To Defeat Frailty

To Defeat Frailty: "Viewpoints on aging - on therapies, what aging is, and how much can be done to stop it - continue to change for the better. From the San Franciso Chronicle: 'Researchers are finding that frailty may not be the inevitable result of aging but rather is a preventable and perhaps treatable condition. The muscle weakness, exhaustion, and weight loss typical of frailty were until recently considered just byproducts of diseases and the general loss of vitality during one's advanced years. Now scientists are studying the condition in its own right.' The article looks at very early first steps, both in opinions of aging and medical science. In the years ahead, we will be able to do far more to prevent aspects of age-related degeneration and thus extend healthy life span - but only if a foundation of widespread support and understanding for scientific longevity research is set down now.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/10/MNGRIL07L01.DTL
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

Studies find general mechanism of cellular aging

Studies find general mechanism of cellular aging: "Three separate studies confirm a gene that suppresses tumor cell growth also plays a key role in aging. Teams from the medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Michigan and Harvard University observed similar results in pancreatic islet cells and brain and blood stem cells."

A Mechanism of Cellular Aging

A Mechanism of Cellular Aging: "Via EurekAlert!, a biomechanism of cellular aging: 'Three separate studies confirm a gene that suppresses tumor cell growth also plays a key role in aging. The researchers found increasing concentration, or expression, of the gene p16INK4a in older cells; these aging cells worked poorly compared to young cells and remembered their 'age' even when transferred from old mice to young mice. ... The studies indicate that certain stem cells lose their ability to divide and replace themselves with age as the expression of p16INK4a increases ... even though old mice lacking p16INK4a show enhanced stem cell function, they do not live longer. This is because p16INK4a is an important cancer-suppressor gene, and mice lacking p16INK4a develop more cancers than old, normal mice ... p16INK4a loss was associated with an improvement in some but not all of the consequences of aging.' The age-old story: cancer or aging, pick one. Setting forth to repair the accumulation of damage seems like a better plan than tweaking the mechanism for greater performance at this point.

View the Article "

New cell-based targets for treating autoimmune inflammatory diseases

New cell-based targets for treating autoimmune inflammatory diseases: "A new study indicates the critical role of platelet function in this dire form of autoimmune kidney disease, crescentic glomerulonenephritis (CGN)."

Juices may reduce Alzheimer's disease risk

Juices may reduce Alzheimer's disease risk: "A juice every other day could keep Alzheimer's disease at bay, new research suggests. In a large epidemiological study, researchers found that people who drank three or more servings of fruit and vegetable juices per week had a 76 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who drank juice less than once per week."

Disabling a carbohydrate trigger reduces obesity and appetite

Disabling a carbohydrate trigger reduces obesity and appetite: "The absence of a key protein prevents normally obese mice from becoming fat, lowers their blood triglycerides, a type of fat, and reduces the insulin resistance related to type 2 diabetes, researchers have found. The study provides further insight into the role that carbohydrate response element binding protein plays in converting excess carbohydrates to fatty acids for long-term storage."

Discussing the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS)

Discussing the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS): "If you are interested in learning more about the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), as well as debating its merits with knowledgeable folk, I recommend a visit to the SENS forum hosted by the Immortality Institute. Supporters of the SENS proposals and overlapping efforts - such as the LysoSENS research and MPrize for anti-aging research organized by the Methuselah Foundation - have quite different views on the future and emphasis of areas within SENS, not to mention the ethics that come with it. The ethos of full steam ahead to radical life extension is not a big tent position yet (you have to be much more moderate to obtain big tent status in 2006, sad to say), but it's big enough to shelter a number of very interesting debates and challenges. For example: Is SENS Complete? Does Achilles heel need binding? telomere loss, which part of sens deals with this? Improving SENS? Breaking it down... We'll start with chromosomal DNA damage Allotopic Expression & the 'Mitochondrial Problem' ... & alternative solutions Jump right o"

Healing potential discovered in everyday human brain cells

Healing potential discovered in everyday human brain cells: "UF McKnight Brain Institute scientists document for the first time the ability of common human brain cells to morph into different cell types. They used mature human brain cells taken from epilepsy patients to generate new brain tissue in mice. Furthermore, they can coax these cells to produce large amounts of new brain cells in culture, potentially creating a source of cells that can be used to fight a host of other brain disorders."

