The Difference Between Playing to Win and Trying to Not Lose

You’ve seen it happen. Your favorite team or athlete builds a comfortable lead, turns conservative and blows the game. Or how about a business, or an industry, or even and entire country, that gets away from its aggressive innovative roots, only to see an upstart replace them at the top? This is why short-term survival mentalities often lead to long-term death. And closer to home, and entrepreneur or new company that tries to be another “me too” and never achieves greatness.

Finally, how about each individual who plays it too close to the vest, leads a comfortable life, but at the end regrets how his or her career, marriage or children turn out because they didn’t dare to take a chance, dig in their heels, or be aggressive from time-to-time?

You and I could discuss examples endlessly, so let’s narrow our focus.

]

I assume you have more than a passing interest in health and longevity, or you wouldn’t be reading this letter. Accepting that assumption, let’s say you understand exactly why we can expect age-reversal capabilities toward the end of your projected lifespan. Then factor in, if the actuarial tables hold up, half the people your age will die before then, and half may have a chance at open-ended youth.

Then let’s allow room for error. Assume we miss our target by ten years.

If we do, and if our target is toward the end of your projected lifespan, that means instead of half the people your age missing the extreme longevity opportunity, well over 90% will miss it. Maybe 99% if you are on the bubble now. Even at younger ages, your odds drop dramatically as you age, since mortality rates increase with each passing year.

So if you’re not doing everything in your power now to reach what has been our unachievable dream for thousands of years, but which is now finally within our grasp, then not playing to win could, and probably will be the difference between your life and death.

I have lots of heroes. One such hero is Dr. Bill Andrews. Here’s a guy who plays to win. Not just in his personal life, but in his career as well. His is an extraordinary story. He had a cushy job as a chief scientist, working for a firm that lost its vision, and started playing not to lose. Bill would have noting of it, so he struck out on his own to achieve his dream of curing aging. You’ll be amazed at what he has accomplished, both personally and professionally.

Click on this link now.

Meet Bill Andrews: The Man who would be Immortal

Long Life,

David Kekich

____________________________

LATEST HEALTHY LIFE EXTENSION HEADLINES

SPURRING NEURAL GROWTH IMPROVES MEMORY (July 09 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4804

Via EurekAlert: “Scientists have discovered a compound that restores the capacity to form new memories in aging rats, likely by improving the survival of newborn neurons in the brain’s memory hub. This neuroprotective compound, called P7C3, holds special promise because of its medication-friendly properties. It can be taken orally, crosses the blood-brain barrier with long-lasting effects, and is safely tolerated by mice during many stages of development. Physical activity, social, or other enriching experiences promote neurogenesis – the birth and maturation of new neurons. This growth takes place in the dentate gyrus, a key area of the brain’s memory hub, the hippocampus. But even in the normal adult brain, most of these newborn neurons die during the month it takes to develop and get wired into brain circuitry. To survive, the cells must run a gauntlet of challenges. Newborn hippocampus neurons fare much worse in aging-related disorders like Alzheimer’s, marked by runaway cell death. In hopes of finding compounds that might protect such vulnerable neurons during this process, [researchers] tested more than 1000 small molecules in living mice. To find out if P7C3 could similarly stem aging-associated neuronal death and cognitive decline, the researchers gave the compound to aged rats. Rodents treated with P7C3 for two months significantly outperformed their placebo-treated peers on a water maze task, a standard assay of hippocampus-dependent learning. This was traced to a threefold higher-than-normal level of newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus of the treated animals.”

SHORTER TELOMERES, GREATER CANCER RISK (July 08 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4803

News of a study linking telomere length and cancer risk, but it’s still the case that the relationship could be indirect, such as both sides of the correlation being based on levels of biochemical damage. For example, it might reflect the state of mitochondrial biochemistry in a person: “A new study suggests that shorter length of leukocyte telomeres – chromosome markers of biological aging – are associated with an increased risk of cancer and death from cancer. Telomeres are a structure at the end of a chromosome involved in the replication and stability of the chromosome. Genetic factors and environmental stressors can shorten the length of the telomere, and telomere length has been considered to be an emerging marker of biological age. Some research has suggested that short telomeres and chromosomal instability contribute to malignant cell transformation. [Researchers] conducted a study to assess the association between leukocyte telomere length and risk of both new-onset cancer and cancer death. Leukocyte telomere length was [measured] in 787 participants, free of cancer in 1995. Analysis indicated that short telomere length at the beginning of the study was associated with new cancer independently of standard cancer risk factors. Compared with participants in the longest telomere length group, participants in the middle length group had about twice the risk of cancer, and those in the shortest length group had approximately three times the risk. Cancer incidence rates were inversely related to telomere length, with participants in the group with the shortest telomere length having the highest rate of cancer.”

