Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Resveratrol news 2014 december

For the new study, Sajish and Schimmel put TyrRS(tRNA synthetase called TyrRS) and resveratrol together and showed with tests including X-ray crystallography that resveratrol does indeed mimic tyrosine, well enough to fit tightly into TyrRS's tyrosine binding pocket. That binding to resveratrol, the team found, takes TyrRS away from its protein translation role and steers it to a function in the cell nucleus.
Tracking the resveratrol-bound TyrRS in the nucleus, the researchers determined that it grabs and activates the protein, PARP-1, a major stress response and DNA-repair factor thought to have a significance influence on lifespan. The scientists confirmed the interaction in mice injected with resveratrol. TyrRS's activation of PARP-1 led, in turn, to the activation of a host of protective genes including the tumor-suppressor gene p53 and the longevity genes FOXO3A and SIRT6.-machineslikeus link
 It seems that in addition to the previously known sirtuin 1 activity, resveratrol also activates other stress response mechanisms through TyrRS including SIRT6 and FOXO3A.    So resveratrol appears to be acting through more than one pathway and it also seems to activate some of these mechanisms at lower doses according to the linked article


Saturday, November 29, 2014

Nice video on NAD



Lower NAD in old age interferes with sirtuin activity, and may be behind the negative results on lifespan of resveratrol on normal rodents

interesting antiaging talks

Saturday, November 22, 2014

A response to a post in josh mitteldorf's site

 "but only 15% to dogs and 5% or less in Rhesus monkey experiments reported last year. "

The 16% on dogs, was on 25% CR, iirc not maximal 65% CR.   Human igff1 levels have been influenced by protein intake, which may also affect other long lived species igf1 which may affect longevity

As for the primate study the earlier findings of small benefits were questioned this year.   It seems that not only have several monkeys who started CR in adulthood exceeded the maximum lifespan in captivity of the species studied, but those not on CR experienced triple the risk of death
http://www.news.wisc.edu/22672

Regards resveratrol, it has not only extended the life of fish, worms, yeast, obese mice, but also mitochondrially dysfunctional mice and several types of senescent accelerated mice strains.   It also tripled human cell survival upon exposure to gamma radiation.    Why it failed on normal mice, is a good question....  the fact that their nad goes drastically down with age, iirc, could be a culprit as this might handicap sirtuin activity which necesitates it, iirc, even in the presence of sirtuin activity enhancing compounds such as resveratrol. -Darian S, link to post in blog


Saturday, November 1, 2014

Short term extreme CR leads to extreme weight loss and appears to cure type 2 diabetes in small group of patients

 Desperate for information, I headed to the web, where I found a reportabout a research trial at Newcastle University led by Professor Roy Taylor. His research suggested type 2 diabetes could be reversed by following a daily 800-calorie diet for eight weeks....

Others have also changed their lives through the diet. Carlos Cervantes, 53 and from the US, was at death's door when he tried it. He weighed 120kg, suffered a heart attack in spring 2011, his eyesight and kidneys were failing and he faced having an infected toe amputated. He even had fungus growing out of his ears, feeding on his ultra-high blood sugar levels. But after seeing a TV report on the Newcastle research, he started eating only 600 calories a day, replacing the supplements with not just vegetables but fruit, lean chicken, turkey, occasional bread and a daily milkshake. Two months later he had lost 40kg and 18 months later he is still free of his type  2 diabetes...-link1

The small study, which was followed independently by people in the above article, will be looked into with a bigger study involving 100s of patients as seen in the following quote.   Of course extreme CR probably requires medical supervision and should only be used short term to avoid side effects.

 Overweight patients who were put on a diet of just 800 calories a day were free of the disease within a few weeks of following the strict regime....
The diet, which was tested on 11 patients, is a key part of a new £2.4million medical trial of almost 300 people with obesity-induced diabetes....
In healthy people, the liver should contain around two per cent of fat, but in obese people, it can reach 40 per cent and suppress insulin production. Professor Taylor said the results were “enormously exciting”.
He added: “The good news is that if you cut fat in the diet then the liver fat falls very rapidly and that means the pancreas can start working again.”
The new study will see 280 patients with Type 2 diabetes monitored for several years – with half of them on a crash diet for eight to 20 weeks.
Professor Lean said: “We’re confident that some people with Type 2 will be able to achieve remission.-link2

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Excerpt from an old article on CR relating to humans

“Speaking of humans,” Fontana added, “if you are lean because you are exercising, of course you are doing good, because you’re preventing types of diabetes, some kinds of cardiovascular disease and maybe some types of cancers. But the data suggest that calorie restriction is more powerful. And the people on C.R. are more powerfully protected from diseases than the exercisers.”

