Lifeboat Foundation

In his lively tour of longevity science and pseudoscience, Ward, a British reporter, discovers that researchers are largely not as interested in immortality per se as much as in helping us live fulfilling, active lives until our final day. And while some immortalists hope the culmination of this effort will eventually lead us to never finding that day, Ward leaves the question open.

He begins at the Church of Perpetual Life, a congregation of people who, instead of seeking paradise after death, would rather avoid their demise altogether. There, Ward meets Neal VanDeRee, the church’s pastor, who practices intermittent fasting and envisions a future in which biotechnology advances faster than our bodies break down.

VanDeRee is working to reach what he and other immortalists call “escape velocity” by extending their lives until biotechnology progresses fast enough to keep them alive forever. Another immortalist, Aubrey de Grey, sees this moment as surprisingly close — within 20 to 30 years, or maybe even sooner. It’s quite a claim, but is it possible? “Either we’ll discover we can make people healthy for longer but our lifespan is quite set, as most gerontologists believe, or de Grey’s longevity escape velocity will be proven correct,” Ward writes, never quite telling us which future he is betting on.

Aging remains a primary risk factor for a host of diseases, including leading causes of death. Aging and associated diseases are inherently multifactorial, with numerous contributing factors and phenotypes at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organismal scales. Despite the complexity of aging phenomena, models currently used in aging research possess limitations. Frequently used in vivo models often have important physiological differences, age at different rates, or are genetically engineered to match late disease phenotypes rather than early causes. Conversely, routinely used in vitro models lack the complex tissue-scale and systemic cues that are disrupted in aging.

San Diego based biotech Immunicom has developed an innovative therapeutic device that is intended to remove specific factors from blood that prevent our immune systems from fighting disease. Existing “therapeutic apheresis” treatments usually involve modification to cells harvested from patients or some form of plasma exchange. Immunicom’s technology uses a similar treatment procedure but says its approach of “capturing” targeted molecules is very different from other treatments.

Immunicom creates customised molecules that are designed to capture specific proteins or cytokines, but instead of turning those into drugs, it deploys them via its proprietary cartridges, which are essentially small liquid filters that can be fitted into any plasmapheresis machine. In a treatment similar to dialysis, the cartridges are used to treat a patient’s blood and plasma outside their body, reducing the levels of the target factors, with the goal of enabling the immune system to fight disease.

While Immunicom has focused its initial efforts on treatments for cancer, the company claims its technology can also potentially be applied to longevity and the treatment of a wide range of age-related diseases.

Enjoy my latest creation of video clips with S/T in Spanish, in this case made with selected excerpts from a video recently published by David Sinclair.

In the description of the video is the link for those who later want to see the full original video.

Continue reading “David Sinclair Talks about the Future of Longevity Research (Clips with S/T in Spanish)” »

While scientists around the world pursue ways to extend the human healthspan, cancer cells have found a way to become immortal.

For the first time, researchers have discovered how one type of cancer – melanoma – achieves that immortality.

New video: Dr. Aaron Cravens, CEO of Revel Pharmaceuticals at #RejuvenationStartupSummit 2022 about developing designer enzymes to treat diseases of aging, e.g. glucosepane crosslink breakers to prevent hardening of tissues such as muscle, skin, and arteries leading to increased blood pressure, vascular damage, and wrinkling of the skin.

Enjoy →

Continue reading “Aaron Cravens at Rejuvenation Startup Summit 2022” »

Structuring, Financing & Growing Novel Longevity Ventures — Dr. Tobias Reichmuth Ph.D., Founding Partner, Maximon

Dr. Tobias Reichmuth, Ph.D. is Founding Partner at Maximon (https://www.maximon.com/), The Longevity Company Builder, which empowers entrepreneurs to build impactful, science-based and scalable companies providing healthy aging and rejuvenation solutions.

Continue reading “Dr. Tobias Reichmuth, Ph.D. — Maximon — Structuring, Financing & Growing Novel Longevity Ventures” »

I don’t think immortality is possible because everything has it’s end.with with proper research in medical science life expectancy can be increased.

The pursuit of immortality is getting older. So are we.

Year 2020 face_with_colon_three

An international team of scientists have restored the vision in blind rats using a nanoparticle-based artificial retina prosthesis that can be injected directly into the eye. The scientific advance has been successfully demonstrated for a period of eight months without the need for surgery. While it is still early days for the research, it suggests it might one day be possible to use the conjugated polymer nanoparticle (P3HT-NP) treatment in humans to correct eye problems –ranging from hereditary retinal dystrophies to the incredibly common age-related macular degeneration.

“In our ‘liquid retina device,’ P3HT nanoparticles spread out over the entire subretinal space and promoted light-dependent activation of spared inner retinal neurons, recovering subcortical, cortical and behavioral visual responses,” Fabio Benfenati, research director at the Italian Institute of Technology, told Digital Trends. “We think that P3HT-NPs provide a new avenue in retinal prosthetics.”

Continue reading “Nanotech Injections Restore Vision In Blind Rats” »