Step
by step, protocols are rising that will allow real functionality to
be restored for aging humanity. This one is promising because a
youthful blood system will surely cleanse the whole biological system
and plausibly allow healthy progress into the second century. It is
not likely to get much past that mark, but somewhat healthy and
energetic is something the wild achieves all the time.
We are entering a perfect storm of aging populations and rapidly
emerging anti aging protocols to extend those lives and even to
restore general functionality. The level of change is already
astonishing and about to become more urgent as the public wakes up to
possibilities and the desirability of an engaged older population.
Because I expected this decades ago due to my understanding of the
nature of the knowledge growth curve, I never took mandatory
retirement particularly seriously. Now we have seen that eliminated
here at least. All things been equal it is now plausible for someone
today aged sixty five to still be fully engaged into his nineties.
More important though is that he will not be alone.
Longevity gene points to 'fountain of youth'
A "longevity
gene" can help boost the production of blood cells by reversing
the decline of stem cells in old age, a study suggests.
By Nick
Collins, Science Correspondent
6:34PM GMT 31 Jan 2013
Blood-generating stem
cells become slower in old age, increasing stress on the body, but
infusing them with a gene linked to the ageing process can restore
them to a more youthful state, researchers found.
The study, which was
performed in mice, raises the possibility of new treatments for
degenerative diseases which occur with age, such as Alzheimer's.
More research will be
needed to determine whether the findings in mice also apply to
humans, but scientists claimed they could lead to the development of
a "molecular fountain of youth".
Scientists from the
University of California, Berkeley found that SIRT3, a protein
from a class known as sirtuins which has previously been linked to
ageing, could actually help "reverse" the natural process.
They examined the
functioning of blood stem cells, which help keep the blood system
healthy, on mice which had lacked the gene responsible for producing
SIRT3.
The study, published
in the Cell Reports journal, showed that for young mice the
absence of SIRT3 made no difference, but older mice without the gene
had fewer blood stem cells and were less able to produce new blood
cells.
This could be because
older mice were more vulnerable to "oxidative stress", a
harmful side effect of the metabolism, and needed their antioxidant
system, which is boosted by SIRT3, to counteract it, researchers
said.
When levels of SIRT3
were raised in older mice, their blood cells were rejuvenated and
production of blood cells improved.
Dr Danica Chen, who
led the study, said: "We already know that sirtuins regulate
ageing, but our study is really the first one demonstrating that
sirtuins can reverse ageing-associated degeneration, and I think
that's very exciting.
"This opens the
door to potential treatments for age-related degenerative diseases
... the question is whether we can understand the process well enough
so that we can actually develop a molecular fountain of youth."
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