Fontana connected his point to his continuing observations of some Calorie Restriction Society members. “In terms of cardiovascular diseases — the No. 1 cause of death; 4 out of 10 people die of it in the U.S. and Europe — we know that they will not die of cardiovascular death,” Fontana said. His subjects have cholesterol around 160, blood pressure around 100 over 60, high HDL, low triglycerides and very low levels of inflammation. “So these people won’t develop these diseases,” he said. “And I think that’s an important finding. Because every day doctors are publishing hundreds of papers on circulation research and medications that are lowering blood pressure or cholesterol by a small bit. And here we have such a powerful intervention that is basically cleaning out the arteries.” At Tufts, Susan Roberts, the lead investigator, echoed this position, saying that the study will probably have greater effects than the average clinical trial. “I don’t know why anyone would take drugs when they could do something like this,” Roberts said, referring to Calerie.-link

A nice article regarding CR in humans, this is only a small interesting bit.

On degrees of CR viable in longer lived animals

My next interview was so upsetting that it is difficult to write about, and it shows that CR can, in certain cases, lead to full-blown anorexia. I called Al at home; his voice was quiet and somewhat difficult to hear. I asked how many calories a day he ate (1,950, he said) and how much he weighed.
"Ninety-two," he answered. I hoped I'd heard wrong. "How tall are you?" I asked. "Five-four," he said. "But I used to be 5-feet-11." He paused. "Osteoporosis." His spine had compressed a full 7 inches—or perhaps he was bent over. I was glad we were on the phone and I couldn't see him.
Al, who is 59, said he began CR in 1989 after reading about it in a textbook co-written by CR guru Roy Walford. -link

It is likely that the CR performed here was more extreme and has now become more moderate.  Such examples suggest that extreme CR might not be recommendable for longer lived animals prone to bone loss over time.    
More moderate CR, combined with CR mimetics should be viable and not entail such side effects(adequate calcium intake and vitamin k2 should probably also be helpful).   Several CR mimetics are said to not be additive with maximal CR(around 65% restriction), but should likely have additive effect on more moderate CR.    An interesting compound that should hopefully be tested in mammals, is rhodiola, which is a compound that is additive with CR and even maximal CR in a species of insect.   The mechanisms of rhodiola are also of interest seeing as it can move some species' lifespan beyond maximal CR

nice global ilumination vid ue4

Monday, October 27, 2014

Nice quote on computational processes

A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer's idea of a spirit. It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all. However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by controlling a robot arm in a factory. The programs we use to conjure processes are like a sorcerer's spells. They are carefully composed from symbolic expressions in arcane and esoteric programming languages that prescribe the tasks we want our processes to perform.-link

 And the world is entering an age, were the most powerful of all such is about to come into existence, where the design of artificial minds become possible.  It is then that entities of immense capability can be summoned into this world.  





Monday, October 20, 2014

Nice quote on gene expression and calorie restriction

 "Aging was accompanied by changes in gene expression associated with increased inflammation, cellular stress, and fibrosis, and reduced capacity for apoptosis, xenobiotic metabolism, normal cell-cycling, and DNA replication. LT-CR and just 4 weeks of ST-CR reversed the majority of these changes."-link

Effects seen in liver of rodents, reversal of most age related changes in gene expression, if I'm not mistaken.
LTCR long term calorie restriction
STCR short term calorie restriction

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Nice sciencedaily article from earlier this year

