Harvard scientists reverse the ageing process in mice – now for humans

[SecularMotion]

Source: The Guardian

Scientists claim to be a step closer to reversing the ageing process after rejuvenating worn out organs in elderly mice. The experimental treatment developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School turned weak and feeble old mice into healthy animals by regenerating their aged bodies.

The surprise recovery of the animals has raised hopes among scientists that it may be possible to achieve a similar feat in humans – or at least to slow down the ageing process.

An anti-ageing therapy could have a dramatic impact on public health by reducing the burden of age-related health problems, such as dementia, stroke and heart disease, and prolonging the quality of life for an increasingly aged population.

"What we saw in these animals was not a slowing down or stabilisation of the ageing process. We saw a dramatic reversal – and that was unexpected," said Ronald DePinho, who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/28/scientists-reverse-ageing-mice-humans

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Woo hoo! Bring it on!

[SkyDaddy7]

27. This should only be for those who don't believe in an afterlife...

The rest already have ever lasting life with their creator so they have no need for such a medical procedure.

I wonder how many "believers" would refuse the treatment if it were available?

It is one thing to say you have "faith" it is a whole other to prove it!

[LanternWaste]

39. You're right. Every medical release form henceforth should mandate

You're right. Every medical release form henceforth should mandate that everyone records their religion (or absence thereof) from now on...

[DavidDvorkin]

40. Excellent idea

For that matter, how often do aging believers - not ancient, just aging - refuse standard treatments now that increase their life expectancy, because they're eager to get to Heaven? Not often, I suspect.

[SKKY]

44. I regret that I can only recommend this once!

[mikelgb]

2. Not Good News - the world is overpopulated already

[MissMarple]

8. Actually, it put me in mind of "After Many a Summer Dies the Swan" by Aldous Huxley.

[oldhippydude]

11. thats funny

i had Roses for algernon, flash past my memory..

[MissMarple]

28. Aldous helps us reach a perspective, don't you think?

And Roses for Algernon. Tragic and sad, the search for immortality.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Don't worry. I'm sure it will only be available to the rich and powerful.

[shanti]

45. exactly!

it will not be available to the unwashed masses.

[Xithras]

16. Perhaps, but many have cited enhanced lifespans as a requirement for space exploration.

Spending 100 years transiting between stars doesn't sound so bad when you'll live to see 250.

Many pessimists say that human expansion into space will never happen because of the vast distances involved. There are only two solutions to that problem. 1) Make faster spaceships. 2) Make more durable humans.

From a purely scientific perspective, #2 is probably the more achievable of those options.

[eShirl]

3. telomerase

"Repeating the trick in humans will be more difficult. Mice make telomerase throughout their lives, but the enzyme is switched off in adult humans, an evolutionary compromise that stops cells growing out of control and turning into cancer. Raising levels of telomerase in people might slow the ageing process, but it makes the risk of cancer soar."

hmmm

[The Doctor.]

23. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Introduced periodically and under the right circumstances, a telomerase battery could be used for telomere restoration- effectively 'resetting' the age of the cells.

The only problem occurs with cells that have hit the Hayflick limit and have failed to religate the coded DNA. If the DNA has been compromised and become susceptible to mutation, then telomerase will grant the cells the ability to replicate into cancer unbridled.

Since most cells maintain long enough telomere chains, then the risk of cancer is relatively smaller the younger the subject. It would become more risky the older the subject, I imagine.

Very good point though.

[Beetwasher]

4. Is There Any Way We Can Hide This Info From Dick Cheney?

n/t

[Jed28]

13. Ditto...

John McCain, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and the entire generation of idealogues and crooks on both sides of the aisle who threaten the future of this planet. Change won't happen until they are are gone.

[mikelgb]

15. yeah they all have enough rodent dna to be viable test subjects

[Beavker]

14. According to him and other Teabagging Wingers

Science doesn't really exist. So I'd think they'd poo poo the notion anyway. You think the Liberals are mostly 'younger' folks now...just wait.

[Roy Rolling]

21. he was test subject

Wasn't this tested on rats??? Oh, sorry, misread...story said MICE. :hide:

[tomm2thumbs]

5. reason for Social Security benefits to be withheld until age 211

it'll make the GOP so proud

[tclambert]

35. LOL.

My wife even laughed at that one. Picking 211 as the retirement age was brilliant. But is that full retirement, or early retirment?

[Ian David]

6. That's nice. How will we feed all the humans who don't die of old age?

We'll have to somehow also control the birth rate.

Or make pass a law that if you take this "youth elixir" you also need to volunteer to colonize another planet.

[Mnemosyne]

20. Starvation will keep most everyone but the wealthy from getting very old. n/t

[tclambert]

34. Well, come on, at first only rich people will get the treatment.

When the cost of the treatment comes down, we can go to plan B: freeze the poor. Take all the excess poor people to the cryotorium and turn 'em into peoplesicles. Save 'em for when we need extra workers or something. Of course, we'll lose a lot to freezer burn and the occasional accident. Oops, did you just kick that plug out of the wall socket?

