The latest on Methuselah, health span research, and regenerative medicine
An Endpoints News story recently explored a seeming disconnect between Altos Labs’ stated goals and what one of its noted researchers, Juan Carlos Izpisua, told the Spanish newspaper El Pais. He said that the world will be able to “predict, prevent and treat diseases and aging” within two decades.
Read MoreScientists are searching for ways to extend the healthy human lifespan, but an Alabama researcher thinks they’re studying the wrong animals in their quest for longer life.
Read MoreScientific openness is threatened by two major challenges: 1) publishing research effectively, and 2) adequate funding. A new concept, the decentralized science movement or DeSci, promises to overcome both.
Read MoreScientists have long suspected that the anti-malarial drug chloroquine may be helpful in treating senescence, the gradual, age-related deterioration of function in living organisms. The problem is that research has found the drug comes with some nasty side-effects, including liver damage, an increased risk of cardiac arrythmia, and gastrointestinal issues.
Read MoreWe often hear talk of slowing down our epigenetic, (or aging) clock… but what exactly does that entail? And how can we go about executing this feat? A paper published in 2017 by Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), lays a foundation to “understand the epigenetic contribution to healthy aging and longevity and the molecular basis of the DNA methylation clock.”
Read MoreOur PubMed screening during February 2020 had several especially noteworthy papers to choose from to highlight in our blog. Ultimately however, we decided to focus on this report of a remarkable 36% extension of average female mouse lifespan when given an ovarian transplant in middle-age. These results suggest that, at least in females, ovarian function may affect healthspan and lifespan to a greater extent than is usually appreciated at the present time.
Read MoreA study published in January by researchers in Greece recently focused on the importance of muscle mass in those 45 years of age and older, with no pre-existing heart conditions. Participants in the study were tested and then reassessed 10 years later.
Read MoreAccording to the World Health Organization, more people are now dying from being overweight than underweight. And while obesity has long been known to cause premature death, researchers at Concordia University are now arguing that obesity directly accelerates the mechanisms of aging. The researchers write that obesity influences a number of alterations associated with aging. Hopefully this research will help people better understand how obesity works and stimulate ideas on how to treat it.
Read MoreZombies; Senescent cells resisting death, building up, and wreaking havoc on the aging body. In October we published an interview with our friends at Oisín Bio who are working on removal of these zombie cells without collateral damage. Now at Kings College London, thanks to a £125,000 research grant from Heart Research UK, Senolytic drugs and their practical application will be focused on.
Read MoreOrgans are in high demand. Because of this, biomanufactured organs are viewed by many as the next frontier of scientific research and development. Our friends Jordan Miller, Bagrat Grigoryan, and their team at Volumetric Bio are working to make that a reality now. This article discusses where their research is at now and the practical benefits of what they’re doing.
Read MoreSome 60%-90% of drugs that are successful in rodents… fail in humans. However, researchers at Harvard University and Tel Aviv University have developed a new model that might address this problem: mini human organs on a chip. These separate “organ chips” can be connected to create a “mini human on a chip”, to test the effects of different treatments and medications on multiple organs and systems.
Read MoreAs we age, it’s even more vital for our bodies to absorb nutrients, however nutrient malabsorption increases in the elderly, often leading to anemia and other illnesses. A recent study has identified a protein complex, mTORC1, a sensor of nutrients and growth factors, which is a central regulator of aging and a target for lifespan and healthspan extension.
Read MoreA remarkable report was published on July 11, 2018 which some readers may have heard about. There are not many interventions known to improve physical function and extend remaining lifespan when given to mice in old age. However, the consistently positive results reported in this study suggest that, at the very least, using this particular senolytic cocktail intermittently appears to have multiple benefits in old mice, and suggest that senolytics may be worth testing in aging humans.
Read MoreAging is the principal risk factor in many chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular, and metabolic & neurological diseases. There is therefore great interest in the development of accurate age biomarkers that can be targeted and measured to track the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and other lifestyle adjustments. In this recent paper, Alex Zhavoronkov et al. show how deep learning algorithms can help advance aging research.
Read MorePatients, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, amongst others, all rely on the release of clinical trial results. Despite this, a report published by The Lancet indicated that only 41% of completed clinical trials reported results within the deadline. In the meantime, a team at Oxford are doing their part, using AI and Machine Learning to spot unreported trials, advocating on behalf of all those who could benefit from proper reporting, and encouraging sponsors to report. Learn more about this problem below.
Read MoreWhat do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see more wrinkles than yesterday? Can you tell if your hairline has receded slightly? Isn’t it impossible to perceive these subtle visual queues that we’re getting older? Noah Kalina, a photographer, found a way to document the changes we all experience in a timelapse video spanning the last 20 years.
Read MoreAs human life expectancy increases, it’s become clear we can’t just focus on simply extending the human lifespan, but rather extending our healthy lifespan (a concept now commonly referred to as “healthspan”). After all, what good is a long life when its plagued by illnesses for the final 40 years? This study, conducted by researchers at Harvard, included over 100,000 people tracked for more than 20 years, and discusses the effects that diet, exercise, smoking status, and other factors have on extending the healthspan in individuals over 50.
Read MoreCancer, Alzheimers, Cardiovascular diseases… as a scientific community it feels as though we’re always playing catch up. How many more people could be saved, how much more could we extend the healthspan (or healthy human lifespan) if instead we focused on being proactive? This article, written by a doctor at the University of Washington, focuses on the importance of targeting aging when discussing adding years to human life expectancy.
Read MoreBeing careful about what we put into our bodies is vital to maintaining our health, and potentially prolonging our healthy lifespan. Some centenarians have even been found to have taste receptors that gravitate towards healthier foods. We all wish we could find the perfect diet, however our bodies change as we age, thus calling for a change in diet as we get older. The main finding of this study is that lower consumption of protein in the mid-life, and higher consumption for the period of late age may benefit our health and longevity.
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