Monkey caloric restriction study shows big benefit; contradicts earlier study

...The study of 76 rhesus monkeys, reported Monday in Nature Communications, was performed at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center in Madison. When they were 7 to 14 years of age, the monkeys began eating a diet reduced in calories by 30 percent. The comparison monkeys, which ate as much as they wanted, had an increased risk of disease 2.9 times that of the calorie-restricted group, and a threefold increased risk of death.
"We think our study is important because it means the biology we have seen in lower organisms is germane to primates," says Richard Weindruch, a professor of medicine at the School of Medicine and Public Health, and one of the founders of the UW study. "We continue to believe that mechanisms that combat aging in caloric restriction will offer a lead into drugs or other treatments to slow the onset of disease and death."...
 Weindruch also points to some results from the NIA that seem to contradict the "no significant result" analysis. Twenty monkeys entered the NIA study as mature adults, 10 in the test group and 10 in the control group, and five of these (four test monkeys and one control monkey) lived at least 40 years. "Heretofore, there was never a monkey that we are aware of that was reported to live beyond 40 years," Weindruch says. "Hence, the conclusion that caloric restriction is ineffective in their study does not make sense to me and my colleagues."...-link
 Calorie restriction seems to be showing noticeable benefits on primates.

 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

a response in Josh Mitteldorf's blog


 
Regards Telomeres:
while I'm not sure if the measurements are reflective of increases throughout, say stem cells, it has been claimed that a vegetarian diet combined with even modest low intensity exercise can increase the length of telomeres in humans by a noticeable amount.

Regards Thymus:
I've heard that some doses of melatonin are able to reverse thymic involution in nonhuman animals.

Regards natural substances, we have to remember that some can interact with regulatory proteins and alter gene expression.

For example I believe that CR is at least in  part  probably an artefact of metabolic regulatory networks and not a primarily evolved survival mechanism, it works up to around 65% restriction in some animals but requires optimal nutrition unlikely in any natural environment at that level of restriction.   If you can mess directly with the signaling pathways there's no telling what the limits are, as you wouldn't be bound by minimum survival necessary caloric intake limits, and multiple substances are emerging that appear to affect the signalling directly such as nicotinamide riboside, and the various partial cr-mimetics(resveratrol, fisetin, pterostilbene,etc).  There's also probable dietary means of also activating these signaling pathways such as low methionine diets, which can be combined with the substances and probably yield additive effect.

update:
The telomere study wasn't large but iirc, it took measures after five years, which should give time for changes to accumulate,  between comparison groups and had noticeable differences

"The group that made the lifestyle changes experienced a “significant” increase in telomere length of approximately 10 percent. Further, the more people changed their behavior by adhering to the recommended lifestyle program, the more dramatic their improvements in telomere length, the scientists learned.

By contrast, the men in the control group who were not asked to alter their lifestyle had measurably shorter telomeres – nearly 3 percent shorter – when the five-year study ended. Telomere length usually decreases over time."-http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/09/108886/lifestyle-changes-may-lengthen-telomeres-measure-cell-aging

"I believe CR is an evolved mechanism for population regulation. Think of it as aging extra fast when there is a temporary plentitude of food, so overpopulation is a risk. The idea that CR life extension only works with optimal nutrition has become part of the biological lore, but it has never really been tested. At the very least, there are big exceptions, as when insufficient protein and methionine help to ENHANCE life extension from CR."

While I don't remember the source I've also heard it must be gradually undertaken or else no lifespan benefits are seen if it is  introduced all of a sudden in adult organisms, in nature it seems sudden famine is more likely.  Also it seems to work up to about 65% in some animals, even if we were to assume no supplementation is necessary in more mild calorie restriction, it is unlikely there wouldn't be serious malnutrition at such extreme levels, yet it keeps on working past what would seem like natural environment nutrient limits.  
Regards methionine, iirc, it's believed to be one of the key signals of nutrient availability which is used by the mechanisms of cr, but it cannot be reduced beyond a certain point without severe side effects.

As for testing malnutrition CR I would imagine you consider CR not effective in humans or else some of the poorest on earth would be breaking records, which they're not and would serve as a test if it is effective in humans.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