Better Commentary on Mitochondria, Evolution and Longevity

Better Commentary on Mitochondria, Evolution and Longevity: "I briefly noted a recent paper on evolution, mitochondrial biochemistry and longevity at the Longevity Meme a little while ago. I suggested, rather tersely, the possibility that longevity was not in fact directly selected, but rather was a pleasant side effect of other evolutionary pressures on mammalian biochemistry. The commentary at Ouroboros is of a much higher quality, needless to say: The point toward which I am laboring is this: If we are to use correlative studies as a guide to instruct future mechanistic studies, it's best to know which variables are the strongest correlates of one another, and which are merely piggybacking. In this case, since maximum lifespan is concealed from selection in the wild, one might lean toward a model in which mitochondrial proteins co-evolved with the metabolic demands of body size, with lifespan changes as a spandrel - in contrast to the author's model, in which lifespan is the driving force of mitochondrial evolution. These objections fall short of pistols-at-noon disagreement with either the model, prediction or conclusions of"

Flavanol-rich cocoa improves blood vessel function in aging baby boomer study participants

Flavanol-rich cocoa improves blood vessel function in aging baby boomer study participants: "New research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Hypertension, has found that flavanol-rich cocoa helps to improve blood vessel function, especially in older adults. Researchers at Harvard and Brigham and Women's Hospital looked at healthy adults to see how their blood vessel function was affected by a flavanol-rich cocoa beverage. At the end of the study, the greatest improvement in blood vessel function was seen in the men and women over the age of 50."

On Inflammation and Disease

On Inflammation and Disease: "Via Scenta, a popular science piece on the bugbear of chronic inflammation: 'When an infection occurs, immune cells flock to the area and secrete large amounts of highly reactive chemicals to combat the invader. But these inflammatory chemicals also attack normal tissue surrounding the infection and damage critical components of cells, including DNA. During chronic inflammation, the damage may lead to mutations or cell death and even to cancer and other diseases. [Researchers] have discovered that the DNA damage produced by one of these inflammatory chemicals, nitrosoperoxycarbonate, occurs at unexpected locations along the DNA helix. The finding counters the prevailing theory about where the DNA damage occurs and may shed light on new ways to diagnose and combat inflammation ... We need to understand the mechanisms of inflammation in order to make new drugs that will break the link between inflammation and disease and to develop predictive biomarkers.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfm?cit_id=997466&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1
Read More Longevity Meme"

Innovative method for creating a human cytomegalovirus vaccine outlined

Innovative method for creating a human cytomegalovirus vaccine outlined: "Each year, about 40,000 children are born infected with human cytomegalovirus, or CMV, and about 8,000 of these children suffer permanent disabilities due to the virus. Because of the dangers of the virus, the Institute of Medicine has declared that development of a CMV vaccine should be one of the highest priorities for vaccine makers. Now, researchers at the Wistar Institute outline an innovative approach that could be used to create such a vaccine."

Chemicals in curry and onions may help prevent colon cancer

Chemicals in curry and onions may help prevent colon cancer: "A small but informative clinical trial by Johns Hopkins investigators shows that a pill combining chemicals found in turmeric, a spice used in curries, and onions reduces both the size and number of precancerous lesions in the human intestinal tract."

UCLA study shows altering fatty acid levels in diet may reduce prostate cancer growth rate

UCLA study shows altering fatty acid levels in diet may reduce prostate cancer growth rate: "UCLA researchers found that altering the fatty acid ratio found in the typical Western diet to include more omega-3 fatty acids and decreasing the amount of omega-6 fatty acids may reduce prostate cancer tumor growth rates and PSA levels. This initial animal model study is one of the first to show the impact of lowering an inflammatory response known to promote prostate cancer tumor progression."

