that soil disturbance can directly impact a key dietary factor associated with long-term human health.

Research suggests that a lack of ergothioneine in the diet may result in increased incidences of chronic diseases of aging, such as Parkinsons Disease and Alzheimers Disease, and reduced life expectancy, said Robert Beelman, professor emeritus of food science.

Beelman noted that ERGO is produced by fungi, which is why mushrooms are among the leading dietary source of this amino acid. However, ERGO produced by soil-borne fungi also makes its way into plants.

Research has demonstrated that tillage of agricultural soils can disrupt fungi populations in the soil and compromise the availability of this important amino acid, said Sjoerd Duiker, professor of soil management and applied soil physics. This led us to speculate that agricultural soils that receive minimal or no tillage may have higher levels of fungi, and therefore, crops grown in these soils may have higher ERGO levels than crops grown with aggressive tillage.

To study the effects of tillage on ERGO content of crop plants, the team turned to an ongoing tillage study that began in 1978 at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs in central Pennsylvania. The study comprises a randomized complete block design with three tillage treatments moldboard plowing/disking/harrowing (MB), which represents the most intense tillage; chisel plowing/disking/harrowing (CD), which represents a medium amount of tillage; and no-till (NT) each replicated four times. The crops grown in the study include maize, soybeans and oats. The team collected grain samples from each of the treatments, ground them into powder and used liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy to analyze their ERGO content.

The researchers found that ERGO concentrations declined as tillage intensity increased. Specifically, from NT to MB, ERGO content declined by 32% for maize, 33% for soybeans and 28% for oats. In addition to being associated with reduced ERGO concentrations, increased tillage also was associated with reduced crop yields.

The teamsresultsappear in a recent issue of the journal Agronomy.

Recently, there has been growing interest in replacing conventional agricultural methods with regenerative agriculture, which includes the use of no-till or minimal tillage, to restore soil health, said Beelman. This is important, not only for the environment, but also for human health, as our research suggests that healthy soils produce healthier foods. The fact that we found that crop yields are also higher when tillage is reduced indicates that this practice may also be profitable for farmers.

Other Penn State authors on the paper include John Richie, professor of public health sciences and pharmacology; Allen Phillips, professor emeritus of biochemistry; Michael Kalaras, research associate in food science; and Dongxiao Sun, assistant professor of pharmacology.

The USDA and the Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health at Penn State partially supported this research.

Excerpt from:
Tillage Reduces Availability of 'Longevity Vitamin' Ergothioneine in Crops - No-Till Farmer

Novel delivery of established growth and neurotropic factors enables local, sustained release for greater efficacy in targeting vascular disease.

Alkem Laboratories, an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, has signed a licence agreement with Harvard Universitys Office of Technology Development (OTD) enabling Alkem to develop and commercialise a novel technology that could help meet the dire need for effective treatment of diabetic neuropathy, foot ulcers, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and other injuries caused by vascular disease.

Longevity.Technology: Vascular diseases can be caused by genetics, heart diseases (such as high cholesterolandhigh blood pressure) and diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for any form of vascular disease. Diabetic neuropathy is a serious, painful and disabling diabetes complication that may affect as many as 50% of people with diabetes and peripheral arterial disease can becomecritical limb ischaemia, the most severe form of PAD, which has a poor outlook indeed, half of patients are likely to die within five years. As with many diseases, age is a key risk factor, and although symptoms can be eased with lifestyle choices (not smoking, exercise, better diet), repairing the damage has proved tricky due to the difficulties of deploying tissue regenerative molecules, but Wysss new scaffold could overcome these and bring the hope of nerve and muscle repair to those with these life-limiting conditions.

Developed in the lab of David Mooney, PhD at Harvards Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the technology is an injectable, biocompatible scaffold for the sustained release of tissue-regenerative molecules. Alkem plans to apply its drug development and manufacturing capability to advance this technology from bench to bedside through the application of efficient translational, pre-clinical and clinical models.

This license agreement with Harvard enables us to harness an innovation with great clinical potential, identified and nurtured by the Wyss Institute, to bring novel treatments to market, said Alkems Managing Director, Sandeep Singh. It also serves as an example of Alkems commitment to fostering continued academic, clinical, and commercial collaborations to bring impactful medical technologies to patients [1].

Alkems President and Chief Medical Officer, Akhilesh Sharma added: This technologys novel, regenerative medicine approach could help fill a therapy gap in the treatment of multiple causes of ischemic tissue injuries, with the potential to avoid several thousands of foot deformities and amputations and provide relief from other ischemic conditions [1].

The licence grants Alkem commercialisation rights in the United States and India.

Donald Ingber, MD, PhD, the Wyss Institutes Founding Director, said, This technology license represents yet another successful initiative by the Wyss Institute to advance our mission of bringing lifesaving technologies out of the lab and into the real world. Alkems position in India gives it the potential to reach many millions of patients who do not have access to expensive, brand-name treatments, which could significantly contribute to the reduction of human suffering globally [1]. Ingber is the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Childrens Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard SEAS.

