Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: life extension – Page 472

An Interview with Prof. Vittorio Sebastiano of Turn.Bio

We recently attended the Undoing Aging Conference in Berlin and had the opportunity to interview Professor Vittorio Sebastiano of Turn. Bio, a company developing partial cellular reprogramming techniques to reverse cellular aging.

As we age, our cells experience changes to their epigenetic markers, and this, in turn, changes gene expression, which is proposed to be a primary reason we age. Recently, there has been considerable interest in resetting these epigenetic markers to reverse cellular aging; induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) creation uses similar techniques.

However, unlike iPSCs, which are totally reprogrammed back to a developmental state and can become any other cell type in the body, the goal of partial cellular reprogramming is to reset the epigenetic aging markers in the cells without erasing cell identity. Researchers believe that exposing aged cells to reprogramming factors only for a very short time may be enough to reset cellular aging without causing the cells to forget their current roles.

Experts predict that we’ll be able to live up to 20% longer over the next 100 years. Here’s how humans are trying to live forever

Following is a transcript of the video.

The truth is, you’re going to die. We all are. That’s because unlike whooping cough or strep throat, death has no cure. But thanks to the latest medical breakthroughs we’re closer than ever to finding one. In fact, some experts predict that we’ll be able to live up to 20% longer over the next 100 years. That means children today might live until they’re 145 years old. And what about immortality? Well, even that’s not out of the question.

History is littered with unusual attempts to defy death. In 1920, for example, a Russian scientist thought he could prolong life by sewing a piece of monkey testicle to a human’s. And even more shockingly, the idea caught on. At least 300 people underwent the procedure. Ouch.

An Interview with Dr. Judith Campisi

In this interview with Dr. Judith Campisi at Undoing Aging 2019, she talks about senolytics, immunotherapy, and other scientific topics.

At Undoing Aging 2019, we interviewed some of the best researchers who are involved in discovering therapies for the root causes of aging. Their research aims to ameliorate the damages of aging and may one day lead to a future without age-related diseases.

Dr. Judith Campisi, one of the speakers at this conference, is a professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. We asked her about the capabilities and future of senolytic drugs, which remove senescent cells from the body, along with other, related topics.


Wonder drugs that target ‘zombie cells’ could reverse the ageing process and prevent diseases

With its pudgy body, tired eyes and hair loss, the lower mouse could easily be the father of the sprightly and alert animal nestling alongside.

But they are actually the same age, the result of extraordinary trials of drugs which are slowing down or even reversing the ageing process.

Scientists now believe that ageing itself is responsible for many major conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, arthritis, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. And they think they have found a way to turn it off.

Undoing Aging in the Viewfinder

LEAF Director Elena Milova shares a report from the recent Berlin Undoing Aging conference with you today. Hosted by the Forever Healthy Foundation and SENS Research Foundation, the event saw the leading figures in aging research come together for this superb conference.

The day after I got back from the Undoing Aging 2019 scientific conference, which was jointly organized by the SENS Research Foundation and Forever Healthy Foundation, Moscow greeted me with the first sunny days of the spring. Still tired and lacking sleep, but happy and inspired, I want to share my impressions of this year’s conference with you.

Actually, I began preparing for this event in the autumn of 2018, when it was first announced. I booked the hotel well in advance, including some spare rooms that could be transferred to our partners later on. B&B Alexanderplatz is located next to the conference venue Umspannwerk Alexanderplatz, literally next door, and it has a nice social space in the lobby, making it very handy for setting appointments with business partners, so we at LEAF decided to make it our headquarters once again. I arrived on March 26th, got some brief rest, and went downstairs to work while also keeping an eye on who was arriving.

Not long after I sat down, I saw some very familiar faces, as Maria Entraigues-Abramson and her husband Gary Abramson arrived. As part of the organizers’ team from the SRF, they came to Berlin early to help coordinate the preparation. Next, I saw our own VP Dr. Oliver Medvedik and his super-energetic friend, Jean Lam. Last but not least, I met Anna Dobryukha, the chief of the medical department at Komsomolskaya Pravda; she is one of the most famous Russian journalists writing about aging and longevity.

My Experiences At Undoing Aging 2019

A personal report from the recent Undoing Aging conference in Berlin by Nicola Bagalà. The event saw many of the leading figures in aging research and rejuvenation biotechnology attend a packed conference which celebrates its second successful year.

Last Wednesday, I landed in Berlin, Germany at around 12:30. About an hour later, I was briefly in Cafè Alex, right next to the tapering TV Tower, where I met some of my colleagues from LEAF—some of whom I had never seen in person before—as well as other volunteers and members of HEALES, our friend organization. We were all there to attend the Undoing Aging 2019 conference, which would take place over the course of the next three days, bringing together experts and researchers from all over the world to discuss the latest advances, network, and share views on the biology of aging.

Thanks to video calls, meeting people face-to-face whom you’d only known through the Internet isn’t all that strange, but meeting people whom you had only read about or seen on YouTube still feels a little unreal, especially if these people are celebrities in their own field. Shortly after leaving Cafè Alex, we headed to our hotel to check in; Steve Hill and his wife Fatima—whose help over the course of my stay has been invaluable—were talking to the receptionist while Elena Milova and I were waiting right behind them. Elena and I were chatting about various things when a man who looked somewhat familiar walked through the doors; I wasn’t sure he was whom I thought he was, and as I glanced to Elena to ask for confirmation, I understood that he was indeed stem cell pioneer and AgeX CEO Mike West, who has been in the gerontology scene for quite a while now.

After 3 days packed with exciting talks on how to bring aging under full medical control, over 40 awesome speakers, lots of positive and extremely motivating energy, an amazing Undoing Aging 2019 ended with a big party!

After being sold out this year with nearly 500 participants, we will be back in 2020!

Already missing us? Subscribe to the Undoing Aging YouTube channel to get notified when the UA2019 speaker presentations are released: youtube.com/c/UndoingAging