[thecrow]

7. So the rich will now live forever?

I doubt this will be available to the rest of us.

[Ginto]

9. Overpopulation, unbelievable strain on social programs, etc.

Sometimes I wish that a lot of medical advancement never happened.

[jwirr]

17. Yes, why don't they concentrate on childhood diseases? I am in

my late 60s and I shudder to think of living that long. They can prolong life but they do not say what the quality of life will be. Make life better for children and maybe find some help for those of us seniors who live in pain everyday.

[Ginto]

19. To be truthful, since this is actually repairing worn out tissue, you could be 100, but feel 20.

Doesn't make it right though.

[Bluenorthwest]

29. What do you mean it does not say anything about quaility of

life? This is from the except in the OP: "An anti-ageing therapy could have a dramatic impact on public health by reducing the burden of age-related health problems, such as dementia, stroke and heart disease, and....... prolonging the quality of life for an increasingly aged population."

So the text is all about quality of life, but the thread is all about the rich gunna live forever. Sad.

[jwirr]

37. I do not believe can guarantee that. And I watched my mother die

with Alzheimer's - not for me. Thank you.

[radhika]

24. Nah, the Immortal Rich will Cut all Social Spending n/t

[AndyTiedye]

30. You Are Free to Refuse Modern Medical Treatment When the Time Comes

[mainer]

12. but it causes cancer? Interesting gamble.

So you could stay young, but die sooner of cancer.

[The Doctor.]

25. Not really 'causes'...

just grants all cells the ability to replicate intact. That means that if you have a cell that degenerates with every replication, instead of just failing and being washed away, it will replicate with the mutation that could be cancerous.

It would be therefore be less likely to afflict younger people.

[Speck Tater]

18. Just what we need. More damn humans defiling the planet! nt

[andym]

22. But these mice do not live longer than normal mice

They genetically engineered mice to make an inactive telomerase by fusion to the estrogen receptor (which inactivates it) and then after inbreeding the mice long enough to get short telomeres, where they prematurely age, they allowed the telomerase to become active using an inducer. There they saw that mice with short telomeres could recover.

The reason it went to Nature, is that humans do not make telomerase in most somatic (non-sex) cells throughout our lifeimes, so the mouse model is somewhat more like humans, than normal mice. Also, the recovery from short telomeres was unexpected.

It is unclear how many human cells actually have short enough telomeres during 80-100 years of life to make any impact on aging, although there is some evidence for an effect on some white blood cells....

Note that telomerase activation is associated with cancer, and one of the mice did come down with it.

[indimuse]

26. that's what i'm talking about...

;)

[colorado_ufo]

31. Think a minute.

1 - The end of life may not be tied to age reversal. There may be a limit to human life, in spite of any efforts. We might simply be healthier and happier until just before our death - an ideal situation.

2 - So, we shouldn't live longer? What age should we live to? The life expectancy has already risen far past that at the beginning of the 20th century. Should we go back to Roman times, when people lived mostly to their 30s? Should we ask everyone over age 45 to politely, "Check out now, please,"? Soylent Green, anyone?

3 - No, we will not be overpopulated. These things have a way of correcting themselves, both socially and biologically. Two or three decades ago, there was an enormous fear that we would be overpopulated by now. Instead, birth rates have declined dramatically in many countries.

With every new generation, everything must be re-learned. Inevitably, much knowledge is lost along the way. With a population that has lived longer, with more experience to pass on (and the mental capacity and good health to pass it), we have a better chance of making inroads into the real problems of society, such as war and intolerance, and the potential to make scientific progress to advance the future of mankind.

Let's welcome good news.

[hayu_lol]

32. What a mess this would cause...

the two youngest adult generations won't listen to seniors now, how much less will they listen to seniors 125 years old? ;^)

We had better not go there...Monsanto will have the contract.

[dipsydoodle]

33. Maybe they could give this a tweak

[tclambert]

36. Finally, someone's addressing the sad shortage of immortal mice!

I can hear the New York City sewers clogging up already.

[fascisthunter]

38. on one hand this is a major scientific breakthrough

on the other hand, don't we populate this planet enough already?

[Octafish]

41. Hurry!

Beep! Beep!... Beep! Beep!...Beep! Beep!... Beep! Beep!...

[morningglory]

42. What we really need: a big bunch of 300 year old people

still able to procreate and have babies. The planet is doomed.

[No Elephants]

43. Did any of the mice have laugh lines? (Curse you, Maher, Stewart and Colbert!)

Btw, stress reduction is very good for your telomeres, so find ways to reduce stress, like exercise, maybe meditation--and definitely laughing.

[BlueIris]

46. Anyone ever read a Kurt Vonnegut story called "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"?

Humans stop the aging process in that one, too.

It...didn't work out so great in Vonnegut's scenario.