Groundbreaking research highlights myriad health benefits of flavanol-rich cocoa

Groundbreaking research highlights myriad health benefits of flavanol-rich cocoa: "Newly published research on the circulatory benefits of flavanol-rich cocoa, including the first observed brain and cardiovascular blood flow improvements, are highlighted in the latest issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, in a supplement that focuses on the potential health benefits of flavanol-rich cocoa."

A Gentle Introduction to Telomeres, Aging and Promising Cancer Research

A Gentle Introduction to Telomeres, Aging and Promising Cancer Research: "The Telegraph recently delivered an introductory popular science article on the implications and near future of telomere research: Within each and every one of your trillions of cells sits a molecular hour-glass. The time when each and every cell must stop dividing comes closer with every grain of sand that drops through this tiny clock. The grains are letters of DNA code that fall off these cellular timepieces. Scientists call them telomeres and there is good evidence that they go wrong in cancer so that, by fixing them, tumours could be made to expire on schedule. Earlier this month, a team in California managed to inhibit the spread of melanoma skin cancer by exploiting this mechanism. Longer life for your cells is not necessarily a good thing - cancer cells are an immortal machinery run amok, for example; an ultimately fatal hazard to finely tuned biochemistry that depends on cellular turnover and lifecycles. The melanoma research mentioned above is worth further reading if you are interested in seeing a facet of telomere research in action: In the st"

LysoSENS Is Recruiting

LysoSENS Is Recruiting: "As researcher John Schloendorn notes over at the Immortality Institute, the portion of the LysoSENS research program based in Tempe is actively recruiting: 'We offer: the opportunity to truly make a difference and bring SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) research forward. Flexible conditions: Your responsibilities will reflect your qualifications; apply to come for weeks, months or permanently. Cutting edge working environment and a reputable entry on your CV. Research credits for a degree at Arizona State, if you are pursuing one. If elsewhere, you can probably get this work accredited, too. Enabling financial support, but no competitive salary. We want: The motivation to make personal sacrifices in order to help with curing aging and experience in molecular biology.' It is good to see growth in the first SENS research project funded by Methuselah Foundation donors.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=173&t=11698
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

New source of multipotent adult stem cells discovered in human hair follicles

New source of multipotent adult stem cells discovered in human hair follicles: "Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have isolated a new source of adult stem cells that appear to have the potential to differentiate into several cell types. Their approach could one day provide the tissue needed by an individual for treating a host of disorders, including peripheral nerve disease, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injury."

On Aging Theories

On Aging Theories: "This PDF-format paper looks at varying aging theories and what they might mean for the prospects of developing medical technologies to halt or reverse age-related degeneration. 'The feasibility of developing any such treatment depends on the existence of common factors involved in causing many or most of the manifestations. Further, in order to be 'treatable' a factor would need to be sufficiently independent of any function that we need to live happily in order that altering the factor did not cause significant adverse effects. Few would want an anti-aging treatment that resulted in blindness or some other major side-effect. The potential for the existence of treatable common factors is highly dependent on aging theories. Depending on which theory you believe, the likelihood of finding such factors ranges from 'impossible' to 'very probable'.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.azinet.com/aging/anti-aging_medicine.pdf
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

Aubrey de Grey's SENS Stands Up to Lively Debate

Aubrey de Grey's SENS Stands Up to Lively Debate: "I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in gerontology or life extension science to visit the lively debate at Technology Review concerning the 'SENS Challenge', with a prize of US $20,000 at stake. The challenge was issued a year ago, with the $20,000 prize offered to anyone who could prove that SENS was 'unworthy of learned debate.'

Technology Review has provided links to the entire debate (scroll down). Most of the entries failed to approach the level of serious consideration by the challenge judges, however one entry by Preston Estep was considered well enough argued to be awarded a $10,000 grant, which had nothing to do with the prize money for the challenge.

Links from other challengers are also provided on the TR SENS Challenge page, along with Aubrey de Grey's rebuttals, and the counter-rebuttals by the challengers. Finally, Preston Estep posted a strong protest to the judges' decision.

