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Category: life extension – Page 634

The new frontiers of indulgence

The number of people who believe—based on data, not faith—that humans can become (almost) immortal is growing, and includes the likes of scientists, billionaires, engineers and billionaire-engineers. For instance, investor Peter Thiel has donated to the anti-ageing cause, in addition to the $500,000 (around ₹3.2 crore) Palo Alto Longevity Prize for anyone who can radically extend the life of a mammal. Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, too has donated $335 million to scientists studying ageing before he decided to redirect his foundation’s grants toward eliminating polio in 2013.

When, in the future, expensive baubles cease to hold the same novelty they do today, redefined concepts of luxury are what the super-rich can pick from.

By harichandan arakali forbes india staff

Hallmarks of Aging: Genomic Instability

We are doing a series of articles that discuss the Hallmarks of Aging. Published in 2013, this paper is highly regarded in academia and is one of the most cited papers in biology, with an average of being cited once every two days. The paper divides aging into distinct categories (“hallmarks”) of damage to explain how the aging process works and how it causes age-related diseases[1].

Today, we will be looking at one of the primary hallmarks, genomic instability.

Anti-aging drug breakthrough

The work, published in the March 8 issue of Science, finally proves that a single anti-aging enzyme in the body can be targeted, with the potential to prevent age-related diseases and extend lifespans.

The paper shows all of the 117 drugs tested work on the single enzyme through a common mechanism. This means that a whole new class of anti-aging drugs is now viable, which could ultimately prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes.

“Ultimately, these drugs would treat one disease, but unlike drugs of today, they would prevent 20 others,” says the lead author of the paper, Professor David Sinclair, from UNSW Medicine, who is based at Harvard University. “In effect, they would slow aging.”

MouseAge: Visual Biomarker for Mouse Aging

MouseAge (https://www.lifespan.io/mouseage) is creating the first photographic biomarker system using the power of artificial intelligence.

The goal of MouseAge is to create a system capable of determining the age of mice without the need for invasive or even harmful tests.

This means researchers can measure changes to biological age in mice helping to speed up research and reduce animal suffering.

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