GENERAL IMPROVEMENT IN CANCER MORTALITY RATES (July 08 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4802

Much like the slow and steady lengthening of life expectancy, there is a general improvement in cancer treatment outcomes thanks to progress across the board in modern medicine: “The continued drop in overall cancer mortality rates over the last 20 years has averted more than three-quarters of a million (767,000) cancer deaths according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society’s annual Cancer Statistics article reports that the overall death rate from cancer in the United States in 2007 was 178.4 per 100,000, a relative decrease of 1.3 percent from 2006, when the rate was 180.7 per 100,000, continuing a trend that began in 1991 for men and 1992 for women. In that time, mortality rates have decreased by 21 percent among men and by 12 percent among women, due primarily to declines in smoking, better treatments, and earlier detection of cancer. Cancer incidence rates decreased in men 1.3 percent per year from 2000 to 2006 and in women 0.5 percent per year from 1998 to 2006. Death rates for all cancer sites combined decreased 2 percent per year from 2001 to 2006 in males and 1.5 percent per year from 2002 to

2006 in females.”

ON MITOHORMESIS (July 07 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4801

A little stress improves our biochemistry: “Recent evidence suggests that calorie restriction and specifically reduced glucose metabolism induces mitochondrial metabolism to extend life span in various model organisms, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans and possibly mice. In conflict with Harman’s free radical theory of aging (FRTA), these effects may be due to increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the mitochondria causing an adaptive response that culminates in subsequently increased stress resistance assumed to ultimately cause a long-term reduction of oxidative stress. This type of retrograde response has been named mitochondrial hormesis or mitohormesis, and may in addition be applicable to the health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans and, hypothetically, impaired insulin/IGF-1-signaling in model organisms. Consistently, abrogation of this mitochondrial ROS signal by antioxidants impairs the lifespan-extending and health-promoting capabilities of glucose restriction and physical exercise, respectively. In summary, the findings discussed in this review indicate that ROS are essential signaling molecules which are required to promote health and longevity. Hence, the concept of mitohormesis provides a common mechanistic denominator for the physiological effects of physical exercise, reduced calorie uptake, glucose restriction, and possibly beyond.”

THE SIMPLE ANSWER THAT NO-ONE WANTS TO HEAR (July 05 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4797

There’s nothing you can do right now that will have a greater immediate effect on your life expectancy than exercise and calorie restriction. The best thing you can do for future improvement is to help researchers raise funds to develop repair technologies for human aging. But no-one wants to hear that. Everyone wants a silver bullet now, and it doesn’t exist: “Friends occasionally ask me how they might best live healthy, longer. They inquire because I went to medical school, work in biotech, and focus professionally on developing drugs to treat diseases of aging by targeting aging genes. My response seems to surprise them, because it does not center on pharmaceutical products. The current answer on how to increase healthy human lifespan is simple: ‘Eat less, and exercise more.’ Modern medicine has discovered an impressive number of lifesaving new drugs for devastating diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and infectious diseases. Nevertheless, for most of us, active lifestyles and less food will have a more profound effect than taking more medicines. Hard as it is, we should walk, run, and bike more, and reduce our food intake. The best way we can increase our chances to live healthy, longer is simple: eat less and exercise more.” Learn How to Get a Six Pack

The Most Powerful Life Extender of All

Dear Future Centenarian,

 For millions of years, we subsisted on a hunter/gatherer diet. That means we ate what we could find and kill. Those diets were actually much more diverse than typical modern diets. Average life spans were quite short due to the harshness and dangers of everyday life. But contrary to popular belief, maximum life spans may have been much longer than we can hope to reach today. And diseases associated with aging were largely unknown.

Around 10,000 years ago, we entered the Agricultural Age. We started growing crops and domesticating animals. That’s when we started eating grains, and later, dairy products, and we were not adapted to them.