At the MPrize website, the editors correctly proclaim that SENS has withstood the challenges so far, and the $20,000"

A Chapter on Reliability Theory

A Chapter on Reliability Theory: "A PDF of the first chapter of the Handbook of the Biology of Aging is freely available. It discusses the reliability theory of aging and longevity: 'Empirical observations on aging have become so abundant that a special four-volume encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of Aging (1,591 pages), is now required for even partial coverage of the accumulated facts. To transform these numerous and diverse observations into a comprehensive body of knowledge a general theory of species aging and longevity is required. ... A reliability-engineering approach to biological aging is appealing because it provides a common scientific language (general framework) for scientists working in different areas of aging research, helping to overcome disruptive specialization and allowing researchers to understand each other. Specifically, reliability theory helps researchers define more clearly what is aging. In reliability theory, aging is defined as a phenomenon of increasing risk of failure with the passage of time (age).'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://v5.books.elsevier.com/bookscat/samples/0120883872/0120883872.pdf
Read More"

Infections link with diabetes, suggests biggest study yet

Infections link with diabetes, suggests biggest study yet: "A major study has added weight to the theory that environmental factors such as common infections may be a trigger for diabetes in children and young adults. The study analysed information from a register of over 4,000 people aged 0-29 years old diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes over a 25-year period."

Reading Up On Sarcopenia

Reading Up On Sarcopenia: "From the Journal of Endocrinology, a good preprint review paper (with full PDF available) on what scientists know about the biochemistry of sarcopenia: 'This review describes the major hormonal factors that determine the balance between human skeletal muscle anabolism and catabolism in health and disease, with specific reference to age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia). The molecular mechanisms associated with muscle hypertrophy are described, and the central role of the satellite [stem] cell highlighted. ... The increasingly recognised role of myostatin, a negative regulator of muscle function, is described, as well as its potential as a therapeutic target. Strategies to counter age-related sarcopenia thus represent an exciting field of future investigation.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://journals.endocrinology.org/joe/fca/JOE06837.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

Progeria and the Brittle Nucleus

Progeria and the Brittle Nucleus: "(From EurekAlert!) Scientists continue to forge ahead in their understanding of the lamin biochemistry of progeria [HGPS], and the application of this knowledge to damage caused by 'normal' aging. 'The nucleus in all three trillion cells of the human body contains the DNA genome, which is wrapped with a stiff protein shell called the nuclear lamina. Children with HGPS have a mutation in one of the proteins of the lamina shell. ... the lamina shell in HGPS patients is stiffer than normal. However, stiffer isn't necessarily better. The stiffer lamina did protect the HGPS nucleus from some forces, but under excessive force the HGPS lamina was more brittle and eventually fractured. ... Once we understand what causes the lamina to stiffen, we can try to reverse or stop the problem. ... Our NIH collaborators have also found that the normal aged nuclei show the same structural changes as HGPS.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-06/cmu-cmr062806.php
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

The Cost of Diabetes

The Cost of Diabetes: "Is it effective - in terms of making people pay attention and take action to support research - to speak of the cost of an age-related disease in terms of years? Does this strategy work for aging in general, in support of SENS research, for example? Via WebMD: 'in general, people with diabetes have a risk for heart disease (such as heart attack), stroke, and death from any cause similar to someone more than a decade older but without the disease. Those with diabetes tended to be 15 years younger than people without diabetes when they developed risk factors putting them at high risk for heart attacks and strokes. For men with diabetes, the average age for the transition from moderate to high risk was 48. For women it was 54. ... men diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 40 die, on average, 11 to 18 years earlier than men without the disease. Women diagnosed at the same age die 14 to 22 years earlier than women without diabetes.' Remember that type 2 - age-related - diabetes is largely preventable.

View the Article Under Discussion"

Bioengineered tissue implants regenerate damaged knee cartilage

Bioengineered tissue implants regenerate damaged knee cartilage: "Knee cartilage injuries can be effectively repaired by tissue engineering and osteoarthritis does not stop the regeneration process concludes research led by scientists at the University of Bristol."

