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Archive for the ‘life extension’ category: Page 102

Dec 2, 2022

Cardio-sarcopenia: A syndrome of concern in aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Cardiac alterations in structure and function, namely, the left ventricle, have been intensely studied for decades, in association with aging. In recent times, there has been keen interest in describing myocardial changes that accompany skeletal muscle changes in older adults. Initially described as a cardio-sarcopenia syndrome where alterations in myocardial structure were observed particularly among older adults with skeletal muscle sarcopenia, investigations into this syndrome have spurred a fresh level of interest in the cardiac-skeletal muscle axis. The purpose of this perspective is to summarize the background for this “syndrome of concern,” review the body of work generated by various human aging cohorts, and to explore future directions and opportunities for understanding this syndrome.

The traditional view of cardiovascular aging is that of age-related adaptations in the heart characterized by increased left ventricular (LV) mass (LVM) and LV hypertrophy (LVH), which are often secondary to increased systolic blood pressure mainly mediated by arterial stiffening (1, 2). These changes accumulate throughout the lifetime of an individual, increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as heart failure (HF) and coronary artery disease. The incidence of CVD increases with age, rising from ∼78% among adults aged 60–79 years to ∼90% in those aged above 80 years. CVD is the leading cause of disease burden in the world, with global prevalence doubling from 271 million to 523 million between 1990 and 2019. Incident CVD mortality increased from 12.1 million to 18.6 million in the same period , and accounted for 32% of all deaths. With rapidly aging national populations, these numbers are expected to increase.

Dec 1, 2022

The Failures and Opportunities of Immortality

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, business, life extension, singularity

Steven Parton [00:00:37] Hello everyone. My name is Steven Parton and you are listening to the feedback loop on Singularity Radio. This week our guest is business and technology reporter Peter Ward. Earlier this year, Peter released his book The Price of Immortality The Race to Live Forever, where he investigates the many movements and organizations that are seeking to increase the human lifespan from the Church of Perpetual Life in Florida to some of the biggest tech giants in Silicon Valley. In this episode, we explore Peter’s findings, which takes us on a tour from cryogenics to mind uploading from supplements to gene editing and much more. Along the way, we discuss the details of how one might actually achieve immortality, talking about senescent cells and telomeres. Discussing whether it’s better to live healthy than to live long. We also discuss the scams and failures that seem to dominate the longevity space, as well as the efforts that seem the most promising. And now, since we’re on the topic of discussing how precious life is, are waste no more of your precious time? So everyone, please welcome to the feedback loop. Peter Ward. Well then, Peter, thanks for joining me. I think the best place to start is in April of this year. You released a book called The Price of Immortality The Race to Live Forever and where I love to start with anyone who’s written a book is just hearing about your motivations for the book. Why did you decide that this was a topic worth exploring?

Dec 1, 2022

The Formula of Immortality

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

Dreaming about Immortality has a long history, almost as long as the failed quests to achieve it. And during all these years and years, the solutions for achieving immortality can fall in several categories. The first is to take some kind of “magic pill” – be it the fountain of youth, the elixir of life, the holy grail, till modern medicine of genetic engineering. After the magic “pills” proved to be a failure, the second attempt was through more creative endeavours, such as building a monastery, a temple, making a sculpture or painting, till nowadays when we talk about digital immortality and I guess soon about virtual immortality. And, of course, there were always the “party-spoilers”, the ones asking: why to be Immortal?

Humanity has changed in many ways, but the hope of the dream of Immortality remained and generation after generation, trying to find it in different ways or forms. So, keep with us as we travel alongside the deepest human dream, to see all (the failed) trials.

Dec 1, 2022

New AI-enabled study unravels the principles of aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, information science, life extension, robotics/AI

New work from Gero, conducted in collaboration with researchers from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Genome Protection Inc. and published in Nature Communications, demonstrates the power of AI combined with analytical tools borrowed from the physics of complex systems to provide insights into the nature of aging, resilience and future medical interventions for age-related diseases including cancer.

Longevity. Technology: Modern AI systems exhibit superhuman-level performance in medical diagnostics applications, such as identifying cancer on MRI scans. This time, the researchers took one step further and used AI to figure out principles that describe how the biological process of aging unfolds in time.

The researchers trained an AI algorithm on a large dataset composed of multiple blood tests taken along the life course of tens of thousands of aging mice to predict the future health state of an animal from its current state. The artificial neural network precisely projected the health condition of an aging mouse with the help of a single variable, which was termed dynamic frailty indicator (dFI) that accurately characterises the damage that an animal accumulates throughout life [1].

