Lifeboat Foundation

A drug cocktail could be the key.

In a recent study, researchers have explored senescence-related proteins and protein interactions in cataracts, a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in older adults.

Cataracts are characterized by the clouding of the lens in the eye, which leads to impaired vision. Cataracts generally develop slowly and can affect either one or both eyes at the same time. Cataract symptoms typically include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights, and difficulty seeing at night.

By analyzing proteins and their interactions, these researchers aim for a full understanding of this condition, showing that multiple biomarkers associated with aging rise during the formation of cataracts. Typically, p53, a well-known biomarker for the presence of senescent cells, is seen to rise along with transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1), another biomarker commonly associated with inflammation when encountered in high amounts. During the development of cataracts, the number of senescent cells rises, as this research shows.

Continue reading “Senescent Cells and Cataract Development” »

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have demonstrated that stem cells derived from the placenta known as Cdx2 cells can regenerate healthy heart cells after heart attacks in animal models. The findings, published in the May 20 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), may represent a novel treatment for regenerating the heart and other organs.

“Cdx2 cells have historically been thought to only generate the placenta in early embryonic development, but never before were shown to have the ability to regenerate other organs, which is why this is so exciting. These findings may also pave the way to regenerative therapy of other organs besides the heart,” said principal investigator Hina Chaudhry, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “They almost seem like a super-charged population of stem cells, in that they can target the site of an injury and travel directly to the injury through the circulatory system and are able to avoid rejection by the host immune system.”

This team of Mount Sinai researchers had previously discovered that a mixed population of mouse placental stem cells can help the hearts of pregnant female mice recover after an injury that could otherwise lead to heart failure. In that study, they showed that the placental stem cells migrated to the mother’s heart and directly to the site of the heart injury. The stem cells then programmed themselves as beating heart cells to help the repair process.

Continue reading “Researchers discover placental stem cells that can regenerate heart after heart attack” »

Doctors and patients say they’re compelled to use “off-label” medications as research into anti-aging goes unfunded.

Conclusion

As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has stated, “Software ate the world, but AI is going to eat software.” Extrapolating this statement to a more immediate implication, AI will first eat healthcare, resulting in dramatic acceleration of longevity research and an amplification of the human healthspan.

Next week, I’ll continue to explore this concept of AI systems in healthcare.

Continue reading “AI Is Rapidly Augmenting Healthcare and Longevity” »

May is almost over, so it’s time to check in with the Ending Age-Released Diseases conference and see how things are developing with the event.

If you’re unfamiliar with us, we’re hosting our second annual conference at the Cooper Union in New York City on July 11-12th this year. It will feature some of the leading names in both aging research and biotech business and investment coming together to share their knowledge and insights with the audience.

Continue reading “Ending Age-Related Diseases Conference: May Update” »

Photomed Laser Surg. 2012 Dec;30(12):681–2. doi: 10.1089/pho.2012.9881. Epub 2012 Nov 9.

No abstract available.

Is it me? Or am I the only one who wishes George Church was not so secretive? https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/05/rejuvenate-bio-using-g…dogs.html?

Harvard Genetics Giant Geroge Church and Noah Davidsohn, a former postdoc in his lab, have engaged in a secretive antiaging venture called Rejuvenate Bio. They are making old dogs new. They have conducted gene therapy on beagles and are currently advertising for Cavalier King Charles spaniels to use gene therapy to fix their hearts.

They have identified many other targets for gene-based interventions, studying a database of aging-related genes.

Continue reading “Rejuvenate Bio Using Gene Therapy Has Reversed Aging Effects in Mice and Dogs” »