Lifeboat Foundation

A team of Stanford researchers led by Professor Wyss-Coray set out to find out which genes were linked to age-related cognitive decline. Not only did the researchers find the culprit, they were able to reverse cognitive decline and rejuvenate aged mouse brains.

Searching for the cause of cognitive decline

Microglia are immune cells that reside in the brain and spinal cord. These cells mediate immune responses in the central nervous system and act like other macrophages, clearing cellular debris and dead neurons from nervous tissue through the process of phagocytosis (cell eating).

Continue reading “Reversing Cognitive Decline” »

The memory of older people has been returned to the state of someone in their 20s for the first time by applying electrical stimulation to the brain to reconnect faulty circuits.

Scientists at Boston University in the US have proven it is possible to restore working memory by ‘recoupling’ areas of the brain which have become out-of-sync as people grow older.

Short-term working memory is crucial for everyday life, storing information for around 10 — 15 seconds to allow problem solving, reasoning, planning and decision making, allowing someone, for example, to keep a telephone number in mind while writing it down.

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In a new study, researchers show that the presence of senescent cells is an important contributor to aging of the cardiovascular system, particularly the heart [1].

Senescent cells and senolytics

As your body ages, increasing amounts of your cells enter into a state of senescence. Senescent cells do not divide or support the tissues of which they are part; instead, they emit a range of potentially harmful inflammatory chemical signals, which are known as the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP). The SASP can also encourage other nearby healthy cells to also enter the same senescent state.

Continue reading “Senolytics Improve Recovery Following a Heart Attack” »

Beauty might only be skin deep, but for those wondering how to keep that skin young, scientists may have found an answer in the form of a protein that encourages cell competition.

The prosaically named COL17A1 might not sound like a fountain of youth, but the new study suggests it does the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping skin intact and unimpaired.

The protein works by encouraging cell competition, a key process to maintain tissue fitness. That effectively “drives out” weaker cells while encouraging replication of stronger ones.

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Fresh interview with Aubrey de Grey

What is ageing? We can define ageing as a process of accumulation of the damage which is just a side-effect of normal metabolism. While researchers still poorly understand how metabolic processes cause damage accumulation, and how accumulated damage causes pathology, the damage itself — the structural difference between old tissue and young tissue — is categorized and understood pretty well. By repairing damage and restoring the previous undamaged — young — state of an organism, we can really rejuvenate it! It sounds very promising, and so it is. And for some types of damage (for example, for senescent cells) it is already proved to work!

Today in our virtual studio, somewhere between cold, rainy Saint-Petersburg and warm, sunny Mountain View, we meet Aubrey de Grey, again! For those of you who are not familiar with him, here is a brief introduction.

Continue reading “Finally, rejuvenation is a thing!” »

This article opened with some fearful figures about cancer and its effect on people worldwide. But there’s reason to hope.

While the total number of new cancer cases and deaths continues to increase, the rates of cancer diagnoses and deaths decline each year — as absolute figures don’t account for rises in life expectancy, population growth, or aging populations. We’ve made great strides in understanding the disease and its various genetic and environmental origins. And events like Breast Cancer Awareness Month continue to educate the populace about the preventative measures available to them.

Thanks to scientists like those at the University of Basel in Switzerland, we may have more reasons to be hopeful very soon.

Continue reading “Will we win the battle against cancer?” »

The new issue of the Cryonics Institute Newsletter is now available. Get the latest news and updates about CI and the cryonics movement!

Scientists at Stanford University say they’ve devised antibodies that block a specific gene related to brain aging — and that it’s giving old mice the cognitive prowess of younger ones.

“The mice became smarter,” senior author Tony Wyss-Coray said in a statement. “Blocking [the gene] CD22 on their microglia restored their cognitive function to the level of younger mice. CD22 is a new target we think can be exploited for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.”