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Science is edging us closer to the elusive ‘fountain of youth’

September 8, 2021

Excitement and activism are building in the field of longevity as scientists figure out ways to alleviate the hallmarks of aging.
Dysfunction in how DNA is read and implemented in cells is a key focus area and has been referred to as the first unified theory of aging.
Leading experts agree that clinical anti-aging therapies are sure to come; but argue that in the time being, humans can benefit from lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise.

The infirmities of aging have dented life expectancy gains made over the last 150 years. Nonetheless, humanity’s future appears to be in safe hands as longevity research intensifies and biotechs spring up from all over the world. Scientists now have a decent understanding of the biological hallmarks of aging. These are the knobs that turn up with aging and increase the likelihood of illness and frailty. They include proteostasis (how well cells remove waste), mitochondrial dysfunction (how well cells create energy), epigenetic alterations (how well cells implement genetic instructions), genomic instability, telomere shortening, and cellular senescence. Ongoing research is looking at how these knobs (hallmarks of aging) can be regulated to slow down or reverse aging. Outside of science, increasing activism is promoting progress on all fronts. James Strole is a 72 years old former real estate investor who is now a leading anti-death activist. In 1995, Strole cofounded People Unlimited, a community that inspires people to live infinite lifespans. He later started the Coalition for Radical Life Extension (CRLE) in 2016. Both organizations are introducing the public to anti-aging initiatives so that when the solutions come, they can be integrated into society as easily as possible. CRLE also hosts a yearly scientific event called RAADfest (Revolution Against Aging and Death). This is the world’s largest gathering of life extension enthusiasts. During the 2019 RAADfest, which took place in Las Vegas before the COVID-19 pandemic, a speaker told participants that they were between “the last mortal generation and the first immortal human generation”. But even as the excitement grows, not every anti-aging product or initiative should be taken at face value. Some potentially compelling innovations in longevity have proved to be too good to be true. Questionable products that have been sponsored on RAADfest range from Mystic Oils and Anti-Aging creams to NAD+ injections and electromagnetic wellness mats. It looks like everyone is looking to cash in on the longevity wave, but we may still be a long way before these products can be presented to the general public with scientific certainty. Stole argues that humanity needs to invest in anti-aging research the way we have invested in cancer. He is particularly optimistic about senolytics (drugs that purge deteriorating cells from the body) and exosome treatments (which infuse the body with little packages of extracellular communication materials, usually from immortal stem cells). Scientific research has shown that these areas are very promising for antiaging. However, no drug has been approved by the FDA yet. One question that lingers in many longevity enthusiasts’ minds is how long it may take to realize actionable anti-aging solutions. According to the Gompertz-Makeham Law of Mortality, the risk of death after 30 doubles every eight years. Some people are taking preventative measures to increase the chance they will be alive if and when a working anti-aging pill is developed. David Sinclair is a professor of genetics and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Harvard Medical School. He is also one of the leading longevity researchers in the world. Sinclair thinks that we will eventually solve aging and that there is no upper limit on human lifespan. But he doesn’t see any earthling living forever, at least not within the next 500 years. Sinclair believes he has a pretty good idea regarding where to focus anti-aging research. He argues that biological hallmarks of aging can be attributed to dysfunction in how DNA is read and implemented in cells. Sinclair is willing to put all his bets on the epigenome, a set of chemical modifications that turn genes on or off based on environmental conditions. He simplifies this by comparing aging to a scratch on a CD, “the genome is the music, the reader is the epigenome, and the scratch has stopped the reader from reading the music in the same way. I think aging stops cells from reading the right genes to remember how to be a brain cell or a liver cell”. Recent research completed at Dr. Sinclair’s lab used gene expression to restore vision cells in old mice to a younger epigenetic state. The study demonstrated that damaged optic nerve cells could be regrown to restore vision in old mice with an eye condition known as glaucoma. You could say that they used a CD cleaning solution to buff out the scratches. The study was published in the December 2020 cover of Nature. Dr. Sinclair feels that aging should be recognized as a disease, at least by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to quicken the pace of longevity research. It’ll be easier for doctors to prescribe the first potential anti-aging drugs if they don’t have to prescribe them off-label. Sinclair also isolates the lack of a reliable test for the body’s cellular age as being another challenge. It’s currently difficult to know whether a certain treatment works unless a research study follows people all the way to death. You can’t make humans live longer until you figure out how they are dying, and how quickly they are dying. Sinclair says he is building a company to develop such a test. He argues that it would need to be cheap and easy enough to be accepted by the average person. “Lowering the barrier to doing this test routinely…will get the public accustomed to the concept that you can measure aging and that how you live affects that rate,” he adds. Like Sinclair, Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov is working to develop a test of true age. Zhavoronkov is the founder of Deep Longevity, a company that is betting on Artificial Intelligence and other tech-enabled tools to crack the aging dilemma. He is a leading expert in artificial intelligence for drug discovery and is among scientists who lobbied the WHO to name aging a disease. Realistically, clinical use of anti-aging tests and drugs could be years or even decades away. Before then, Sinclair has some practical advice. He recommends lifestyle interventions such as eating lots of plants, exercising, and not smoking. It would be nearly impossible to find a doctor who disagrees with these suggestions. “If I could only give one recommendation, it would be to eat less often,” Sinclair adds. Studies going as far back as the 1930s have shown that reducing caloric consumption by about 30 percent can improve the lifespan of mice and monkeys and enhance biomarkers of age in humans. It’s comforting to know that – while scientists do their best work in pursuit of the longevity dream — there’s something you can now do for the good of your health and lifespan.

References: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a36712084/can-science-cure-death-longevity/

Science is edging us closer to the elusive ‘fountain of youth’

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