 We’re not adapted to agricultural diets now either, because 10,000 years is nothing on the human evolutionary scale. We are still adapted to the hunter/gatherer diet. We’ve been on it for millions of years. We’re also adapted to eating cooked meat and some vegetables, since we’ve been eating those for well over a million years.

 By eliminating ALL grains and dairy products from your diet and by being physically active, you may be able to avoid most of the aging-related diseases. The sky is not the limit, but you could slow aging dramatically and may be able to add lots of healthy active years to your life. Find out more by reading Food and Western Disease by Staffan Lindeberg. This may be the single most important book you will ever read, if your goal is extreme longevity. If you’re young now, there is no need to eat this way until you are well over thirty. In fact, it could be counter-productive for children, since adaptation to recent changes drops drastically as we age.

 Most of the seven habits I describe in Life Extension Express can be fairly easy to implement once you grasp the incredible benefits. In fact, they can even be fun, especially once you experience the results. I thought this one would take lots of will power though, at least for me.

 I enjoy a cup of chocolate ice cream every month or so, and I do like cheese. There are fairly good healthy alternatives, even though they’re not quite the same. And although I seldom touch bread, I thought it would be tough to figure out how to replace my oatmeal and whole grain cereals. Well, I was wrong. I even found grainless alternatives to both bread and cereals. For example, you can get ones made from sunflower seeds. See www.LydiasOrganic.com for some tasty substitutes.

 The web is full of recipes for grain-free breads, cereals and pancakes as well as sources and recipes for non-dairy cheeses. And who needs dairy when you can enjoy delicious and nutritious almond milk?

 Sure, a hunter/gatherer diet is not as convenient, especially when you dine out. And it does take some trial and error and more creative grocery shopping. So the question you might ask yourself is, “Is it worth it”?

 The answer is a no-brainer for me. “Yes”! Why? Because it positions you and me better to take advantage of the emerging age-reversal and repair technologies described in Part I of Life Extension Express by extending our average lifespans now. In fact, this may be the greatest life-extender of them all. And yummies like honey, cacao, and avocado, or plants like them, have probably been in our diet for millions of years, so we are not talking total self-denial.

 There’s an additional benefit too, if weight loss is your goal. It’s next to impossible to be overweight if you adopt a hunter/gatherer lifestyle for a protracted period of time.

 Long Life,

David Kekich

____________________________

REGENERATIVE HEALING OF CAVITIES IN TEETH

The dental application of regenerative medicine is one of the more advanced areas in this field of research. Whole teeth have been grown from stem cells in animal studies, and here scientists demonstrate healing of cavities by regrowth of tooth enamel. After about one month, the cavities had disappeared.

http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/06/regeneration-of-tooth-enamel-cavities-healed-in-mice.php

______________________________

LATEST HEALTHY LIFE EXTENSION HEADLINES

INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS FROM BLOOD (July 02 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4795

From Wired: “Blood drawn with a simple needle stick can be coaxed into producing stem cells that may have the ability to form any type of tissue in the body, three independent papers report. The new technique will allow scientists to tap a large, readily available source of personalized stem cells. Because taking blood is safe, fast and efficient compared to current stem cell harvesting methods, some of which include biopsies and pretreatments with drugs, researchers hope that blood-derived stem cells could one day be used to study and treat diseases. Three research groups used similar methods to prod certain immune cells in human blood to become induced pluripotent stem cells. Because they are reprogrammed adult cells, these stem cells share many of the same regenerative abilities as true embryonic stem cells but may not have as much versatility. Scientists’ manipulations turned the stem cells in the new studies into several types of mature blood cells, including infection-fighting T cells. What’s more, all the groups showed that a batch of the stem cells implanted into mice developed into the three main types of progenitor cells found in human embryos.”