Dec 1, 2022

Scientists discover a new mechanism to generate cartilage cells

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

As any weekend warrior understands, cartilage injuries to joints such as knees, shoulders, and hips can prove extremely painful and debilitating. In addition, conditions that cause cartilage degeneration, like arthritis and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), affect 350 million people in the world and cost the U.S. public health system more than $303 billion every year. Patients suffering from these conditions experience increased pain and discomfort over time.

However, an exciting study led by faculty at The Forsyth Institute suggests new strategies for making with huge implications in regenerative medicine for future cartilage injuries and degeneration treatments. In a paper, entitled “GATA3 mediates nonclassical β-catenin signaling in skeletal determination and ectopic chondrogenesis,” co-first authors Takamitsu Maruyama and Daigaku Hasegawa, and senior author Wei Hsu, describe two breakthrough discoveries, including a new understanding of a multifaced protein called β-catenin.

Dr. Hsu is a senior scientist at the Forsyth Insitute and a Professor of Developmental Biology at Harvard University. He is also an affiliate faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Other members conducting the study included Swiss scientists Tomas Valenta and Konrad Basler, and Canadian scientists Jody Haigh and Maxime Bouchard. The study appears in the most recent issue of Science Advances.

Nov 30, 2022

Sexual-lineage-specific DNA methylation regulates meiosis in Arabidopsis

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

Year 2017 This is essentially the mechanism for plant immortality.


RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) activity in the Arabidopsis thaliana male sexual lineage that regulates gene expression in meiocytes. Loss of sexual-lineage-specific RdDM causes mis-splicing of the MPS1 gene (also known as PRD2), thereby disrupting meiosis. Our results establish a regulatory paradigm in which de novo methylation creates a cell-lineage-specific epigenetic signature that controls gene expression and contributes to cellular function in flowering plants.

Nov 30, 2022

How tardigrades come back from the dead

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

Year 2017 Basically the tardigrade is the most promising set of genes on any creature due to many types of survival genes like going years without food or even genes for radiation resistance which could be used in crispr to augment human genes.


Tardigrades — aka water bears or moss piglets — are perhaps the most resilient creatures on the planet, able to survive complete dehydration, space vacuum and being frozen. However, only recently have scientists begun to unravel the genes that underpin the tardigrade’s biological superpowers. “They’re 0.2mm to 1mm in length and despite being so small they are able to do all these things we cannot,” says Mark Blaxter, a biologist at the University of Edinburgh who has been studying tardigrades for 20 years. “In their DNA, they hold a cornucopia of secrets.”

With Kazurahu Arakawa, from the University of Keio, Japan, Blaxter recently analysed the first true tardigrade genome. The results, published today in the open access journal PLOS Biology, are a first step towards explaining the genetics underpinning the tardigrade’s extraordinary resilience and to pinpoint its place within the evolutionary tree of life. We spoke to Blaxter about his new research and his fascination for this remarkable little animal.

Continue reading “How tardigrades come back from the dead” »

Nov 30, 2022

What Happens When Everyone Realises We Can Live Much Longer? We May Find Out As Soon As 2025

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Let’s not just cure cancer: let’s cure aging One of the most exciting areas of modern scientific research is the investigation of the causes and cures for aging. Not individual diseases like cancer and heart disease, but the processes which make us elderly and frail, and which thereby make us more susceptible to these diseases.

Nov 30, 2022

Dr Katcher’s E5 Experiment November 2022 Update

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, media & arts

Short version: One treated rat is sill alive and equivalent to a 110 year old human.


In this video we review the latest updates from Dr Katcher’s Lifespan trials and NEEL clinical trials.
NTZ Newsletter.
https://www.ntzplural.com/newsletter.
NEEL website.
https://www.neel.bio.

Continue reading “Dr Katcher’s E5 Experiment November 2022 Update” »

Nov 30, 2022

New small molecule drug for lowering cholesterol

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

After statins, the next leading class of medications for managing cholesterol are PCSK9 inhibitors. These highly effective agents help the body pull excess cholesterol from the blood, but unlike statins, which are available as oral agents, PCSK9 inhibitors can only be administered as injections, creating barriers to their use.

Longevity. Technology: Having high cholesterol can increase the risk of heart and circulatory diseases such as heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia, but a new study from investigators at University Hospitals (UH) and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine details an orally administered small-molecule drug that reduces PCSK9 levels and lowers cholesterol in animal models by 70%. Published in Cell Reports, the findings represent a previously unrecognised strategy for managing cholesterol and may also impact cancer treatments.

Cardiovascular disease ranking as the world’s number one killer, so it’s no surprise that a significant amount of research into potential therapeutic options is ongoing; just last week we looked at Cyclarity’s rationally-designed cyclodextrin molecules that remove arterial plaque by clearing the non-degradable oxidised cholesterol and which can be used in conjunction with statins for a broad-spectrum approach. Our report into Cyclarity’s new platform comes out next week, so stay tuned!