a response in a thread on kurzweilai forums

[quote]Most people imagine that shortly after the first human level AGI is created an SAI is destined to emerge shortly there after, one that is absolutely unfathomable to our puny little meat brains. When the truth is our brains could put Watson to utter shame (assuming they had a way to assimilate the data rapidly) if they were redesigned and optimized for a such narrow task..[/quote]
 While difficult, comparative genetics can show the modifications from simpler mammals like rodents, to primates to humans, and even among humans the differences bestowing greater intellect.   It remains an open question how straightforward the modifications are, is there a clear path or if they're highly specialized and totally unique  with each leap in capacity.   If it turns out that in general there has been a straightforward route of modifications to the neural wiring and computing algorithms employed in animals as their intelligence increases, then it will be possible to extrapolate the design choices forward to their theoretical limits.
[quote]If you speed up a monkey 100 fold, that monkey will just do monkey things 100x faster. I don't see why it should be all that different for humans.
[/quote]
Given 100xspeed up a human could master countless fields of science, with the plasticity of a child he could easily attain human native performance in countless languages, and with enhanced memory he could have encyclopedic knowledge of all he masters.    A monkey is a sublinguistic entity and thus limited in what it can endeavour, discover and accomplish, a human is not bound by such limitations.
[quote]Trying to turn a digital computer into a brain, though, that is an entirely different prospect. I would compare it to trying to modify a candle through step by step alterations (each stage of which functions well enough to be useful) until you have an electric light bulb. One can obviously make trivial similarities between candles and light bulbs (both provide illumination) just as one can with computers and brains (both process information) but the differences in design principles are so profound there really can be no evolution of one into the other.[/quote]
The difference is that it is assumed what the brain is performing is computation, if it is then like flight happens with planes without turning them into birds, a different architecture that is universal can also perform the same computation, because algorithms are substrate independent.    Of course if it is doing some spooky or magical thing that is not computation then it can only be approximated.
That is when you go into the camps of those who say physics is computable, including quantum physics, and not even quantum computers are more powerful than traditional turing machines albeit faster at certain tasks, and those who say physics is not computable.   Even in the case of physics not being computable, it is said that it is not possible to physically build a computer that surpasses a turing class  computer, so the brain would have to not be a computer at all or  if so it would need to be some manner of hypercomputer or such claims would have to be flawed.

[quote]The difference between the the most idiotic of our species and our most accomplished has little if anything to do with the speed with which the brain "computes". Instead it has everything to do with the integrated models that are physically instanced within each particular brain.[/quote]
Both white matter quality and grey matter volume have been linked to iq.  White matter increases speed, but within a simulation it is possible for the communication to appear to occur instantaneously for the simulated entity.   As for increased grey matter, Increasing the number of elements is also trivial, and in a few decades we may have countless exabytes allowing for countless number of elements.
There are other variations such as the size of various divisions within the brain, in sensory areas making those with less allotment more suceptible to illusions in said modality.   There are also countless variations in many parts of the system at a molecular level, making some more prone to hostility, with worse or better memory, more faithful, easier to get addicted, etc

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Sirtuins revisited

We now know that metazoans have multiple nutrient-sensing pathways
that can affect the life span (e.g., insulin signaling)
(Kenyon 2010), TOR (Johnson et al. 2013), AMP kinase
(Kahn et al. 2005), and sirtuins (Guarente 2000). Any
variability in laboratory conditions might favor signaling
through different subsets of these pathways, explaining
the reported differences in the genetic requirements
for CR in lower organisms (Speakman and Mitchell
2011).SIRT1 activators-link

An article overview of sirtuins and their connection to calorie restriction.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

calorie restriction protects telomere length

"We see that mice that undergo caloric restriction show a lower telomere shortening rate than those fed with a normal diet," says Blasco. "These mice therefore have longer telomeres as adults, as well as lower rates of chromosome anomalies," she adds.-link
Caloric restriction appears to reduce the age related loss of telomere length.  It might be interesting to combine with a vegetarian diet as well as moderate exercise, as those lengthen telomeres and might do so more effectively if the normal rate of telomere length loss is reduced.

 Ten of the patients embarked on lifestyle changes that included: a plant-based diet (high in fruits, vegetables and unrefined grains, and low in fat and refined carbohydrates); moderate exercise (walking 30 minutes a day, six days a week); stress reduction (gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation). They also participated in weekly group support.  ..
 