 

IMPROVED ASSOCIATION OF LONGEVITY GENES WITH LONGEVITY (July 02 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4794

Via ScienceNews: “In the new study, researchers looked at genetic markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, in 1,055 centenarians and 1,267 younger people, all of European descent. The scientists found 150 genetic SNP variants linked to extreme longevity. Initially, the team identified only 33 SNPs found more often in people aged 90 to 114 years but not in a control group made up of people who will presumably live an average lifespan. Biostatistician Paola Sebastiani [devised] a different statistical method to identify additional SNPs that would improve the team’s ability to predict longevity. The team tested their predictions on a separate group of centenarians and controls. With the 150 SNPs, the researchers could correctly predict who was a centenarian 77 percent of the time. Now on one side, 77 percent is a very high accuracy for a genetic model, which means that the traits that we are looking at have a very strong genetic base. On the other hand, the 150 SNPs can’t explain why the remaining 23 percent of centenarians in the study have reached such ripe old ages. It could mean that those people have other, rare genetic variants or lifestyles responsible for their longevity or some combination of the two.”

ORGANS MADE TO ORDER (July 01 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4793

As the Smithsonian notes, “It won’t be long before surgeons routinely install replacement body parts created in the laboratory. Anthony Atala works in the body shop of the future. He and his colleagues use human cells to grow muscles, blood vessels, skin and even a complete urinary bladder. Much of the work is experimental and hasn’t yet been tested in human patients, but Atala has implanted laboratory-grown bladders into more than two dozen children and young adults born with defective bladders that don’t empty properly, a condition that can cause kidney damage. The bladders were the first lab-generated human organs implanted in people. If they continue to perform well in clinical tests, the treatment may become standard not only for birth defects of the bladder but also for bladder cancer and other conditions. Regenerative medicine’s once-wild ideas are fast becoming reality. Late last year, Organovo, a biotech company in San Diego, began distributing the first commercially available body-part printer. Yes, you read correctly: a printer for body parts. Using the same idea as an ink-jet printer, it jets laser-guided droplets of cells and scaffold material onto a movable platform. With each pass of the printer head, the platform sinks, and the deposited material gradually builds up a 3-D piece of tissue. Regenerative medicine laboratories around the world have relied on the printer to generate pieces of skin, muscle and blood vessels. Atala’s lab has used the technology to construct a two-chambered mouse-size heart in about 40 minutes.”

ARE OLD STEM CELLS LESS USEFUL? (June 30 2010)

http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4791

Researchers are gathering evidence to suggest that stem cells from the old are less useful when transplanted – which means that some form of repair or other manipulations may need to be included in future stem cell therapies for the degenerative conditions of aging: “Clinical trials of cardiac cell therapy have indicated limited benefits in aging patients, even though preclinical studies using young animals consistently reported significant improvements. Animal studies have demonstrated reduced efficacy of donor cells isolated from older individuals. Here, we evaluated the effects of donor age on the function of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in the context of cell therapy for ischemic cardiomyopathy. The regenerative capacity of hMSCs was significantly influenced by age. Transplanting young hMSCs improved functional outcomes after an MI by preventing matrix degradation and promoting angiogenesis. The clinical implication is that aged patients require an optimized source of stem cells for treatment.”

NOTE: There may be a solution on the horizon.

PROGRESS TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING MEMORY (June 29 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4789

Understanding the physical basis of human memory will enable therapies to both enhance youthful memory and reverse its decline with age. From ScienceDaily, an example of present investigations into the biology of memory: “We found one of the key proteins involved in the process of memory and learning. This protein is present in the part of the brain in which memories are stored. We have found that in order for any memory to be laid down this protein, called the M3-muscarinic receptor, has to be activated. We have also determined that this protein undergoes a very specific change during the formation of a memory – and that this change is an essential part of memory formation. In this regard our study reveals at least one of the molecular mechanisms that are operating in the brain when we form a memory and as such this represents a major break through in our understanding of how we lay down memories. This finding is not only interesting in its own right but has important clinical implications. One of the major symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease is memory loss. Our study identifies one of the key processes involved in memory and learning and we state in the paper that drugs designed to target the protein identified in our study would be of benefit in treating Alzheimer’s disease.”

MORE ON OVARIES AND LONGEVITY IN MICE (June 29 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4788

Another study to show that transplanting young ovaries into old mice extends life quite significantly: “successful ovarian transplants increased the lifespan of the mice by more than 40%. All the mice in both experiments that had received transplants resumed the normal reproductive behavior of young mice. They showed interest in male mice, mated and some had pups. Normally, old mice stay in the corner of the cage and don’t move much, but the activity of mice that had had ovarian transplants was transformed into that of younger mice and they resumed quick movements. Furthermore, the lifespan of the mice who received young ovaries was much longer than that of the control mice: the mice that had received two ovaries lived for an average of 915 days, and the mice that had received one ovary, for an average of 877 days. The newest of our data show the life span of mice that received transplants of young ovaries was increased by more than 40%. The average normal lifespan for this particular breed of mice [is] 548 days. It was not known why the ovarian transplant increased the lifespan of the mice, but it might be because the transplants were prompting the continuation of normal hormonal functions.”

