Lifeboat Foundation

Salamanders and lizards can regrow limbs. Certain worms and other creatures can generate just about any lost part — including a head — and the latest genetics research on body part regeneration is encouraging.

Since they are adult stem cells that have reverted back to a less developed — more pluripotent — state, iPSCs remind scientists of the stem cells that enable lizards to regrow limbs, and zebrafish to regrow hearts. When it comes to limbs, the understanding the regrowth process could help scientists promote nerve regeneration in cases when a limb is severely damaged, but not physically lost. Nerves of the human peripheral nervous system do have the ability to regrow, but whether this actually happens depends on the extent of the injury, so understanding the stem cell physiology in zebrafish and other animals could help clinicians fill the gap. The knowledge gained also could impact development of treatments aimed at promoting nerve regrowth in the central nervous system, for instance in the spinal cord after an injury.

Continue reading “Body part regeneration: How science can make the jump from fantasy to reality” »

Why is Alcor in Arizona? The main reason is that the risk of earthquakes and other natural disasters is fairly low. People opting for cryonics expect that their bodies might be in stasis for timescales measured in centuries.

As far as financial matters go, many of Alcor’s clients use life insurance policies to cover the cost of preservation and maintenance ($200,000 for a whole body or $80,000 for just the head). People use trust funds if they have net worth they want to recover when revived in the future.

Continue reading “Frozen in time: You can be cryogenically preserved, but will you ever be revived?” »

Cuenta con S/T en Español.

Aubrey de Grey during a panel discussion organized by the Foresight Institute, tells the importance of getting policymakers on board to further propel the crusade against aging and death.

Continue reading “Aubrey de Grey on the need of getting policymakers in the crusade against aging (March 2020)” »

Here’s the new IMMORTALITY OR BUST 2-min highlight video. The feature documentary will air on Amazon Prime/Video on June 23rd! Four years in the making, the award-winning film features celebrities, scientists & transhumanism activists along my Immortality Bus road trip. https://www.facebook.com/ZoltanGIstvan/videos/1497742500404615/ #ImmortalityOrBust

UC San Francisco researchers have discovered how a mutation in a gene regulator called the TERT promoter—the third most common mutation among all human cancers and the most common mutation in the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma—confers “immortality” on tumor cells, enabling the unchecked cell division that powers their aggressive growth.

The research, published September 10, 2018 in Cancer Cell, found that patient-derived glioblastoma cells with TERT promoter mutations depend on a particular form of a protein called GABP for their survival. GABP is critical to the workings of most cells, but the researchers discovered that the specific component of this protein that activates mutated TERT promoters, a subunit called GABP-ß1L, appears to be dispensable in normal cells: Eliminating this subunit using CRISPR-based gene editing dramatically slowed the growth of the human cancer cells in lab dishes and when they were transplanted into mice, but removing GABP-ß1L from healthy cells had no discernable effect.

“These findings suggest that the ß1L subunit is a promising new drug target for aggressive glioblastoma and potentially the many other cancers with TERT promoter mutations,” said study senior author Joseph Costello, Ph.D., a leading UCSF neuro-oncology researcher.

A new study reviews the state of the art of aging biomarkers and explores the future development of even better ways of measuring biological age.

The need for better aging biomarkers

Human life expectancy has been increasing throughout the 20th and 21st centuries due to improvements such as better access to healthcare and sanitation, lower child mortality, reduction of poverty, and better education access.

NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. This talk only represents the speaker’s personal views and understanding of aging which remains an emerging field of study. We’ve flagged this talk because it falls outside the content guidelines TED gives TEDx organizers. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf

Could we reverse epigenetic aging by re-growing the thymus? In the future, will it be possible to extend our lives or increase our longevity? Dr. Greg Fahy is a low-temperature biologist and investigator of aging intervention in humans. His first clinical trial, intended to reverse immune system aging, provided evidence that aging could be reversed in humans. Dr. Greg Fahy is a low-temperature biologist and investigator of aging intervention in humans. His first clinical trial, intended to reverse immune system aging, provided the first evidence that global aging can be reversed in humans. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

CHECK OUT SEASON 1 PLAYLIST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic9AV4mMbOQ&list=PL_GIV9cvJ8…itbMC34bPF

KEEP THE SHOW ON-AIR! : WWW.PATREON.COM/DEBTNATION

Continue reading “Sustainable Space & Renaissance Africa! /Phd. Malak 223. Debt Nation” »

A nightly jaunt on the exercise wheel enhances muscle-repair capabilities in old mice, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford School of Medicine.

Only older mice saw this benefit, which the researchers found is due to the rejuvenation of the animals’ muscle stem cells.

“The effect in old animals is very significant,” said Thomas Rando, MD, Ph.D., professor of neurology and neurological sciences and director of Stanford’s Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging. “We found that regular exercise restores youthfulness to tissue repair. Their muscle stem cells start to look and behave like those of much younger animals.”