The group that made the lifestyle changes experienced a “significant” increase in telomere length of approximately 10 percent. Further, the more people changed their behavior by adhering to the recommended lifestyle program, the more dramatic their improvements in telomere length, the scientists learned.-link

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Video on social securitiy


nice quote

"the argument of morality from authority is unsatisfactory, IMHO.   It simply seems that simply postulating an authority does not grant it the ability to be a moral arbiter from an absolute objective point of view."-ES

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Optical disc development

New optical laser can increase DVD storage up to one petabyte-link

 

With a petabyte of storage one could do lots of things


article on genetics and cr

While calorie restriction has been shown to combat aging in everything from humans to flies, the mechanism behind this has remained mysterious. But in a new study published in the journal Nature, a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University have developed a computer algorithm capable of predicting the genes that can be switched off in order to create the same anti-aging effect as calorie restriction. -link

An interesting article on isolating the genetic mechanics of calorie restriction, one of the most backed and well known ways of extending an organisms lifespan.

Leonard Guarante aging antiaging interview video

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Video about nice supplement niagen

nicotinamide riboside lifespan article

The May 3, 2007 issue of the journal Cell reported the finding of Dartmouth University researchers that a vitamin recently discovered in milk extends the life span of yeast in a manner similar to that of calorie restriction. The vitamin is nicotinamide riboside (NR), a cousin of niacin, and is a precursor to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or NAD, a cellular factor essential for all life. - See more at: link

A nice article on nicotinamide riboside and its effects on lifespan.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

big pharma and cancer research article

Recently, there have been major advances in our understanding of how cancer progresses. As scientists have sequenced thousands of cancer genomes, patterns are starting to emerge. One clear insight we have gained is the likelihood that no single drug will be able to defeat cancer. The reason most cancers become drug resistant and come back is because their DNA mutates quickly. Cancer cells that are not killed by the drugs survive, continue to grow and replace the cells that have been wiped out.-link

An interesting article dealing with cancer research and the pharmaceutical industry.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Article hinting at programmed aging

"Scientists have shown that a protein they previously demonstrated can make the failing hearts in aging mice appear more like those of young health mice, similarly improves brain and skeletal muscle function in aging mice. In two separate articles scientists report that injections of a protein known as GDF11, which is found in humans as well as mice, improved the exercise capability of mice equivalent in age to that of about a 70-year-old human."-link

It is interesting that with age biological factors change in a way that is detrimental to the organism.   Not simply due to damage, but in some cases due to detrimental changes in regulation that the body could easily prevent(as seen by the fact that interventions such as caloric restriction with adequate nutrition being able to revert many of the changes in gene expression, iirc.).   It suggests that it might actually be an orchaestrated process, and if so one that we should with knowledge be able to intervene in.

It had previously been seen that the longest lived nondividing cells in an animal could live about twice as long when transplanted to a longer lived animal, probably longer if the transplant recipient was even longer lived.   Yet despite having such a robust mechanism to keep individual cells alive present in the original animal, nature lets the original animal decay and die with needlessly short life.

In primates some are said to live about a decade while others live for over a century, yet the genetic differences are likely not that much.   Might the changes from animals that live a century to those that live multiple centuries and show no aging, be likewise as small?

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Quote


The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.—Albert Einstein

Thursday, April 17, 2014

nice quotes on minimum wage


“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” (1933, Statement on National Industrial Recovery Act)

“By living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level — I mean the wages of a decent living.” (1933, Statement on National Industrial Recovery Act)

“Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day, who has been turning his employees over to the Government relief rolls in order to preserve his company’s undistributed reserves, tell you – using his stockholders’ money to pay the postage for his personal opinions — tell you that a wage of $11.00 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.” (1938, Fireside Chat, the night before signing the Fair Labor Standards Act that instituted the federal minimum wage)

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Green tea found to benefit brain function

"Green tea is said to have many putative positive effects on health. Now, researchers are reporting first evidence that green tea extract enhances the cognitive functions, in particular the working memory. The findings suggest promising clinical implications for the treatment of cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders such as dementia."-link

Monday, April 7, 2014

Nice benefits of dark chocolate

"Improved thinking. Decreased appetite. Lowered blood pressure. The potential health benefits of dark chocolate keep piling up, and scientists are now homing in on what ingredients in chocolate might help prevent obesity, as well as type-2 diabetes. They found that one particular type of antioxidant in cocoa prevented laboratory mice from gaining excess weight and lowered their blood sugar levels."-link

Comments on traditional machines scaled down to the nanoscale versus bio-inspired machines at the nanoscale

"Most important, an engine must be disassembled bolt-by-bolt to get at the worn piston rings deep inside, then meticulously rebuilt; but living tissues are repaird from the inside by efficient molecular machines." -josh mitteldorf

 While this quote deals with macroscale machine of a car, this is the issue I think comes up with bringing traditional machinery to the nanoscale as opposed to using machines more similar to biological ones. In the event of some failure of a traditional machine like nanobot, it would seem repair would entail complex disassembly and reassembly to get at damaged parts, while in machines more similar to biology the molecular machines are more easy to repair or replace with far less effort.