MORE DECELLULARIZED LUNGS DEMONSTRATED (June 28 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4787

Following on from a demonstration of decellularized rat lungs, another team has produced similar work: “Researchers have been able to create tiny mouse lungs in the lab that are able to breathe. The lungs were created with stem cells and attached to a ventilator. They used a technique called decellularization, similar to the method used to create a beating mouse heart in a different lab at the University of Minnesota in 2008. In the cancer center, they took a mouse lung and stripped away all its cells. Then, injected the natural framework with stem cells. At first they used fetal mouse lung cells, but this year they had another breakthrough using adult stem cells called ‘induced pluriopotent stem cells.’ That’s basically a cell that we can take from anybody and re-program to act like an embryonic stem cell. The hope is one day human lungs could be re-created for transplant with a greater chance of success. Right now, there is no tissue matching for lung transplants. The beauty of that is that you can then create a tissue for an organ that’s transplantable that is derived from the patient and therefore would not be recognized as foreign by the immune system and not rejected. By adding the ventilator to make the lungs breathe, the stem cells are further trained to act like lung cells. It’s a huge success considering lungs are such complicated organs with some 60 different kinds of cells.”

______________________________

DISCLAIMER:  News summaries are reported by third parties, and there is no guarantee of accuracy. This newsletter is not meant to substitute for your personal due diligence and is not to be taken as medical advice. For originating report, please see www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/.

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

www.MaxLife.org

“Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029″

The Most Powerful Life Extender of All

 Dear Future Centenarian,

 For millions of years, we subsisted on a hunter/gatherer diet. That means we ate what we could find and kill. Those diets were actually much more diverse than typical modern diets. Average life spans were quite short due to the harshness and dangers of everyday life. But contrary to popular belief, maximum life spans may have been much longer than we can hope to reach today. And diseases associated with aging were largely unknown.

 Around 10,000 years ago, we entered the Agricultural Age. We started growing crops and domesticating animals. That’s when we started eating grains, and later, dairy products, and we were not adapted to them.

We’re not adapted to agricultural diets now either, because 10,000 years is nothing on the human evolutionary scale. We are still adapted to the hunter/gatherer diet. We’ve been on it for millions of years. We’re also adapted to eating cooked meat and some vegetables, since we’ve been eating those for well over a million years.

By eliminating ALL grains and dairy products from your diet and by being physically active, you may be able to avoid most of the aging-related diseases. The sky is not the limit, but you could slow aging dramatically and may be able to add lots of healthy active years to your life. Find out more by reading Food and Western Disease by Staffan Lindeberg. This may be the single most important book you will ever read, if your goal is extreme longevity. If you’re young now, there is no need to eat this way until you are well over thirty. In fact, it could be counter-productive for children, since adaptation to recent changes drops drastically as we age.

 Most of the seven habits I describe in Life Extension Express can be fairly easy to implement once you grasp the incredible benefits. In fact, they can even be fun, especially once you experience the results. I thought this one would take lots of will power though, at least for me.

 I enjoy a cup of chocolate ice cream every month or so, and I do like cheese. There are fairly good healthy alternatives, even though they’re not quite the same. And although I seldom touch bread, I thought it would be tough to figure out how to replace my oatmeal and whole grain cereals. Well, I was wrong. I even found grainless alternatives to both bread and cereals. For example, you can get ones made from sunflower seeds. See www.LydiasOrganic.com for some tasty substitutes.

 The web is full of recipes for grain-free breads, cereals and pancakes as well as sources and recipes for non-dairy cheeses. And who needs dairy when you can enjoy delicious and nutritious almond milk?

 Sure, a hunter/gatherer diet is not as convenient, especially when you dine out. And it does take some trial and error and more creative grocery shopping. So the question you might ask yourself is, “Is it worth it”?

