Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: life extension – Page 50

Meet Ben Lamm

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On this mind-bending episode of Impact Theory, Tom Bilyeu sits down with Ben Lamm, the visionary entrepreneur behind Colossal Biosciences, to explore a world that sounds straight out of science fiction—yet is rapidly becoming our reality. Together, they pull back the curtain on the groundbreaking technology making de-extinction not only possible, but increasingly practical, from resurrecting woolly mammoths and dire wolves to saving endangered species and unraveling the secrets of longevity.

Ben explains how CRISPR gene editing has unlocked the power to make precise DNA changes—editing multiple genes simultaneously, synthesizing entirely new genetic blocks, and pushing the limits of what’s possible in biology and conservation. The conversation dives deep into the technical hurdles, ethical questions, and the unexpected magic of re-engineering life itself, whether it’s creating hairier, “woolly” mice or tackling the colossal challenge of artificial wombs and universal eggs.

But this episode goes way beyond Jurassic Park fantasies. Tom and Ben debate the future of human health, gene selection through IVF, the specter of eugenics, global competition in biotechnology, and how AI will soon supercharge the pace of biological engineering. They even touch on revolutionary solutions to our plastic crisis and what it means to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Get ready to have your mind expanded. This is not just a podcast about bringing back extinct creatures—it’s a deep dive into the next frontiers of life on Earth, the technologies changing everything, and the choices we’ll face as architects of our own biology. Let’s get legendary.

00:00 Meet Ben Lamm.

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Neuromelanin and selective neuronal vulnerability to Parkinson’s disease

Neuromelanin is a unique pigment made by some human catecholamine neurons. These neurons survive with their neuromelanin content for a lifetime but can also be affected by age-related neurodegenerative conditions, as observed using new neuromelanin imaging techniques. The limited quantities of neuromelanin has made understanding its normal biology difficult, but recent rodent and primate models, as well as omics studies, have confirmed its importance for selective neuronal loss in Parkinson’s disease (PD). We review the development of neuromelanin in dopamine versus noradrenaline neurons and focus on previously overlooked cellular organelles in neuromelanin formation and function. We discuss the role of neuromelanin in stimulating endogenous α-synuclein misfolding in PD which renders neuromelanin granules vulnerable, and can exacerbates other pathogenic processes.

Michael Levin—The Future of Intelligence: Synthbiosis

At the Artificiality Summit 2024, Michael Levin, distinguished professor of biology at Tufts University and associate at Harvard’s Wyss Institute, gave a lecture about the emerging field of diverse intelligence and his frameworks for recognizing and communicating with the unconventional intelligence of cells, tissues, and biological robots. This work has led to new approaches to regenerative medicine, cancer, and bioengineering, but also to new ways to understand evolution and embodied minds. He sketched out a space of possibilities—freedom of embodiment—which facilitates imagining a hopeful future of \.

Doctor behind 80-year happiness study was ‘shocked’ by the biggest predictor of a long, healthy life

What if the secret to longevity wasn’t in the mind or the gut — but in the heart?

Speaking at the inaugural New York Times Well Festival on Wednesday, psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Robert Waldinger announced he and his team were “shocked” by “the biggest predictor of who was going to live long and stay healthy.”

Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development — the longest-running scientific study of adult life — revealed the predictor was “how connected you were to other people and particularly the warmth of your connection to other people.”

AI tool uses face photos to estimate biological age and predict cancer outcomes

Eyes may be the window to the soul, but a person’s biological age could be reflected in their facial characteristics. Investigators from Mass General Brigham developed a deep learning algorithm called “FaceAge” that uses a photo of a person’s face to predict biological age and survival outcomes for patients with cancer.

They found that patients with , on average, had a higher FaceAge than those without and appeared about five years older than their .

Older FaceAge predictions were associated with worse overall across multiple cancer types. They also found that FaceAge outperformed clinicians in predicting short-term life expectancies of patients receiving palliative radiotherapy.

Distorting Transhumanism at Meridian Magazine

Meridian Magazine positions itself as a publication for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest Mormon denomination. I don’t know much about Meridian or the people behind it. But today I learned that they’re willing to publish a fear-mongering distortion of Transhumanism, “Human 2.0 Is Here — And You Didn’t Even Notice” by Alexis Tarkaleson. Despite their positioning, I wish to make make clear that such behavior is not aligned with the values that the Church advocates.

Tarkaleson says “mind uploading” is an outlandish tale. What’s her take on tales of transfiguration and resurrection? Are those equally outlandish? Surely she’s aware that those doctrines require the possibility of mind (or spirit body) moving from one physical body to another, consistent with hypotheses of mind uploading.

How about cryonics, yet another outlandish tale she identifies? I’m curious to know what she thinks about the Church’s advocacy to collect genealogy and preserve family history, with intent to facilitate redemption of the dead. And what about proxy rituals that we perform for the dead? Most of the world probably thinks the Church’s practices in these areas are at least as outlandish as those of cryonicists.

New study finds ‘simple selfie’ can help predict patients’ cancer survival

A selfie can be used as a tool to help doctors determine a patient’s “biological age” and judge how well they may respond to cancer treatment, a new study suggests.

Because humans age at “different rates” their physical appearance may help give insights into their so-called “biological age” – how old a person is physiologically, academics said.

The new FaceAge AI tool can estimate a person’s biological age, as opposed to their actual age, by scanning an image of their face, a new study found.

Mammal’s lifespans linked to brain size and immune system function, says new study

So size does matter?

Mammal’s lifespans linked to brain size and immune system function, says new study.

The researchers looked at the maximum lifespan potential of 46 species of mammals and mapped the genes shared across these species. The maximum lifespan potential (MLSP) is the longest ever recorded lifespan of a species, rather than the average lifespan, which is affected by factors such as predation and availability of food and other resources.

The researchers, publishing in the journal Scientific Reports, found that longer-lived species had a greater number of genes belonging to the gene families connected to the immune system, suggesting this as a major mechanism driving the evolution of longer lifespans across mammals.

For example, dolphins and whales, with relatively large brains have maximum lifespans of 39 and up to 100 years respectively, those with smaller brains like mice, may only live one or two years.

However, there were some species, such as mole rats, that bucked this trend, living up to 20 years despite their smaller brains. Bats also lived longer than would be expected given their small brains, but when their genomes were analysed, both these species had more genes associated with the immune system.

The results suggest that the immune system is central to sustaining longer life, probably by removing aging and damaged cells, controlling infections and preventing tumour formation.

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