Would complex dis-assembly and reassembly be suitable say within a human body? Would the damaged traditional machines have to move to a repair zone to be repaired? Is this at all viable? What about in places with harsh radiation that may damage molecular components? Some lifeforms are very resistant to radiation, and can repair vast damage, could a more traditional machine scaled down do the same?

It seems to me that the easier to access and repair way in which molecular machines are handled in biology is an optimal one, which allows for self-repair and indefinite maintenance unlike traditional machine designs.   Using synthetic biology novel molecular machines can be added to the natural repertoire allowing for never before seen functions to arise.   Ideally the combination between information technology and biological technology may yield a new kind of machine able to manufacture almost anything imaginable.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

two nice sciencedaily articles april 2014

The latest results from a 25-year study of diet and aging in monkeys shows a significant reduction in mortality and in age-associated diseases among those with calorie-restricted diets. The study, begun in 1989, is one of two ongoing, long-term U.S. efforts to examine the effects of a reduced-calorie diet on nonhuman primates.

"We think our study is important because it means the biology we have seen in lower organisms is germane to primates," says Richard Weindruch-link

 Eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day reduces your risk of death at any point in time by 42 percent compared to eating less than one portion, reports a new study. This is the first study to link fruit and vegetable consumption with all-cause, cancer and heart disease deaths in a nationally-representative population, the first to quantify health benefits per-portion, and the first to identify the types of fruit and vegetable with the most benefit.-link

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Cool graphics tech

Interesting science daily article

New research suggests eating vegetables gives you a healthy tan. The study showed that eating a healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables gives you a more healthy golden glow than the sun.-link

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Improving software article

Facebook’s facial recognition research project, DeepFace (yes really), is now very nearly as accurate as the human brain. DeepFace can look at two photos, and irrespective of lighting or angle, can say with 97.25% accuracy whether the photos contain the same face. Humans can perform the same task with 97.53% accuracy.-link

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Nice articles from sciencedaily


A new study finds that the current level of evidence does not support guidelines restricting saturated fatty acid consumption to reduce coronary risk nor does it support high consumption of polyunsaturated fats -- such as omega 3 or omega 6 -- to reduce coronary heart disease.-link
 
The health benefits of eating dark chocolate have been extolled for centuries, but the exact reason has remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers reported that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.-link

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

CR an artifact?


The most widely accepted theory is that this effect evolved to improve survival during times of famine. "But we think that lifespan extension from dietary restriction is more likely to be a laboratory artefact,"
  says Dr Adler.

Lifespan extension is unlikely to occur in the wild, because dietary restriction compromises the immune system's ability to fight off disease and reduces the muscle strength necessary to flee a predator.-link 

I would also add that since the calorie restriction is done with dense nutrient enriched optimal nutrition, this is unlikely to occur in the wild.  Without optimal nutrition calorie restriction is said to fail to extend life, small amounts of nonenriched foodsource as found in the wild is in my opinion unlikely to provide optimal nutrition required for extension. edit: especially at levels that cr can work in some animals like 60+%, at 60% deprivation not only would the nutrient density likely be insufficient, but in an environment lacking resources the small amount of calories would be insufficient for exploration, cr appears to work and extend life even in calorie amounts beyond what would be sustainable in the wild.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Longevity ted

Last year, Emanuel Saez — an economist from the University of California, Berkeley — made headlines with the finding that 95 percent of income gains from 2009 to 2012 accrued to the top 1 percent of earners. But this finding was not about the rich doing well; their incomes are actually growing a little more slowly than in the last two economic expansions.-link

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Comment on fightaging telomerase article

"Contrast that with the SENS hypothesis that aging is molecular and cellular damage that the body cannot repair at any reasonable cost."