 The answer is a no-brainer for me. “Yes”! Why? Because it positions you and me better to take advantage of the emerging age-reversal and repair technologies described in Part I of Life Extension Express by extending our average lifespans now. In fact, this may be the greatest life-extender of them all. And yummies like honey, cacao, and avocado, or plants like them, have probably been in our diet for millions of years, so we are not talking total self-denial.

 There’s an additional benefit too, if weight loss is your goal. It’s next to impossible to be overweight if you adopt a hunter/gatherer lifestyle for a protracted period of time.

 Long Life,

David Kekich

____________________________

REGENERATIVE HEALING OF CAVITIES IN TEETH

The dental application of regenerative medicine is one of the more advanced areas in this field of research. Whole teeth have been grown from stem cells in animal studies, and here scientists demonstrate healing of cavities by regrowth of tooth enamel. After about one month, the cavities had disappeared.

 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/06/regeneration-of-tooth-enamel-cavities-healed-in-mice.php

______________________________

 LATEST HEALTHY LIFE EXTENSION HEADLINES

INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS FROM BLOOD (July 02 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4795

From Wired: “Blood drawn with a simple needle stick can be coaxed into producing stem cells that may have the ability to form any type of tissue in the body, three independent papers report. The new technique will allow scientists to tap a large, readily available source of personalized stem cells. Because taking blood is safe, fast and efficient compared to current stem cell harvesting methods, some of which include biopsies and pretreatments with drugs, researchers hope that blood-derived stem cells could one day be used to study and treat diseases. Three research groups used similar methods to prod certain immune cells in human blood to become induced pluripotent stem cells. Because they are reprogrammed adult cells, these stem cells share many of the same regenerative abilities as true embryonic stem cells but may not have as much versatility. Scientists’ manipulations turned the stem cells in the new studies into several types of mature blood cells, including infection-fighting T cells. What’s more, all the groups showed that a batch of the stem cells implanted into mice developed into the three main types of progenitor cells found in human embryos.”

 

IMPROVED ASSOCIATION OF LONGEVITY GENES WITH LONGEVITY (July 02 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4794

Via ScienceNews: “In the new study, researchers looked at genetic markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, in 1,055 centenarians and 1,267 younger people, all of European descent. The scientists found 150 genetic SNP variants linked to extreme longevity. Initially, the team identified only 33 SNPs found more often in people aged 90 to 114 years but not in a control group made up of people who will presumably live an average lifespan. Biostatistician Paola Sebastiani [devised] a different statistical method to identify additional SNPs that would improve the team’s ability to predict longevity. The team tested their predictions on a separate group of centenarians and controls. With the 150 SNPs, the researchers could correctly predict who was a centenarian 77 percent of the time. Now on one side, 77 percent is a very high accuracy for a genetic model, which means that the traits that we are looking at have a very strong genetic base. On the other hand, the 150 SNPs can’t explain why the remaining 23 percent of centenarians in the study have reached such ripe old ages. It could mean that those people have other, rare genetic variants or lifestyles responsible for their longevity or some combination of the two.”

ORGANS MADE TO ORDER (July 01 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4793

As the Smithsonian notes, “It won’t be long before surgeons routinely install replacement body parts created in the laboratory. Anthony Atala works in the body shop of the future. He and his colleagues use human cells to grow muscles, blood vessels, skin and even a complete urinary bladder. Much of the work is experimental and hasn’t yet been tested in human patients, but Atala has implanted laboratory-grown bladders into more than two dozen children and young adults born with defective bladders that don’t empty properly, a condition that can cause kidney damage. The bladders were the first lab-generated human organs implanted in people. If they continue to perform well in clinical tests, the treatment may become standard not only for birth defects of the bladder but also for bladder cancer and other conditions. Regenerative medicine’s once-wild ideas are fast becoming reality. Late last year, Organovo, a biotech company in San Diego, began distributing the first commercially available body-part printer. Yes, you read correctly: a printer for body parts. Using the same idea as an ink-jet printer, it jets laser-guided droplets of cells and scaffold material onto a movable platform. With each pass of the printer head, the platform sinks, and the deposited material gradually builds up a 3-D piece of tissue. Regenerative medicine laboratories around the world have relied on the printer to generate pieces of skin, muscle and blood vessels. Atala’s lab has used the technology to construct a two-chambered mouse-size heart in about 40 minutes.”

