SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket with NASA CRS 7 Dragon launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida photo credit Carleton Bailie SpaceFlight Insider.
OK. In scientific terms, it is only a ‘hypothesis’ — the reverse of the ‘Disposable Soma’ theory of ageing. Here how it goes.
For the past several decades, the Disposable Soma theory of ageing has been enjoying good publicity and a lively interest from both academics and the public alike. It stands up to scientific scrutiny, makes conceptual sense and fits well within an evolutionary framework of ageing. The theory basically suggests that, due to energy resource constraints, there is a trade-off between somatic cell and germ cell repair. As a result, germ cells are being repaired effectively and so the survival of the species is assured, at a cost of individual somatic (bodily) ageing and death. To put it very simply, we are disposable, we age and die because all the effective repair mechanisms have been diverted to our germ cell DNA in order to guarantee the survival of our species.
The theory accounts for many repair pathways and mechanisms converging upon the germ cell, and also for many of those mechanisms being driven away from somatic cell repair just to ensure germ cell survival. In the past two or three years however, it is increasingly being realised that this process is not unidirectional (from soma to germ), but it is bi-directional: under certain circumstances, somatic cells may initiate damage that affects germ cells, and also that germ cells may initiate repairs that benefit somatic cells!
I can’t even begin to describe how important this bi-directionality is. Taking this in a wider and more speculative sense, it is, in fact, the basis for the cure of ageing. The discovery that germ cells can (or are forced to) relinquish their repair priorities, and that resources can then be re-allocated for somatic repairs instead, means that we may be able to avoid age-related damage (because this would be repaired with greater fidelity) and, at the same time, avoid overpopulation (as our now damaged genetic material would be unsuitable for reproduction).
Continue reading “The ‘Indispensable Soma’ theory of ageing” »
A nice article from Kurzweil AI on a transhumanist & life extension bus tour. If you haven’t contributed, please do so! Anyone from any country can donate, and even $5 helps! http://www.kurzweilai.net/transhumanist-party-presidential–… and the Indiegogo campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/…/immortality-bus-with…/x/6837406…
Google Ventures and the Search for Immortality
Bill Maris has $425 million to invest this year, and the freedom to invest it however he wants. He’s looking for companies that will slow aging, reverse disease, and extend life.
My newest initiative I’m very excited about. Please support it and contribute to it! Thanks!
Mark Zuckerberg was on Facebook last night conducting his regular Townhall Q&As, with a few not-so-regular people including Stephen Hawking and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Of the celebrity cast, Hawking was the only one who diverted the social media titan’s attention to science, asking him:
My latest story for Vice Motherboard: Is it time to start phasing out the institution of marriage now that we’re soon going to be living indefinitely? And what are the rules with marrying robots?
I’m helping to announce a public transhumanist and life extension rally and gathering this Saturday, June 27th at Sue Bierman Park in San Francisco (we’ll be meeting at Justin Herman Plaza in the Sue Bierman park). It’ll start at 2PM sharp and go for a few hours. Maria Konovalenko, myself, and others will be giving short speeches and talking to the public about transhumanism and the importance of longevity research. There is a notable TV channel with a large film crew that is… scheduled to film the event (I just met with them all this evening). Please wear orange or black (Transhumanist Party colors), and there will be a limited amount of free t-shirts and bumper stickers available. Check out the event page and please join us! This is an excellent opportunity to put transhumanism on TV. Thanks!
I have mentioned mTOR as one of the main aging genes on multiple occasions. It’s about time I tell you what it is, what it does and why it is so important in aging.
mTOR has a little m in front of TOR, which means I am speaking about mammals. It technically means «mechanistic» TOR, but think of it as the molecule that mice and all of us have, whereas in worms is it just TOR.
mTOR gene produces one mTOR protein that can act in two pretty different ways. mTOR does so, because it forms two complexes with other molecules. These complexes are called mTORC1 and mTORC2. Yeah, I know, it’s a lot of letters, but C1 and C2 stand for «complex 1» and «complex 2», so it kinda makes sense.
Continue reading “The mTOR Story Part 1 — What Makes This Important Pro-Aging Molecule Active?” »
“When resources are scarce, a species as a whole has a better shot at surviving if its populations are organizing themselves to promote long term survival with shorter individual lifespans. They are evolving to combat overpopulation and overconsumption, basically…humans could be living a lot longer than they do now—we have, after all, inherited a lifespan from times when our forebears were eking out an existence as scrappy hunter gatherers” Read more
