Lifeboat Foundation

University of Virginia scientists have identified a promising approach to delay aging by detoxifying the body of glycerol and glyceraldehyde, harmful by-products of fat that naturally accumulate over time.

The new findings come from UVA researcher Eyleen Jorgelina O’Rourke, Ph.D., and her team, who are seeking to identify the mechanisms driving healthy aging and longevity. Their new work suggests a potential way to do so by reducing glycerol and glyceraldehyde’s health-draining effects.

“The discovery was unexpected. We went after a very well-supported hypothesis that the secret to longevity was the activation of a cell-rejuvenating process named autophagy and ended up finding an unrecognized mechanism of health and lifespan extension,” said O’Rourke, of UVA’s Department of Biology and the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Cell Biology.

Recently is has become known that one should not take Metformin unless you have diabetes. But a combo test of Rapamycin and Metformin showed each removed each others side effects. So here we have another combo test showing the effect on stem cells in the gut.

In a new study published in Aging Cell, researchers have shown that two promising anti-aging agents, the antibiotic rapamycin and the anti-diabetic drug metformin, reverse aging in a population of intestinal stem cells [1].

Older people are more prone to gastrointestinal problems [2]. Moreover, aging is a major risk factor for various cancers, including colorectal cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to develop therapeutic approaches to rejuvenate the aging intestine.

Continue reading “Metformin and Rapamycin Rejuvenate Stem Cells in Mice” »

A quick introduction to Yamanaka factors!

The quest for longevity has always been with us. Ever since the ancient kings of old we have been trying everything we can think of in order to stave off death and disease, with most of our efforts unfortunately baring little fruit. However, as it turns out, the power to reverse the aging process has been nestled within us this whole time. Not in the metaphorical sense, but rather in the quite literal sense. For you see, we have been reversing the aging process every single time we have reproduced.

Have you ever wondered how it is that regardless of how old the parents of a child are, the child is never born ‘pre-aged?’. This seems like a ridiculous question, but if the genetic material that came from the parents (especially from the father) has already undergone the aging process, then how is it that ‘genetic aging’ is not passed onto the child? If such a process were to occur, then it would obviously spell doom for our entire species, as we would eventually accumulate age with each subsequent generation and we would very quickly perish. Yet, this obviously does not happen. So the question was asked, why is this?

Summary: As the brain ages, microglia adopt dysfunctional states that increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: TCD

Scientists from the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) have shed new light on aging processes in the brain. By linking the increased presence of specialised immune cells to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury for the first time, they have unearthed a possible new target for therapies aimed at treating age-related neurological diseases.

Reverse the aging process and live decades longer? Transfer your brain onto a database and achieve digital immortality? Humans one day may have such options.

Robots are all around us, from drones filming videos in the sky to serving food in restaurants and diffusing bombs in emergencies. Slowly but surely, robots are improving the quality of human life by augmenting our abilities, freeing up time, and enhancing our personal safety and well-being. While existing robots are becoming more proficient with simple tasks, handling more complex requests will require more development in both mobility and intelligence.

Columbia Engineering and Toyota Research Institute computer scientists are delving into psychology, physics, and geometry to create algorithms so that robots can adapt to their surroundings and learn how to do things independently. This work is vital to enabling robots to address new challenges stemming from an aging society and provide better support, especially for seniors and people with disabilities.

Continue reading “Engineers use psychology, physics, and geometry to make robots more intelligent” »

BioAge is developing treatments to extend healthy lifespan by targeting molecular causes of aging. Its CEO Kristen Fortney started by studying the super-old.

Biophysical Therapeutics, a drug discovery platform company that leverages computational biology, has emerged from stealth. The primary targets of the Delaware-based company are cancer, the diseases of aging (including Alzheimer’s disease) and – excitingly – aging itself.

Founded by Dr Michael Forrest, a Cambridge University biochemistry graduate with a PhD in computer science, Biophysical Therapeutics boasts renowned biotech entrepreneur Professor George Church (of Harvard Medical School) as an advisor to the company. Professor Bruno Conti of the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California is also an advisor.

Longevity. Technology: Back in 2006, Conti and his team reported an exciting result in the prestigious journal Science. They showed (in female mice) that slightly reducing the metabolic rate by slightly reducing metabolic heat generation (decreasing body temperature by 0.34°C) increased lifespan by 20%.

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In this Ask Me Anything interview, Prof. Matt Kaeberlein discusses the evidence (and lack thereof) behind popular anti-aging supplements and interventions. Starting from his current research on rapamycin for healthy longevity in dogs (The Dog Aging Project), he describes the promises and perils of anti-aging medicine and shares with us some tips on how to become better critical thinkers and protect us from hype and snake oil.

Continue reading “Anti-aging Supplements: Science, Snake Oil, and How Do We Know?” »