This week brings us news that the
outright removal of senescence cells may be a practical and successful protocol
to end age related degeneration problems.
In this article we identify two other sectors receiving attention. All this is building momentum to provide the funding
needed to give the problem a full press investment in creative research.
At this moment in history we can
already outright replace, or more properly regrow damaged or missing
tissue. Right now it is all about the
details rather than the reality itself.
Thus in the next decade it should
be possible to fully restore complete functionality and possibly displace all
age cells at the same time. This means
all individuals will be able to retain fully functional mature bodies in prime
condition to the end of their lives.
This may sound optimistic but the exchange of knowledge is many times
faster now and old estimating yard sticks are rubbish once attention is turned
on.
The remaining open question is
how we actually extend life past the effective century limitation line which
has not been done well yet and appears to be built in. This is a problem that appears separate. So while I can suggest that surviving to one
hundred is now a reasonable prospect for most alive today, who are not idiots
in terms of self care, it remains unknown after that.
Observe all researchers are going
to talk about decades of research at the moment until usable protocols are
available which should only take years.
Scientists combat aging, report measurable progress
Aubrey De Grey
The world is often stranger than fiction. Surely elves and orcs do not
exist, and we have as of yet to uncover a mystical portal to other worlds in Egypt
There seems to be two things that are certain in life; death and taxes.
At least that is what Benjamin Franklin believed. But is immortality, at least
biological immortality, feasible?
Enter Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist based in Cambridge
In the simplest of terms, SENS is about combating ageing, which
according to de Grey is in essence, damage on the molecular and cellular levels
caused by the metabolism. The SENS model breaks aging down to 7 major
classes of damage; cancer-causing nuclear mutations, Mitochondrial mutations,
intracellular junk, extracellular junk, cell loss and atrophy, cell senescence
and extracellular crosslinks.
“In the SENS Foundation research center we currently focus on two major
projects,” de Grey told Bikyamasr.com.
“Two of our senior postdoctoral fellows are working on a project to
make mitochondrial mutations harmless, by putting modified copies of the
mitochondrion’s DNA into the cell nucleus. Mitochondrial mutations are one of
the seven key types of damage that are described in SENS, and this is the most
complete way to address it.”
Mitochondria are important components for energy production in cells
and mitochondrial mutations are believed to be one of the key proponents of
progressive cellular degeneration.
The second project which is currently pursued by another senior postdoc
in de Grey’s staff deals with the accumulation of molecular ‘garbage’ which
de Grey says our bodies are not built to dispose of.
“In this case the approach is to introduce enzymes from other
species – enzymes that do break the offending substance down.” The enzymes that
could be used are found in bacteria and mold, as well as other organisms that
completely digest biological matter.
In an age of rapid technological advancements, medical breakthroughs
and overall expectations, many people remain skeptical in regards to the SENS
research.
“I think the attitude of the public is generally reasonable. In
general, if anything, the public remain more pessimistic than they should be
about when this will be achieved. If they became overoptimistic, I guess there
is a possibility that they would see a responsibility of SENS Foundation to
deliver, but we’re not in that position,” de Grey explained.
SENS research is still at the early stages, yet de Grey believes
they have managed to make plenty of progress already. In a conference at the
American based Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) back in 2006, de
Grey outlined the SENS research being conducted and was received with positive
reviews from the attendees. Back then, de Grey predicted that with this
research, if enough funding and attention was drawn to it, could see direct
benefits being applied to people alive today. He believes the first human to
reach the age of 300, if given the treatment before ageing does too much
damage, may have already been born. The first human to live to a thousand would
only be a decade younger.
Unfortunately, the economic crisis plaguing a large portion of the
globe means funding for research becomes tighter and tighter. De Grey remains
optimistic however, as he believes that “the financial crisis has probably
slowed things down a little, but not massively.”
“I think 20 years is optimistic, but I still think we have a 50
percent chance of getting there within 25 years. However, that all assumes
that we make rapid progress in persuading the public, especially wealthy
people, that this is a really important mission,” he stressed.
“Our research is indeed going really well. It’s still at an early
stage, that’s for sure, but we’re making progress all the time. Also, I should
mention that we’re focusing on the very hardest parts of SENS; there are easier
parts, already being pursued by others, and those are going extremely well
too,” de Grey concluded.
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