Greetings & Salutations My Singularity Followers,
Aging is a complex and complicated process that we still don't completely understand, a recent study from Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) < http://www.houstonmethodist.org/> that focuses on chromosomes are getting us a little closer. If you have been keeping up with the immortality scene lately (and I hope you have), there have been quite a few people looking into telomere lengths to reverse the aging process. Off the top of my head there is Aubry de Gray from the SENS Foundation, and Bovive’s very own Liz Parrish, they have some extremely interesting studies going on.
For those that haven't been keeping up with the idea of people living forever, telomeres are the small bits at the end of a strand of DNA that holds it all together. Very much like aglets on the end of shoestrings that keep them from unraveling (yes, those plastic tips on the end of shoestrings are called aglets).
HMRI’s study that was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers discovered that extending the shortened telomeres effectively halted aging in the isolated sample cells taken from the patients with progeria. Although it should noted that the study was limited to cell samples — taken from just 17 patients — on a lab dish, the researchers still need to see if it could work in cells functioning inside the body. The next step is to deliver the same treatment directly into patients, beginning with children suffering from progeria.
Progeria is an extremely rare genetic disorder in which symptoms resembling aspects of aging are manifested at a very early age. Progeria is one of several progerioid syndromes. Those born with progeria typically live to their mid-teens to early twenties. The cardiovascular sciences department chair John Cooke is hopeful. “We can at least stall or slow down accelerated aging, and that’s what we’re working toward,” he said in the press release.
This is one of many steps that will eventually lead to humans having a vastly extended and much healthier life. I am sincerely hoping that the breakthrough of actual human life extension will happen in time for me to enjoy the benefits. This is one of the reasons I have went back to school to finish my degree in Biology. One day, I hope to write these research papers instead of writing about the research itself.
As always, thank yo for your time, please follow and up vote!
Stephen C. Jamison
Transhumanist/Futurist