Longevity and the Option Value of Combinatorial Mimetics
The current Forbes cover reminds me of the longevity confab that Joon Yun pulled together yesterday. I pulled slides together just prior to going on stage, and in retrospect, I might have titled it as I do here for the photo caption. Here’s a FB video from the audience, starting one minute in. Thanks to Asa for the photo.
Here are some notes from longevitycrossroads.org before the fire marshall kicked us out.
Joon: “any event that becomes a fire hazard is probably worth doing. I have to imagine that that was on the mind of the Burning Man founders.”
Elizabeth Blackburn, President, Salk Institute & Nobel Prize winner for discovering the molecular nature of telomeres:
Yeast cells divide only 25 times and then stop. Why? What happens? Catastrophic systems failure.
Telomere tips protect the cell DNA. The code will no longer replenish the cell. They become like little rotten apple, spitting out inflammatory chemicals. If you clear these undead cells out, then mice stay healthy. This is behind senescence.
Our germ line cells know how to generate a fresh new baby with extended telomeres. So, there is hope.
The longest living human kept smoking well past 110 years old. She only stopped when she could no longer see well enough to light a cigarette. We don’t know how long we could live.
Dr. Eric Verdin, CEO of Buck institute:
How aging research will disrupt medicine
C.Elegans. DAF-2 gene modification, 2x lifespan (from 21 day base). Modify same DAF-2 gene and removal of gonad -> 6x lifespan. For those squirming in seat, we’re not thinking about removing gonads in humans. Caloric restriction in mice -> dramatic lifespan extension
Okinawa, Japan: People there have the longest life expectancy and the most centenarians. Local saying: “Eat only until 80% full.” Self-imposed caloric restriction.
Life expectancy drops from 82 to 65 years when Okinawans live in Brazil.
TOR and insulin signaling. Related to caloric restriction
Today : focused on diseases and organs
Future: preventative, reparative, centered on Aging pathways, multi-organ