Chemically induced reprogramming to reverse cellular aging
aging-us.com
aging-us.com
Thats an understatement, some liken the damage caused by senescent cells to be as and more damaging than cancer cells but without the cell multiplication, mainly because apoptosis doesnt happen and the immune system cant destroy them, they just hang around damaging surrounding healthy cells.
like a car engine getting its oil changed helps clear out the accumulated 'cruft' from the liquid medium, but even better, since my body will just produce fresh "oil" (blood) from the snacks they give at the end
win/win for everyone
I only found out a few weeks ago our stem cell count starts declining in our twenties. I think trying to reverse that is key to a longer healthier life but drugs like filgrastim which is used to harvest stem cells for leukaemia is not the answer.
Likewise as kids our bones are packed full of red bone marrow, but when we hit puberty the non flat bones start changing to yellow bone marrow which is much like the stem cells you get from adipose tissue aka fat tissue, and they are a little less predictable.
Vit K1 reportedly reverses senescent cells, so maybe we should be eating our greens every day. Vegetarians are also reported to live longer so there might be some truth in it, but there are other chemicals in our diet which are also important.
I believe the current thinking is that it has more to do with diluting harmful substances in the old blood than beneficial substances in the young blood (as originally thought). Much the same effect is seen if the old blood simply has some of its plasma removed and replaced with saline + albumen.
The idea is that the liver, kidneys, etc. can't remove all the harmful stuff, so it accumulates over time. Somewhat like the way that no matter how good your oil filter is, your car still needs a complete oil change from time to time.
The changing of the oil is an understandable analogy, but it ignores the engine's inability to replace oil and manufacturer new oil itself. The body can replace blood cells and manufacturer new blood cells, provided there is enough red bone marrow in the skeleton and other chemicals in the diet.
We just need the right diet, ie the right chemical intake, and nobody understands the entire picture yet.
True enough, but what the body can't do, under this idea, is get rid of any harmful waste that the kidneys and liver can't deal with. They're both quite good at their job, but they can't eliminate everything.
There's experimental evidence for this. Some of the earlier studies on transfusing in "young blood" were repeated, but with saline and albumen instead of the "young blood". The same benefits were seen.
> We just need the right diet
How is the right diet supposed to remove waste products that the standard excretory system can't deal with?
Also, there have been people eating just about every conceivable diet for a very long time.
They all got old.
- The study demonstrates that certain molecules can effectively 'reverse' the aging process in cells without changing their core identity.
- A system called NCC has been used as a successful indicator of biological age reversal, paving the way for broader research into rejuvenation factors.
- An important element, OSK, helps improve aging cell health, potentially leading to treatment strategies for aging-related diseases.
- Various interventions have shown to reduce signs of aging in cells by changing the way genes are expressed. Six specific treatments significantly decreased both biological and chronological age of cells.
- The study found that early stages of cellular 'reprogramming' can rejuvenate cells without making them behave like stem cells. One particular treatment, VC6TF, showed the most potent rejuvenation effects.
- Further research is required to understand how this cellular 'age reversal' works and how it compares to other similar processes, particularly one triggered by the OSK element.
- Certain compounds play a big role in the process of cellular rejuvenation by affecting the way cells express their genetic material.
- Safety tests in animals are crucial before these rejuvenation treatments can be tested in humans, especially to check for potential signs of abnormal tissue growth or cancer.
I'm not heavily invested in AI (machine learning) and don't have tools to do X or Y. This saved me a lot of time and broke down the (dense) article nicely for me.
With respect to the previous gene therapy results, Sinclair posted on Twitter that human trials are in the preparation stage..
Hence, the search for safer alternatives. What the Yamanaka factors do is not just rejuvenation, but also de-differentiation of cells, with the latter being undesirable in clinical settings. (Though desirable for stem cell production.) It is possible that these two effects can be separated and rejuvenation can be achieved without de-differentiation.
(Surprised this hasn't hit the homepage yet — it's incredible news)
They have been experimenting with thymus rejuvenation in volunteers for years and it seems that most people experience both subjective and measurable improvements in their overall health that are somewhat consistent with systemic rejuvenation.
But the current protocol uses Human Growth Hormone and they want to find out if something less expensive and with fewer potential side effects can be used.
HGH/Somatropin is pretty readily available in LatAM countries (~$100 per 2 week dose).