If that were the case, we should see SENS like approaches being implemented by nature in negligible Senescence species. If all they've is mostly the same genes and differing expression patterns, then existing mechanisms are sufficient if ramped up. We have over 98% genetic similarity with our closest relative yet over twice the lifespan.

What approach doubled species lifespan?

If we were bonobos with 40year lifespans and we asked SENS proponents. They'd say most of the [easy] longevity changes were already implemented by nature in achieving this lifespan and they'd propose the SENS solutions as a way to lengthen lifespan.

If like me you believed existing mechanisms are mostly sufficient for vast lifespan increase, then you'd suggest mostly gene expression changes with high conservation of the genome. What did nature do? AFAIK, it simply mostly tweaked gene expression and presto triple lifespan.

If you ask me, it is likely that similar tweaks could very likely carry us all the way up to negligible senescence.
 Let's see what we find from the genetic sequences of negligible senescence organisms.

"Indeed; it's not like there aren't plenty of species whose telomeres don't shorten with age, in fact there's a species of bird whose telomeres get -longer- with increasing age, and it ages quite normally."

I've not looked into it deeply, but according to Dr. Bill Andrews, it is only a few species who have significant aging contribution from short telomeres.

"The same thing should happen if you were to repair all the cellular and molecular damage of aging that suppresses stem cell activity."

And it also as mentioned seems to slightly begin to occur with lifestyle changes that increase telomeres.-Darian S in Fightaging

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Ultra marathon runners could possibly see up to 16yr added lifespan

New Victorian research reveals that running long-distance runs can slow the ageing process by protecting the part of the body that stops the genes from fraying.
Runners in The Federation University Australia study had an average age of 43, but their biological age was just 27.
-link

Though previously in this blog we saw that benefits peaked at sub8mph 10miles per week and that exceeding 8mph or 20-25 miles per week could possibly damage the heart neutralizing some of the benefits.   Yet it is said that low intensity exercise does not have such a cap on adding benefits(more research is needed.), which suggest walking for most of ultramarathon distances would be optimal.   That is 10-15 miles per week with 2-3 days of resting per week at no more than 8mph and several hours of walking to achieve the ultramarathon distance.



 The findings, to be presented at the Australian Society for Medical Research National Conference, found ultra-marathon runners clocking up 40-100 km a week had 11 per cent longer telomeres.-link

Yet lifestyle changes
 Ten of the patients embarked on lifestyle changes that included: a plant-based diet (high in fruits, vegetables and unrefined grains, and low in fat and refined carbohydrates); moderate exercise (walking 30 minutes a day, six days a week); stress reduction (gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation). They also participated in weekly group support.  -link

 might allow similar benefit with much less exercise
The group that made the lifestyle changes experienced a “significant” increase in telomere length of approximately 10 percent. -link

But might not both interventions be combined and yield greater results?

video on google agi

Windfarms could likely save money and lives

Offshore wind farms could tame hurricanes before they reach land, Stanford-led study says Wind farm could reduce peak hurricane wind speeds by up to 92 mph and decrease storm surge by up to 79 percent

Computer simulations by Stanford Professor Mark Z. Jacobson have shown that offshore wind farms with thousands of wind turbines could have sapped the power of three real-life hurricanes, significantly decreasing their winds and accompanying storm surge, and possibly preventing billions of dollars in damages.-link

It seems that wind farms beside looking cool and generating power in a green manner can help save live and money from natural disasters.  Those opposed to them are going to have to argue why they're in favor of lost lives and money just for cosmetic appearances.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Video on programmed aging

Interesting book

"Evolution of Desire is the first book to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. Now in a revised and updated edition, Buss's classic presents the latest research in the field, including startling new discoveries about the evolutionary advantages of infidelity, orgasm, and physical attractiveness."

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

CR monkey studies video

Marathon improves mortality but it seems excess can wipe the benefits or does it?

 But while a study of 52,600 runners showed that pounding the pavement can yield a 19 percent lower mortality rate, that benefit was wiped out for those tallying 20 to 25 miles a week. Not exactly sure how those stats work because we all die eventually.-link

I'm planning to do about 12-15 miles per week as part of my training regimen

 ...As cardiologist Paul Thompson says in the WSJ piece, "The guys advancing the hypothesis that you can get too much exercise are manipulating the data... They have an agenda."
 ...
 Wen and colleagues reply that yes, they do have data -- and it doesn't show what O'Keefe et al. hope:
...
We were not able to identify an upper limit of physical activity, either moderate or vigorous, above which more harm than good will occur in terms of long-term life expectancy benefits...-link

It seems there are counterpoints to the arguments for moderation but still extremes should likely be cautiously avoided

Moderation seems to provide benefits with about 7mph being optimal at 10-15 miles per week with less than 7 days of running that is with resting days.
 
