Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold • Hacker News Board

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#71

Post by Robotbeat » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

est31 wrote: post #23

raxxorrax wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many orthopaedists in my circle tell me that with all the office work we probably should be glad if we die with 60. These approaches focus on cardiovascular system and general cell renewal, but I guess there are just a few more steps until immortality.

Yeah, aging involves breakage of multiple things in people's bodies. There is no single switch to fix them all. Instead they have to be fixed one by one. To the joint problems you are mentioning: we are already replacing various joints and bone parts in the body. The solutions aren't perfect though, there are risks of infection, death by septic shock, people often have pains, etc.

I think replacing parts is a good idea, but comes up against some harder limits... Surgery becomes harder to recover from as you get older. Cell division limits are a thing, build-up of scarring tissue, etc.

So if we can address cellular aging mechanisms, I think we'll have the latitude to address some of the more macroscopic aging problems (like joints, etc) through surgery.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#72

Post by smolder » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

nickthemagicman wrote: post #35

patcon wrote: post #22

Surprise, a counter-argument on hacker news! :) Why does it seem no one worries about what we might break in humanity by disrupting the evolved pattern of death. It's a network characteristic selected for in living system, and very few creatures have survived into our epoch without developing the capacity to die. It's literally an evolved feature of our lifecycle and our existence within this web, and it terrifies me…

Evolution is not always correct. Evolution is correct only for a certain set of circumstances at a certain point in time. Appendixes are an example of legacy evolutionary artifacts. Evolution keeps...evolving. So one could argue that mortality is a legacy evolutionary process and by overcoming it humans are evolving as a species. Think of all one could accomplish if dedicated 1000 years of learning and research to de…

Appendixes have recently started to be regarded as something functional, a sort of incubator for healthy gut bacteria, but I'm sure there are other examples in nature that could support your point, too.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#73

Post by reubenswartz » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 5:42 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #57

mrandish wrote: post #41

I was at a holiday party and some guy was telling me all about the exciting life extension breakthroughs he was reading about in mass media. I tried to explain that, while exciting, what works in mice models is highly unlikely to directly scale into humans and that making progress against aging is very probably a "wicked" problem. I pointed out how many headlines we saw in the 80s about a "cure" for cancer being just…

When you see an article on HN about how someone took some code, profiled it, and increased its speed by 10 times, I think it's tempting to credit virtue to the person who sped the code up. But I think you also have to remember that the only reason you could speed up the code by 10 times in the first place is that the original code left that much on the table. It isn't just that there is a person who was skilled enoug…

This is a very important point. Human lifespan is already an outlier compared to our primate cousins and other creatures of similar (or even larger size). I'm sure there's plenty of room for "optimization", but it's not as easy as it is with nematodes or mice, which also get a lot of attention in the general science media.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#74

Post by patcon » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

at_a_remove wrote: post #53

titzer wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Evolution is not wise, evolution is not careful, evolution did not plan or reason for that fence. Evolution also gave us susceptibility to diseases, revolting parasites, defects of birth, and an often tragic fragility. Shall we preserve those as well? After all, they must be there for a reason. Copy. Mutate. Select. Simple algorithm, remarkable results. Incredibly robust to failure. I think you do yourself a disser…

This process that gave rise to me also gave me a painful, lifetime disability ... in its wisdom .

fwiw I find myself very torn to be rationalizing death when my mom just went into paliative care last week. I'm literally typing this as I should be walking out the door to the hospital. I suppose I'd like to push the button that let me mom live 200 years, but i also fear for that button ever existing. I don't think I could NOT push it.

I promise I'm not callous. I'm maybe suspicious of the west's cult of the individual. I feel like sometimes we as individuals can't have what we want for ourselves, if we want the bigger ongoing project to succeed. Things are already so complicated, not least due to accumulation of generational wealth and inaction of the older generation. I worry the "curing" death will doom us all, and collapse this whole beautiful mess in on itself :/ Curing death sounds great when young startup folks are pushing it, but we all age out, we all get stuck inside the minds that grew up in old worlds.

anyhow, much love to you and yours. truly

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#75

Post by at_a_remove » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

titzer wrote: post #68

at_a_remove wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This process that gave rise to me also gave me a painful, lifetime disability ... in its wisdom .

