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Senolytic Therapies Pose Revolutionary Potential to Roll Back Diseases of Aging

Unity CEO Anirvan Ghosh, Ph.D./courtesy of Unity Biotechnology

Senolytic therapies are, at this point, as revolutionary as checkpoint inhibitors but with broader effectiveness. This approach delays the onset of diseases of aging by removing senescent cells from the body, thus enabling people to remain healthier longer or to regain some degree of function lost to disease.

Senolytics is a new field and most of the research is still in academic centers – most notably, the Mayo Clinic. Approval of any therapeutics is years – perhaps even a decade – away.

Ceramides found to be key in aging muscle health

During aging, mice, like humans, become inactive and lose muscle mass and strength. A team of scientists led by Johan Auwerx at EPFL have now discovered that when mice age, their muscles become packed with ceramides. Ceramides, known for their use in skin care products, are sphingolipids, a class of fat molecules that are not used to produce energy but rather perform different tasks in the cell.

The researchers found that, in aging, there is an overload of the protein SPT and others, all of which are needed to convert and to ceramides. “The sphingolipids and ceramides are complex yet very interesting fat class, and there is high potential to further study their role in aging, as they perform many diverse functions,” says Dr. Pirkka-Pekka Laurila, a and the lead author of the study.

Next, the scientists wanted to see whether reducing ceramide overload could prevent age-related decline in muscle function. They treated with ceramide blockers, such as myriocin and the synthetic blocker Takeda-2, and used adeno-associated viruses to block ceramide synthesis specifically in muscle. The ceramide blockers prevented loss of during aging, made the mice stronger, and allowed them to run longer distances while improving their coordination.

A world-first project that uses ‘self-healing’ concrete to repair sewage pipes

This technology will not only extend the lifespan of concrete structures, but also promote a circular economy.

Sewer pipe corrosion, or crown corrosion, occurs when sewage pipe material comes into contact with sulphuric acid. The aging pipe material corrodes, and the pipes crack. Over the past few years, engineers have developed sewer bots to inspect sewage pipes and go to places unsafe for humans.

Professor Yan Zhuge, an engineering expert at the University of South Australia, is trialing a novel solution.


Vladimir Zapletin/iStock.

But that also means the robots would have to go to places where existing wireless communications cannot reach them. Hurdles are aplenty.

‘The Price of Immortality’: How long can gene therapy and cellular regeneration extend life?

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.

Organotypic cultures as aging associated disease models

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.

Innovative cancer treatment device has longevity potential

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.

David Sinclair Talks about the Future of Longevity Research (Clips with S/T in Spanish)

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.


This a set of clips taken from the video “David Sinclair Talks about the Future of Longevity Research; The Good & The Bad”.

In the clips I added subtitles in Spanish.

To watch the entire original video whichs last for 11 minutes, click here: https://youtu.be/1RJFxBtCxxM

Aaron Cravens at Rejuvenation Startup Summit 2022

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 →

For more summit videos and regular updates, visit: youtube.com/user/foreverhealthyorg


Aaron Cravens, CEO of Revel Pharmaceuticals at Rejuvenation Startup Summit 2022.

Connect to Forever Healthy:

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

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.

Maximon recently announced the launch of their 100 million CHF Longevity Co-Investment Fund, which will be looking to invest up to CHF 10 million per company, which allows them to finance up to 10–12 start-ups in this fast growing industry over the next four years.

In 2020, Dr. Reichmuth launched the Longevity Investors Conference together with Marc P. Bernegger, another Maximon Founding Partner.

Dr. Reichmuth previously founded the climate-change infrastructure fund / asset management company SUSI Partners AG, where he spent over a decade specializing in infrastructure investments in the context of energy transition (renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage solutions) and invested more than one billion Swiss francs.