Regarding pace, individuals who ran six and seven miles per hour had a significant 21% and 27% lower risk of all-cause mortality, whereas those who ran eight or more miles per hour had a nonsignificant 7% lower risk of all-cause mortality.-link


There may be hope for damaged hearts
 In an act of transformation worthy of any magician, scientists have converted scar tissue in the hearts of living mice into beating heart cells. If the same trick works in humans (and we’re still several years away from a trial), it could lead us to a long-sought prize of medicine – a way to mend a broken heart.-link

Sunday, February 23, 2014

short comment

Fisetin seems intriguing as a substance for aiding brain function and cr mimetic.  But it is still not cost effective for a reasonable dose, and more research is needed, imho.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Reproductive errors

The highest level they found was 1 in 6000 sperm in one man – but any couple could have a child with Apert syndrome. It just comes down to how the genetic dice fall. "Every now and then you are going to have a dad who is unlucky," says Wilkie.-link

Luck, especially one involving such high odds and such bad outcome, shouldn't play a role in the generation of new citizens. Sequencing should occur to ensure only healthy embryos are implanted and go through development.

Friday, February 21, 2014

News on iron

Iron deficiency may increase stroke risk by making the blood more sticky, scientists have discovered. Every year, 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke. Nearly six million die and another five million are left permanently disabled. The most common type, ischaemic stroke, occurs because the blood supply to the brain is interrupted by small clots. In the last few years, several studies have shown that iron deficiency, which affects around two billion people worldwide, may be a risk factor for ischaemic stroke in adults and in children.-link

Too much iron is bad, and too little is bad too.  Biological enhancements will hopefully one day allow the body to store a large reserve safely, and eliminate easily excess. For now it's best to check iron levels and ensure excess and deficiency is avoided, as the present bodies are fragile.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Article on lifestyle and telomeres

Lifestyle Changes May Lengthen Telomeres, A Measure of Cell Aging
The group that made the lifestyle changes experienced a “significant” increase in telomere length of approximately 10 percent. Further, the more people changed their behavior by adhering to the recommended lifestyle program, the more dramatic their improvements in telomere length, the scientists learned.
By contrast, the men in the control group who were not asked to alter their lifestyle had measurably shorter telomeres – nearly 3 percent shorter – when the five-year study ended. Telomere length usually decreases over time.-link

An interesting finding showing lifestyle changes may lead to increases in telomere length.

"Curing Aging through Telomere Biology."

"Curing Aging through Telomere Biology." From the Independent Pharmacy Business Growth Conference, February 23, 2012 in Orlando, FL.

Monday, February 17, 2014

In contrast to other oxidative modifications of amino acids, methionine sulfoxide can be enzymatically reduced back to methionine in proteins by the peptide methionine sulfoxide reductase system, composed of MsrA and MsrB. The expression of MsrA and one member of the MsrB family, hCBS-1, was analyzed during replicative senescence of WI-38 human fibroblasts. Gene expression decreased for both enzymes in senescent cells compared to young cells, and this decline was associated with an alteration in catalytic activity and the accumulation of oxidized proteins during senescence. These results suggest that downregulation of MsrA and hCBS-1 can alter the ability of senescent cells to cope with oxidative stress, hence contributing to the age-related accumulation of oxidative damage.-link

Methionine intake has been linked to lifespan, methionine is said to be easily damageable.  Methionine sulfoxide reductases help deal with this damage, yet it seems that senescence results in downregulation of these protective enzymes.   Some say the regular aging process also results in reduction of production of these enzymes, along with the said increase in membrane peroxidation index, the cells would become more damage prone with increasing age.   It is said every ten years, after approx maturity, there's a doubling of mortality.   Why are changes that increase cellular damage taking place?  It's clear that such changes might exceed the maintenance mechanisms of the cells and be behind this increased probability of death.