Ying, K., Paulson, S., Reinhard, J. et al. An open competition for biomarkers of aging. Nat Aging 6, 1193–1195 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-026-01139-6
Category: life extension
First 3D views of human cone opsins reveal how daylight vision reacts so fast
The retina of the human eye contains 6–7 million cone cells. These cells contain light-sensitive proteins known as cone opsins. They enable us to perceive our surroundings in detail in daylight. They allow us to see the world in thousands of colors: red strawberries, green leaves, the blue sky. They also enable us to see all the objects around us clearly. And they allow us to perceive fast movements, such as the rush of a train or the flight of a dragonfly.
Often, however, these all-rounders of daylight vision are also involved in retinal diseases. Impairment of cone receptor function, caused by genetic mutations or other degenerative processes, can lead to disorders such as color blindness and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease affecting the central retina and causing progressive vision loss.
In a new study, Polina Isaikina and Sarah L. Schmidt, two researchers from the Center for Life Sciences at PSI, have succeeded for the first time in determining the three-dimensional structure of human cone opsins in their dark state and showing how their molecular architecture enables their rapid activation by light.
Is This the Key to Never Getting Old?
Awesome results and a new project to double mice lifespan. If I could fund one researcher right now it would be this man.
In this Conference talk, Dr. Greg Fahy presents stunning data from the TRIIM and TRIIM-X trials. His team has successfully regrown the human thymus in older adults, reversed epigenetic aging clocks by up to two years, and restored immune function to levels seen decades earlier.
Beyond the lab results, participants showed dramatic real-world improvements: 15% stronger muscles, 21% better VO2 max, and frailty scores dropping to near zero. Dr. Fahy also unveils the \.
Mind May Be Older Than the Brain | Michael Levin on Life and Intelligence
Michael Levin is a developmental and synthetic biologist at Tufts University whose work sits at the intersection of biology, bioelectricity, artificial life, regenerative medicine, synthetic biology, computer science, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. He is known for his research on how cells communicate, make decisions, build bodies, repair tissues, and form collective intelligence through bioelectric signals. His work on Xenobots and Anthrobots has opened new questions about living robots, synthetic life forms, biological machines, morphogenesis, basal cognition, cellular intelligence, regeneration, cancer, aging, and the nature of mind beyond the brain.
In this conversation, Michael Levin and I explore whether mind and intelligence are binary or exist on a continuum, why cognition may be much older than brains, and how systems from cells to humans can pursue goals in different ways. We discuss the TAME framework, the spectrum of persuadability, cognitive light cones, bioelectricity, gap junctions, multicellular intelligence, Xenobots, Anthrobots, kinematic self-replication, neural wound healing, emergence, physicalism, mathematics, Platonic space, algorithms, bubble sort, Turing machines, evolution, human creativity, artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, and the future of biology. This episode is for anyone interested in philosophy, consciousness, mind, intelligence, synthetic biology, developmental biology, AI, complex systems, evolution, and the deeper question of what it means for matter to become alive, intelligent, or aware.
If you enjoyed the episode, please consider leaving a like, subscribing, and leaving a review on Youtube, Spotify and Apple. #philosophy #science.
Michael’s website: https://drmichaellevin.org/
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/ masud.gaziyev Support the work: https://buymeacoffee.com/philosophy.e… Get new episodes, guest announcements, reading notes, and ideas worth thinking about. Subscribe here: https://philosophyeveryday.beehiiv.com/ Chapters: 00:00 Mind Beyond the Brain 01:19 Is Mind Older Than the Brain? 04:06 Why Intelligence Is Not All-or-Nothing 06:58 How to Interact With Different Kinds of Minds 09:54 From Single Cells to Collective Intelligence 13:17 How Cells Build Bigger Goals 16:05 Life Recreated — Xenobots and Anthrobots 18:54 Where Do New Behaviours Come From? 21:57 Synthetic Life and the Limits of Evolution 35:01 What Happens When Biology Is Freed? 43:00 Why Biology Eventually Leads to Mathematics 46:07 Is “Emergence” Just a Fancy Word for Surprise? 53:11 Platonic Space: A Strange New Map of Reality 01:03:21 What We Received from Platonic Space 01:11:24 Human Evolution, Technology, and the Patterns Behind Progress 01:16:43 Regeneration, Cancer, and Aging.
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Get new episodes, guest announcements, reading notes, and ideas worth thinking about.
Ralph Merkle on Inverted-Mode Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Plus cryptography & cryonics, information theoretic death, and obstacles to acceptance of biostasis
Jumping the clock: Engineering ageing in biomedicine
Engineering the age(ing) of tissues in vitro could lead to more representative and predictive models for the ageing population. This forum introduces methodological approaches for ‘age engineering’ (‘ageneering’) and further discusses future applications of age-matched cells, matrices, and microtissues in predictive disease modelling, biomarker discovery, and age-specific pharmacotoxicology.
