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Archive for the ‘life extension’ category: Page 523

Oct 15, 2016

Expert says the key to living longer is our RNA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Wonder if my friends Alex and Ray have read this.


An expert at the University of California discusses how spliced RNA could decipher ‘normal’ aged cells from pre-cancerous and cancerous ones, which could lead to detecting aging cells.

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Oct 14, 2016

Houston establishes itself as a pioneer in regenerative medicine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Inside Doris Taylor’s lab at the Texas Heart Institute are ethereal white pig hearts, stripped of their cells and now a blank slate of an organ.

Removing cells from an organ is fairly simple for scientists like Taylor. Rebuilding the organ by injecting stem cells is the tricky part.

But that’s exactly what Taylor hopes to do: grow a human heart by injecting human stem cells into a “decellularized” organ.

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Oct 13, 2016

The War On Obesity Is A Waste Of Resources, Aging Is The Real Enemy

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

As the WHO announces support of a sugary drinks tax, are we wasting resources tackling obesity over aging and age-related disease?

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Oct 13, 2016

ML30: George Church

Posted by in category: life extension

But our goal is not to be really really old for a long time It’s to reverse aging.


George Church speaking at the Media Lab’s 30th anniversary event.

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Oct 11, 2016

First human clinical trial for nicotinamide riboside

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

(credit: iStock)

In the first controlled clinical trial of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a newly discovered form of Vitamin B3, researchers have shown that the compound is safe for humans and increases levels of a cell metabolite called NAD+ that is critical for cellular energy production and protection against stress and DNA damage.

Levels of NAD+ (first discovered by biochemists in 1906) diminish with age, and it has been suggested that loss of this metabolite may play a role in age-related health decline.

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Oct 11, 2016

Brexit for Transhumanists: A Parable of Getting What You Wish For

Posted by in categories: governance, government, human trajectories, humor, life extension, Ray Kurzweil, transhumanism

For the past two years, Zoltan Istvan has been campaigning for the US presidency on the Transhumanist Party, a largely one-man show which nevertheless remains faithful to the basic tenets of transhumanism. Now suppose he won. Top of his policy agenda had been to ensure the immortality of all Americans. But even Zoltan realized that this would entail quite big changes in how the state and society function. So, shortly after being elected president, he decides to hold a national referendum on the matter.

The question on the ballot is one that makes the stakes crystal clear: ‘The government shall endeavour to release all Americans from the constraints of mortality’. Zoltan liked this way of putting things because were he to lose to the referendum, which he half-presumed, the opportunity to air publicly the relevant issues would continue to shift naysayers in Congress to increase funding for broadly anti-death research and treatments — a step in the right direction, as far as he’s concerned.

Zoltan also liked the idea that the referendum effectively ‘rotated the political axis’, from left-right to up-down, a turn of phrase he picked up from some philosopher whose name he couldn’t remember. But this also meant that the ensuing campaign, which was fierce, attracted a motley crew of supporters on both sides.

The ‘Remainers’ (as the anti-immortalists call themselves) were composed of a mix of traditional religious believers, environmental activists and hard-headed sceptics who distrust all transcendental hype, whether it comes from religion or science. In other words, those who wanted us to remain in our normal bodies held that our fate either is confined to our current circumstances or requires that we remain in those circumstances in order for something better to happen post mortem. The stakes were so high that even the Pope was called out to argue the case, which of course he was more than happy to do, Obama-style.

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Oct 9, 2016

A Russian Scientist Injected Himself With 3.5-Million-Year-Old Bacteria

Posted by in category: life extension

People have been hunting down the legendary fountain of youth since antiquity. Does it exist? Could it ever, even theoretically, exist? A Russian scientist named Dr. Anatoli Brouchkov believes it’s out there, and he thinks he found it in 3.5-million-year-old bacteria. So what does Dr. Brouchkov do next? Inject himself with it, of course.

The bacteria, Bacillus F, was discovered in Siberia in 2009. The bacteria was at once impressive because, despite being roughly 3.5 million years old, it was alive in Siberian permafrost. Brouchkov believes there is a mechanism in this bacteria that allowed it to stay alive in the frost for millions of years. Hey, if bacteria can do it, so can we, right? Who knows, but Dr. Brouchkov was eager enough to experiment with that thought to inject himself with the stuff. Though it’s hard to say if the bacteria “worked” to make the scientist immortal, Dr. Brouchkov claimed in 2015 that he’s feeling better than ever. Only time will tell the rest of his story… Hear more about the unbelievable tale in the video below.

Has he found the fountain of youth?

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Oct 9, 2016

Life Span Is Only Limited Without Intervention

Posted by in categories: futurism, life extension

Further criticism of the Nature article from Wednesday that suggested there was a limit to lifespan.


We’ve known there is a ‘natural’ maximal human life span for a while, but it would be extraordinarily naive to believe it will always be so

In the latest study published in Nature, researchers claim that human life span has a fundamental limit of around 115. This has been widely publicised around various news platforms, and has proved highly controversial, with many taking sides or making rather grandiose claims about future trajectories. After observing trends in survival from 1900 onwards, the team discovered that maximal life span has plateaued; forming a ceiling at around 115–120 years. Jeanne Calment is so far the longest lived (verified) person in history, passing away at an extensive 122 years. Despite dying in 1997, no one has surpassed her title in over 10 years. The research repeats previous observations and analysis suggesting that without intervention there is indeed a limit to human life span, and that it is exceedingly rare to approach this limit at all; explaining why Calment remains unchallenged.

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Oct 8, 2016

Short new video out on transhumanism

Posted by in categories: geopolitics, life extension, transhumanism

Short new video out on transhumanism via News:


Meet the 2016 presidential candidate who believes humans will eventually live forever.

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Oct 7, 2016

New method to detect ageing cells – and aid rejuvenation therapies — developed

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

A great new biomarker for senescent cells is available and will allow researchers to more measure levels of aged cells easier and faster. Great news for gerontologists wishing to demonstrate changes to aged cell populations after therapies.


Scientists have discovered a new way to look for ageing cells across a wide range of biological materials; the new method will boost understanding of cellular development and ageing as well as the causes of diverse diseases.

Frustrated by the limitations of commercially available biomarkers — researchers led by The University of Manchester’s Professor Paul Townsend and senior author of the resulting paper, and honorary professor at Manchester, Professor Vassilis Gorgoulis, have developed a universally applicable method to assess senescence across biomedicine, from cancer research to gerontology.

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