Tissue regenerative molecules are naturally occurring biomolecules in the human body that are known to help enhance tissue regrowth after injury or chronic disease. Despite their therapeutic promise, these biologics have not yet been developed into FDA-approved treatments because they are very rapidly cleared from the body, which dramatically reduces their efficacy. Furthermore, because of the high doses required to overcome the clearance challenge, there has been concern that these treatments could cause toxicity when administered to patients orally or via injection.

To solve this problem, researchers led by Mooney, a Wyss Core Faculty member and the Robert P Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard SEAS, developed a technique that encapsulates two tissue regenerative molecules into a biocompatible, precisely-designed scaffold that is injected under the skin at the site of ischemia and injury. The scaffold allows the molecules to be released in a sustained manner over time, which enables tissue regeneration at very low doses.

Initiated as a collaboration between researchers at Harvard SEAS and the Wyss Institute, the technology advanced through development and de-risking at the Wyss Institute to demonstrate proof-of-concept. Preclinical studies in multiple animal models conducted at the Wyss Institute and University of Michigan demonstrated that blood perfusion recovered to 8090%, muscle strength was restored to pre-injury levels, and nerve damage was reversed following injection with the treatment, and results persisted for several weeks to months. This novel enabling technology went through a thorough diligence process with Alkem, who were impressed by its potential use in populations worldwide to treat multiple ischemic conditions caused by vascular disease.

Scientists can point to many promising treatments for diseases and injuries that have never made it to the clinic, not because they dont work, but because delivering them via a classic injection or pill wasnt possible, said Mooney. Im hopeful that our success in solving that problem for these tissue regenerative biomolecules will inspire others in academia and industry to revisit some of those difficult drugs and make them available for more patients around the world [1]..

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Harvard regenerative tech treats injuries caused by vascular disease - Longevity.Technology

As insufferable couples the world over celebrate Valentines Day, those of us not in relationships can only sit by in silence, watching on as they shower each other in overpriced flowers, heart-shaped gifts and general soppiness.

But while the loved-up legions snog, smooch and snuggle, spare a thought for those who arent so lucky, especially those in later life. A new study published by the School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California has shown that loneliness in middle age and beyond can lead to a significantly higher chance of heart disease.

Its something that Sandeep Jauhar, cardiologist and author of Heart: A History, knows only too well. We know that grief or heartbreak has harmful effects on the heart and we know that people who are in unhappy relationships with their spouses tend to have more cardiac events, he says. But the question is, does being in love have direct biological effects on the heart?

And the answer, it appears, is yes. As a cardiologist with over 20 years experience, Jauhar has noted how those patients who have reported being in love or who are in a stable and happy relationship not only have better outcomes after suffering cardiac events but also tend to live longer.

While many studies concentrate on the negative effects of loneliness, there isnt a great deal of data on what being in love actually does to the heart but it stands to reason that emotional resilience, less stress and feeling in love are all tremendously beneficial for the heart, he says.

Certainly, the idea of heartbreak, or what Jauhar calls broken heart syndrome, does have direct biological effects on the heart. Termed takotsubo cardiomyopathy, it was first described by doctors in Japan and detailed how the heart becomes weaker after an episode of grief or stress like, for instance, the passing of a life partner or the end of a long-term relationship. Symptoms can often replicate the same sensations experienced during a heart attack, with patients often reporting shortness of breath and chest pain.

We also know, from old epidemiological studies, that spouses tend to die within one year of each other, adds Jauhar. But while there is a lot of evidence to show how emotional distress has negative effects, like broken heart syndrome, there are benefits from positive emotions like love that lead to increases in the parasympathetic nervous system, which can promote blood vessel dilation and other salutary effects that probably alleviate cardiac conditions.

But they arent the only benefits

If youre in a happy relationship youre less likely to suffer from the negative consequences of depression and anxiety. Studies have shown that being in love helps your body to produce more oxytocin the hormone that plays a key part in everything from trust and empathy to social behaviour to sexual reproduction and that, in turn, prompts the brain to release more dopamine and adrenaline, which is why your heart beats faster and why you feel happier.

Relationships are good at keeping a lid on stress. In a study from the University of Utah that looked at cohabiting couples, it was found that when they were separated for up to a week, they all registered higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as suffering from disturbed sleep when they were apart. When they were reunited, the cortisol declined while levels of oxytocin rose once more.

Anyone in a long-term relationship will find that theyre more motivated to ditch all those unhealthy habits they might have, like smoking or heavy drinking, thanks to the support and encouragement they'll receive from their partner. In a study published in the journal Psychology Today, it was found that if one half of a relationship was to stop drinking alcohol, the other half would be five times more likely to do the same. Being happy with your partner can also inspire you to achieve your fitness goals as youll feel more supported and more confident in your abilities. The extra adrenaline youll produce when youre working out will also act as an appetite suppressant so itll work wonders for the waistline, too.

All of the above means those in stable long-term relationships live longer. One study, by the State University of New York at Oswego revealed that when couples are together it leads to a fall in blood pressure for both parties, while academics at Harvard University found that married women are up to 20 per cent less likely to die of stress-related reasons than their single counterparts. Its even more pronounced for married men who are up to 200 per cent less likely to pass away because of issues like cirrhosis of the liver and heart disease.

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Four reasons why love is good for your health - Telegraph.co.uk