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Archive for the ‘life extension’ category: Page 246

May 25, 2021

Regenerative medicine: breaking the wall of scepticism

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, internet, life extension, neuroscience

Is this the reason why the general public view the emerging field of regenerative medicine with such scepticism? Has a combined cultural history of being bombarded with empty promises of longevity made us numb to such a prospect? Possibly, although I believe it might go deeper than old fashioned scepticism. After all, our species is hardly a stranger to believing something if we desire for it to be true, regardless of how much evidence is presented to us.

Maybe we are simply experiencing just another example of humans finding dramatic change to our way of life hard to comprehend and accept. After all, practically every major change in our recent history was largely believed to be an impossibility by the general public, right up until the point that it became the norm. Everything from the aeroplane to the internet was seen as science fiction, but yet today they are integral parts of our lives. Now, this is not to say that everything the general public is sceptical of will inevitably turn out to prove them wrong, but lessons from our history do show that when it comes to scientific progress, the public will not believe it until they can see it.

Some would believe that scepticism towards regenerative medicine strikes at something much deeper in our psych, as it threatened to fundamentally change our entire outlook on the world. For our entire lives, we have been taught by our interactions with others exactly how life is supposed to progress. You are supposed to suffer a gradual decay of mental and physical abilities, until eventually you die. That is just how it is, and if that were to ever change then we would all have to change how we think about the world. The concept of a 125 year old with the appearance of a 25 year old seems bizarre to us right now, and to many the idea of ever lasting health just goes against their fundamental beliefs of how the world functions to such an extent that they cannot comprehend anything different. Some would even go far as to defend the ageing process as being an integral part of life, displaying what can only be described as ‘Stockholm syndrome with extra steps’.

May 25, 2021

How fast we age may hinge on one unexpected mineral

Posted by in category: life extension

Your genes may have more influence than anything you put into your body when it comes to how iron relates to longevity. Here’s what you need to know.

May 24, 2021

Mediterranean Diet for Longevity

Posted by in categories: food, life extension

I could find hardly any scientific studies that showed negative results from the Mediterranean Diet for longevity, which honestly makes me a little wary of scientific establishment groupthink.

That said, I think I am going to start taking shots of olive oil after all my research…


Is the Mediterranean Diet the key to longevity? Lots of research suggests olive oil and other Mediterranean foods can help you live longer.

May 22, 2021

Are There Foods That Can Increase NAD? (Part II)

Posted by in categories: food, life extension

Papers referenced in the video:

Therapeutic Potential of NAD-Boosting Molecules: The In Vivo Evidence:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29514064/

Continue reading “Are There Foods That Can Increase NAD? (Part II)” »

May 21, 2021

Polycarpa mytiligera can regrow all of its organs if dissected into three pieces

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

It might not look like much, but this little worm could hold the key to biological regeneration!


Researchers have made an extraordinary discovery using a creature in common to the Gulf of Eilat. The creature is called Polycarpa mytiligera and is a species of ascidian, which is a marine animal commonly found in the waters of the Gulf that is capable of regenerating its organs. Surprisingly, the researchers discovered the animal can regenerate all of its organs even when dissected into three fragments.

Scientists say that is an astounding discovery because it’s an animal belonging to the Phylum Chordata, which are animals with a dorsal cord, which also includes humans. The ability to regenerate organs itself is not uncommon in the animal kingdom. One example is the gecko able to regrow its tail. However, it’s not common for creatures to be able to regrow entire body systems.

Continue reading “Polycarpa mytiligera can regrow all of its organs if dissected into three pieces” »

May 21, 2021

Scientists use genetic engineering to increase worm’s lifespan

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, evolution, genetics, life extension

To answer this question, an internal team of scientists, consisting of researchers affiliated with the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing, and researchers from Nanjing University decided to modify both the Insulin and the rapamycin pathways of a group of C.elegans worms, expecting to see a cumulative result of a 130% increase in lifespan. However, instead of seeing a cumulative effect in lifespan, the worms lived five times longer than they normally would.

“The synergistic extension is really wild. The effect isn’t one plus one equals two, it’s one plus one equals five. Our findings demonstrate that nothing in nature exists in a vacuum; in order to develop the most effective anti-aging treatments we have to look at longevity networks rather than individual pathways.” – Jarad Rollins of Nanjing University.

What could this mean for human regenerative medicine? Humans are not worms, however on a cellular level they do possess very similar biology. Both the insulin pathway and the rapamycin pathway are what is known as ‘conserved’ between humans and C.elegans, meaning that these pathways have been maintained in both organisms. In the distant past, both humans and C.elegans had a common ancestor, in exactly the same way as humans and Chimpanzees have a common ancestor. Evolution has changed our bodies significantly over the millions of years that humans and C.elegans have diverged from one another, but a lot of our fundamental biological functions remain largely unchanged.

May 21, 2021

Boys Born Very Prematurely May Age Faster as Men

Posted by in category: life extension

**Low birth weight tied to accelerated aging in boys**

A study in Pediatrics found that boys who weigh less than 2 pounds at birth aged faster and were five years older biologically in their early 30s, compared with boys who were born at the same time but whose birth weights were normal. The findings were based on the genes of 45 individuals who were extremely low birth weight and those of 47 whose birth weights were normal.


MONDAY, May 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Boys who weigh less than 2 pounds at birth don’t age as well as their normal-weight peers, a long-term study finds.

Continue reading “Boys Born Very Prematurely May Age Faster as Men” »

May 21, 2021

Genetic tricks of the longest-lived animals

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

The secret to longevity is already in the animals around us.


Some species live unexpectedly long lives. By studying how they do it, researchers hope to pinpoint factors affecting human longevity.

Continue reading “Genetic tricks of the longest-lived animals” »

May 21, 2021

Fighting Aging With Gene Therapies | Liz Parrish Interview Series Episode 2

Posted by in categories: education, genetics, law, life extension, media & arts

Most important part comes at 1:49 where Liza talks about gene therapies for people to stop people from aging, reaching homeostasis, or even exceeding it a little bit.


In this video Liz introduces BioViva Science and how the company works with its partners in delivering gene therapies.

Continue reading “Fighting Aging With Gene Therapies | Liz Parrish Interview Series Episode 2” »

May 21, 2021

Faecal transplantation: the cure for forgetfulness?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, life extension, neuroscience

In our ongoing search to continuously improve our health, we occasionally pay lip service to the bacteria that live inside our gut. Normally this concern rarely manifests as anything more than occasionally remembering to buy some of those small bottles of pro-biotic yoghurts while shopping for your…


Recent discoveries have led to the conclusion that the gut plays an important role in cognitive function, with a large amount of research into understanding what is known as the gut-brain axis, which is the collective name given to the biochemical signalling pathways which take place between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system. With an ever-increasing understanding of this pathway, along with an expanded understand of the gut flora (which was found to decline with age), researchers started to ask how the gut flora are involved in the ageing process.

In order to test how exactly ageing gut flora effects the gut-brain axis, researchers at the University of East Anglia conducted a faecal transplant from elderly mice into younger mice. Following this transplant, the young mice were then put through a serious of tests to assess their cognitive abilities. The younger mice showed significant changes in their microbial profiles, as well as significantly impaired capacity for spatial learning, as well as a decreased capacity for memorisation. These mice also showed an altered expression of proteins associated with neurotransmission and neuroplasticity, along with changes in the mice’s hippocampus, which is responsible for allowing the mice to memories new information, as well as recalling previous memories.

Continue reading “Faecal transplantation: the cure for forgetfulness?” »