Pomegranate juice slows PSA acceleration rate after prostate cancer surgery, radiation

Pomegranate juice slows PSA acceleration rate after prostate cancer surgery, radiation: "Pomegranate juice packs a punch on prostate cancer that prolongs post-surgery PSA doubling time, drives down cancer cell proliferation and causes prostate cancer cells to die, according to a study published in the July 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research."

Stem Cells and the Immune System

Stem Cells and the Immune System: "Biochemistry is always more complex than you think. Via Medical News Today, we learn that our stem cells are very involved in the immune response: 'marrow stem cells -- undifferentiated cells that eventually give rise to the blood cells that fight infection -- possess receptors that recognize bacteria and viruses. When activated, these receptors kick the stem cells and immature blood cells into action, enlisting them to help fight whatever pathogen is attacking the body.' This opens the door to possible methods of controlling, enhancing or repairing the aging immune system. 'It may be possible to boost immunity when necessary and also shut down inappropriate responses. That could provide a powerful tool to fight cancer, lupus and many other diseases.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=45620
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

RNA found in the cellular centrosome of surf clams

RNA found in the cellular centrosome of surf clams: "Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole and Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center have discovered the presence of the genetic material RNA in the centrosome, the organizing structure inside each cell that assures proper cell division. The findings, detailed June 5 in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, present evidence that individual centrosomes within a cell may carry their own genetic material."

Transcription factor protein's role in cell death, neurodegeneration and schizophrenia

Transcription factor protein's role in cell death, neurodegeneration and schizophrenia: "Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that a protein called Elk-1 interacts with mitochondria, the energy storehouse of a cell, suggesting that this protein -- typically active in the nucleus -- could play a role in cell death and mitochondria-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and schizophrenia."

Seeing beyond the gray areas: New tool uncovers the importance of the brain's white matter

Seeing beyond the gray areas: New tool uncovers the importance of the brain's white matter: "Up until now there has been very little known about the brain's white matter-a new tool is about to change that."

Bone marrow may restore cells lost in vision diseases

Bone marrow may restore cells lost in vision diseases: "The finding by University of Florida scientists may shatter the belief that a cell layer vital for eyesight called the retinal pigment epithelium is a nonrenewable resource."

Report focuses on the role good microbes play in future medicine

Report focuses on the role good microbes play in future medicine: "Not all bacteria are bad. In fact, beneficial microbes could represent the future of medicine, with the potential to treat a variety of diseases in humans and animals from diarrhea and eczema to gum disease and autoimmune disorders, according to a report released by the American Academy of Microbiology, Probiotic Microbes: The Scientific Basis."

Women.s skin tone influences perception of beauty, health, age, sociobiologists find

Women.s skin tone influences perception of beauty, health, age, sociobiologists find: "Using a revolutionary imaging process, a new study is revealing that wrinkles aren't the only cue the human eye looks for to evaluate age. The study used 3-D imaging and morphing software technologies to remove wrinkles and bone structure from the equation to determine the true impact of facial skin color distribution on the perception of a woman's age, health and attractiveness and is currently in the edit acceptance process with the journal Evolution and Human Behavior."

Continuing Growth in Life Expectancy

Continuing Growth in Life Expectancy: "(From the Telegraph). Life expectancy is continuing to rise, just as one would expect from the Reliability Theory of aging and across the board improvements in medical technology: 'Life expectancy in Britain has been increasing at a rate of five hours every day ... Previous forecasts of life expectancy had predicted that the rapid increase seen in recent decades would begin to level off steeply, and bump up against a ceiling, but the ageing process seems much more malleable than this. ... Biological research over the last 20 years has shown us that actually there is no strict biological programme for ageing and no set upper limit for the length of human life. It is about time people woke up to this. ... At the moment we have an extraordinarily ageist society. It is about time we recognised that people are living longer and longer.' Those extra years are extra healthy years - and we could be doing far better to provide more of them.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/10/nage10.xml
"

