Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: life extension – Page 527

Family tree of 400 million people shows genetics has limited influence on longevity

A new study by Calico found that our genes determine our lifespan much less than previously accepted and lifespan heritability is less than seven percent.

Although long life tends to run in families, genetics has far less influence on life span than previously thought, according to a new analysis of an aggregated set of family trees of more than 400 million people. The results suggest that the heritability of life span is well below past estimates, which failed to account for our tendency to select partners with similar traits to our own. The research, from Calico Life Sciences and Ancestry, was published in Genetics.

“We can potentially learn many things about the biology of aging from human genetics, but if the heritability of is low, it tempers our expectations about what types of things we can learn and how easy it will be,” says lead author Graham Ruby. “It helps contextualize the questions that scientists studying aging can effectively ask.”

Ruby’s employer, Calico Life Sciences, is a research and development company whose mission is to understand the biology of aging. They teamed up with scientists from the online genealogy resource Ancestry, led by Chief Scientific Officer Catherine Ball, to use publicly available pedigree data from Ancestry.com to estimate the heritability of human life span.

The Young Turks Interview Keith Comito

As part of our strategy, we are constantly networking and seeking opportunities to engage new audiences about the topic of healthy life extension. Recently our President, Keith Comito appeared on the Young Turks Rebel HQ and spoke with Cenk Uygur, the host, and creator of the Young Turks.

The Young Turks is an American progressive political and social commentary channel that covers news and current affairs. Cenk Kadir Uygur is a Turkish-American businessman, columnist, journalist, activist, and political commentator.

NAD+ Mouse Project a Record Breaker

The NAD+ Mouse Project has ended in a record-breaking amount raised for a research project so far on Lifespan.io. The campaign ended yesterday after having raised a total of $75,285 and smashing three stretch goals!.

An amazing 321 people backed the campaign and they will get to enjoy a range of great donor rewards and know that they have been a part of launching a great experiment. Thanks to their help the researchers will now be able to test if NMN has potential as an anti-aging drug.

We are both humbled and so very grateful for the generous support of the NAD mouse project. As the excitement and potential of the NAD longevity field continues to grow, we can’t wait to see what we learn and report to our supporters about what NMN can do. – Dr. David Sinclair

Rutgers researchers advance stem cell therapy with biodegradable scaffold

Rutgers scientists have created a tiny, biodegradable scaffold to transplant stem cells and deliver drugs, which may help treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, aging brain degeneration, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries.

Stem cell transplantation, which shows promise as a treatment for central nervous system diseases, has been hampered by low cell survival rates, incomplete differentiation of cells and limited growth of neural connections.

So, Rutgers scientists designed bio-scaffolds that mimic natural tissue and got good results in test tubes and mice, according to a study in Nature Communications. These nano-size scaffolds hold promise for advanced stem cell transplantation and neural tissue engineering. Stem cell therapy leads to stem cells becoming neurons and can restore neural circuits.

Investors are pouring money into startups that are trying to find a cure for aging

Active discussion on tne most effective technologies in comments to this page post. Number one is blood plasma-derived therapy.

Money has been pouring into startups researching longevity as treatments for aging become more of a reality. Here are the venture funds and pharma companies placing bets.

Choosing Health Early On

A thought experiment to see whether life extension might contribute to your happiness.

Today, we’re going to engage in a thought experiment. We’re going to imagine a world with some sort of antechamber to life in which you hang around as some sort of disembodied entity before you are born. (Some people actually believe in something like that, but we won’t go there; it’s just a thought experiment.)

The Choice to Be Born

Let’s suppose that, as a disembodied soul, you have a somewhat human outlook on things: you want to enjoy new experiences, avoid unpleasant circumstances, and so forth. Let us further suppose that you have a choice over being born or not and that someone comes along and tries to get you sold on the idea of being born. Neither of you can predict the future and know exactly how good or bad a life you would have, but you do know the gist of it—what stages you need to go through, what issues may manifest, etc.

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