ARE OLD STEM CELLS LESS USEFUL? (June 30 2010)

http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4791

Researchers are gathering evidence to suggest that stem cells from the old are less useful when transplanted – which means that some form of repair or other manipulations may need to be included in future stem cell therapies for the degenerative conditions of aging: “Clinical trials of cardiac cell therapy have indicated limited benefits in aging patients, even though preclinical studies using young animals consistently reported significant improvements. Animal studies have demonstrated reduced efficacy of donor cells isolated from older individuals. Here, we evaluated the effects of donor age on the function of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in the context of cell therapy for ischemic cardiomyopathy. The regenerative capacity of hMSCs was significantly influenced by age. Transplanting young hMSCs improved functional outcomes after an MI by preventing matrix degradation and promoting angiogenesis. The clinical implication is that aged patients require an optimized source of stem cells for treatment.”

NOTE: There may be a solution on the horizon.

PROGRESS TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING MEMORY (June 29 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4789

Understanding the physical basis of human memory will enable therapies to both enhance youthful memory and reverse its decline with age. From ScienceDaily, an example of present investigations into the biology of memory: “We found one of the key proteins involved in the process of memory and learning. This protein is present in the part of the brain in which memories are stored. We have found that in order for any memory to be laid down this protein, called the M3-muscarinic receptor, has to be activated. We have also determined that this protein undergoes a very specific change during the formation of a memory – and that this change is an essential part of memory formation. In this regard our study reveals at least one of the molecular mechanisms that are operating in the brain when we form a memory and as such this represents a major break through in our understanding of how we lay down memories. This finding is not only interesting in its own right but has important clinical implications. One of the major symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease is memory loss. Our study identifies one of the key processes involved in memory and learning and we state in the paper that drugs designed to target the protein identified in our study would be of benefit in treating Alzheimer’s disease.”

MORE ON OVARIES AND LONGEVITY IN MICE (June 29 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4788

Another study to show that transplanting young ovaries into old mice extends life quite significantly: “successful ovarian transplants increased the lifespan of the mice by more than 40%. All the mice in both experiments that had received transplants resumed the normal reproductive behavior of young mice. They showed interest in male mice, mated and some had pups. Normally, old mice stay in the corner of the cage and don’t move much, but the activity of mice that had had ovarian transplants was transformed into that of younger mice and they resumed quick movements. Furthermore, the lifespan of the mice who received young ovaries was much longer than that of the control mice: the mice that had received two ovaries lived for an average of 915 days, and the mice that had received one ovary, for an average of 877 days. The newest of our data show the life span of mice that received transplants of young ovaries was increased by more than 40%. The average normal lifespan for this particular breed of mice [is] 548 days. It was not known why the ovarian transplant increased the lifespan of the mice, but it might be because the transplants were prompting the continuation of normal hormonal functions.”

MORE DECELLULARIZED LUNGS DEMONSTRATED (June 28 2010) http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/vnl.cfm?id=4787

Following on from a demonstration of decellularized rat lungs, another team has produced similar work: “Researchers have been able to create tiny mouse lungs in the lab that are able to breathe. The lungs were created with stem cells and attached to a ventilator. They used a technique called decellularization, similar to the method used to create a beating mouse heart in a different lab at the University of Minnesota in 2008. In the cancer center, they took a mouse lung and stripped away all its cells. Then, injected the natural framework with stem cells. At first they used fetal mouse lung cells, but this year they had another breakthrough using adult stem cells called ‘induced pluriopotent stem cells.’ That’s basically a cell that we can take from anybody and re-program to act like an embryonic stem cell. The hope is one day human lungs could be re-created for transplant with a greater chance of success. Right now, there is no tissue matching for lung transplants. The beauty of that is that you can then create a tissue for an organ that’s transplantable that is derived from the patient and therefore would not be recognized as foreign by the immune system and not rejected. By adding the ventilator to make the lungs breathe, the stem cells are further trained to act like lung cells. It’s a huge success considering lungs are such complicated organs with some 60 different kinds of cells.”

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DISCLAIMER:  News summaries are reported by third parties, and there is no guarantee of accuracy. This newsletter is not meant to substitute for your personal due diligence and is not to be taken as medical advice. For originating report, please see www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/.

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

www.MaxLife.org

“Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029″