Interesting Fly Longevity Research

Interesting Fly Longevity Research: "EurekAlert brings us interesting research in flies: scientists 'showed in 2003 that boosting the amount of a molecular signal known as JNK in a fruit fly allows the fly to live 85 days instead of 60, by spurring the fly to defend itself more aggressively against the oxidative stress that accelerates with aging. ... While scientists knew that JNK in a fly cranks up the anti-oxidants, helping to keep the integrity of genes and proteins [intact], few had considered that simply boosting the amount of JNK could have such a broad impact on life span. ... JNK targets the same protein as the widely studied insulin receptor, central to human health and to the disease process that underlies diabetes ... We're learning that an organism's life span may not be limited by design. It was once thought that people and other organisms could simply live only a certain number of years and that's it. Instead, our genes play a crucial role in determining and adjusting how long we live. Can we control this process more fully?'

View the Article Under Discussion:"

Viral Gene Therapy Squashes Cancer

Viral Gene Therapy Squashes Cancer: "Impressive progress is being made with gene therapies in the laboratory, as demonstrated by this item from EurekAlert: 'researchers have used gene therapy to either completely abolish or significantly inhibit tumor progression in a mouse model of ovarian cancer ... They treated some of the mice immediately with a genetically engineered vaccinia virus containing a gene coding cytosine deaminase, a suicide gene, and delayed treatment of other mice for 30 or 60 days. ... The researchers found complete inhibition of tumor growth in the mice that were treated immediately with gene therapy and significant tumor inhibition in the 30- and 60-day delayed treatment mice.' Scientists can now target abnormal cells with great specificity based on their biochemistry, but the real economic barrier for this sort of treatment is the enormous variety in that biochemistry for cancer cells.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-06/uopm-gtc060106.php
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

On Premature Cellular Senescence

On Premature Cellular Senescence: "How much of degenerative aging is due to the acculumation of senescent, no longer functioning cells? More in some tissues than others, such as skin, it seems. 'Cellular senescence is considered an essential contributor to the aging process and has been shown to be an important tumor suppression mechanism. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that senescence may also be involved in the pathogenesis of stem cell dysfunction and chronic human diseases. Under these circumstances cells undergo stress-induced premature senescence, which has several specific features.' As this review paper points out, developing a technology to turn off programmed senescence would simply result in much more cancer - the process serves an important purpose in shutting down potentially dangerous cells. The problem needs a better solution, more likely focused on convincing the body to recycle these cells rather than leaving them to degrade the performance of tissue.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/290/5/H1729
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://w"

On Parkinson's As Faster Aging

On Parkinson's As Faster Aging: "A slightly different take on recent research into Parkinson's disease and mitochondria can be found at the Daily Progress: 'In one sense, the disease may represent a premature aging of the nervous system ... In aging, what happens over time is the rate at which you produce oxygen free radicals exceeds the rate at which you can detoxify them ... for some reason, he said, people with Parkinson's have more damage from free radicals ... Bennett hopes that as he learns more [he] can begin to test a drug that would absorb the free radicals in the neuronal mitochondria and stop the damage they cause. He also hopes to develop a way to test mitochondrial damage in other tissues or cells, such as in blood platelets, to come up with an earlier way to test for Parkinson?s. The disease can only be diagnosed currently when symptoms begin to appear, which Elliott said occurs after 70 percent to 80 percent of the dopamine cells have already been lost.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGA"

Engineering Bone Growth

Engineering Bone Growth: "Researchers at HHMI are working on another way to stimulate bone growth - a potential strategy to treat osteoporosis: 'slightly increasing the activity of a protein called NFATc1 causes massive bone accumulation ... Mice with the hyperactive NFATc in their osteoblasts had an immense increase in bone mass compared to normal mice, suggesting that the balance between bone formation and breakdown had tipped. ... The results were dramatic, yet the molecular alteration is very, very minimal ... NFATc1 in the mice that developed extra bone mass was only 10 percent more active than it is in normal mice. ... If you could find a small molecule that would flip 10 percent of the existing NFATc into the active form, you could favor the formation of osteoblasts and make stronger bones.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.hhmi.org/news/winslow_crabtree20060606.html
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

John Holloszy on Calorie Restriction

John Holloszy on Calorie Restriction: "The MIT Technology Review recently interviewed researcher John Holloszy: practitioners of calorie restriction [CR] are 'are powerfully protected against the diseases of old age, such as heart disease. They have low levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and extremely low blood pressure - similar to a young child, around 100/60. As a result of the low blood pressure, they have less strain on the arteries, which are much more elastic than usual for people of their age. Their hearts resemble the heart of a person 17 years younger. They also have very good insulin sensitivity, so they are not going to get Type 2 diabetes. ... As we get older, we get an increasing amount of inflammation, which is probably a very important part of the aging process. [CR practitioners] have very low levels of inflammation. C reactive protein, for example, is a marker and cause of inflammation. An average value for a middle-age person is about 2.5; but [CR practitioners] have levels of 0.2. It's just amazing.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http:"

Tissue Engineering Heart Tissue

Tissue Engineering Heart Tissue: "Via ABC Online, a look at one strategy to build three-dimensional tissue structures: 'It involves combining the expertise of biologists and chemical engineers, particularly where we mix cells and scaffolds together and implant them in the body where they grow and mature and develop into specific tissues. ... this essentially is an empty box into which we implant a blood vessel using microsurgery techniques. ... we use microsurgery to create this environment and we mix cells inside this chamber and we let them grow according to the specific environment that we can create. Now, currently we have been able to make breast tissue, fat, muscle, pancreas tissue that secretes insulin and we have also created thymus tissue, which may have an application in immunology. ... There is an artery in it that keeps this alive, but the heart cells are actually beating at their own rhythm.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1657710.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

SENS Challenge Submissions Unveiled

SENS Challenge Submissions Unveiled: "The next step in the $20,000 SENS Challenge is now online at the MIT Technology Review. Three critiques of the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) - the start of a roadmap to effective therapies to prevent and repair degenerative aging - and biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey's rebuttals are available for consideration by the recently formed panel of judges. Good to see progress towards greater engagement and debate by the scientific community! Science is not advanced when the old guard refuses to debate new ideas and paradigms on the merits - constant, robust examination is a pillar of the scientific method. Only by widening the debate within and surrounding the scientific community can the SENS proposals be made more robust, and formed into the best possible course towards radical life extension within our lifetimes. You'll find more thoughts over at Fight Aging!

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.technologyreview.com/sens/
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

More Oxidative Stress Research

More Oxidative Stress Research: "Scientists are making progress in unraveling the complex biochemistry of oxidative stress: how it originates, how it damages our cells, how it contributes to age-related conditions. Via RxPG News, a look at recent research: 'Just as humans undergo daily stress, so do our individual cells. The cellular variety, called oxidative stress, is caused by the build-up of free radicals, which over time inflict damage linked to aging and age related diseases such as Alzheimer's. [Researchers] have now defined a molecular signaling pathway by which oxidative stress triggers cell death, a finding that could pave the way for new drug targets and diagnostic strategies for age-related diseases. ... Once stimulated by oxidative stress, MST acts in its capacity as an enzyme to modify and thereby activate the FOXO proteins, instructing the FOXO proteins to move from the periphery of the cell into the nucleus of neurons. Once in the nucleus, the FOXO proteins were found to turn on genes that commit neurons to programmed death.'

View the Article Under Discussion: http://w"

Einstein researchers take the pulse of a gene in living cells

Einstein researchers take the pulse of a gene in living cells: "Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have observed for the first time that gene expression can occur in the form of discrete 'pulses' of gene activity. The researchers used pioneering microscopy techniques, developed by Dr. Robert Singer and colleagues at Einstein, that for the first time allow scientists to directly watch the behavior of a single gene in real time."

Welcome!!

I could not believe that this blog name was not taken!

My intent is to link items of interest to the life entension community here.

I'm just going to get started now.