I'm sorry that you're suffering. No one should discount your experience. Yet even through our cloudy lens we behold a miracle beyond our possession, even beyond our comprehension. We are all transitional forms, even the best of us. We'll all die. It's nature's equalizer, grinding everything to dust and recycling it. We're all made of garbage. Junkyard parts, you and me both, buddy. Isn't it incredible? We're all Wrec…

Miracles do not necessarily have to be positive. Imagine Dante's inferno, where in some sections fire might rain down forever upon the limited sinners. That would also be a miracle. Possession, comprehension of miracles, all irrelevant if it is something to which you are subjected. If you are ill, if you are very ill and occasionally must ingest large quantities of painkillers, marveling at the exquisite engine of torment (how finely tuned! how painstaking its affordances!) is quite beyond one at times.

Evolution is a shuddering conglomeration of what has worked to make a few more copies, over millions of oft-unlucky organisms, than a few thousand years ago. What persists exists, even if it is tortured. Evolution does not respect its individuals, all collateral damage, nor is it tender even to its most faithful adherents, as the male octopus, under a chemical spell, will tear off its own arm to proffer to a mate, and then to starve, function fulfilled.

What a wicked wonder.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#76

Post by UncleOxidant » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 6:34 PM UTC

evo_9 wrote: post #56

seer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's some really exciting research going on around ageing (and cancer as they are quite related) recently. I'm someone very far outside the field, but as far as I can tell we're starting to understand cancer (and ageing) on a much deeper molecular machinery kind of level. Combined with epigenetics it really does look quite doable to extend lifespans of humans as well. I mean there have been techniques known for mi…

Great read. The combination of metformin, revaratrol and NMN is quite something. Add fasting and an intense workouts and it’s amazing how much you can impact your wellness. I recently unretired from the over 40 hockey league i’ve played in the past 8 years and rejoined the top A league playing against 20 year olds... anecdotal sure... but then again so are those sets of 30-40 pull-ups I do in my workout multiple time…

Which supplements are you taking? NMN? Niagen?

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#77

Post by AtlasBarfed » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 6:41 PM UTC

evo_9 wrote: post #56

seer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's some really exciting research going on around ageing (and cancer as they are quite related) recently. I'm someone very far outside the field, but as far as I can tell we're starting to understand cancer (and ageing) on a much deeper molecular machinery kind of level. Combined with epigenetics it really does look quite doable to extend lifespans of humans as well. I mean there have been techniques known for mi…

Great read. The combination of metformin, revaratrol and NMN is quite something. Add fasting and an intense workouts and it’s amazing how much you can impact your wellness. I recently unretired from the over 40 hockey league i’ve played in the past 8 years and rejoined the top A league playing against 20 year olds... anecdotal sure... but then again so are those sets of 30-40 pull-ups I do in my workout multiple time…

Your results seem more in like with the results of maintaining high-level fitness than supplementation, but admittedly I don't know you.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#78

Post by evo_9 » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 6:53 PM UTC

UncleOxidant wrote: post #76

evo_9 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great read. The combination of metformin, revaratrol and NMN is quite something. Add fasting and an intense workouts and it’s amazing how much you can impact your wellness. I recently unretired from the over 40 hockey league i’ve played in the past 8 years and rejoined the top A league playing against 20 year olds... anecdotal sure... but then again so are those sets of 30-40 pull-ups I do in my workout multiple time…

Which supplements are you taking? NMN? Niagen?

1 gram of NMN, metformin and resveratrol. Beyond that I take other things including carbon 60. Those are the most exotic items; the rest are your usual items such as fish-oil, krill oil, multi-vitiman most of which I tuned from my Inside-Tracker.com blood results.

I also have the right genetics; aka longevity gene(s), Ashkenazi Jew markers, etc and my farther is in his upper 80's; his mother lived to 98.

I don't want to claim that it's any one thing. I'm sure it's everything. The Tabata style sprinting 2-3 days a week, the hour+ workouts minimum of 5 days a week, the 16/8 fasting, the hockey/cryotherapy-like effects of being cold and working out/aerobic exhaustion of being on the ice or skating outside etc. And of course diet... I eat much much less than most people I know (big fan of Paleo menu by Green-Chef).

The way I see it is there are studies around NMN, metformin and resveratrol right now; let's say in 10 years they all prove they slow aging/extend life... to me it's worth the cost to take these now and bet on a positive outcome. If some of these studies don't pan out, so it goes, but so far it seems like it's working out pretty well if my increasingly annoyed friends are any indication.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#79

Post by hombre_fatal » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 7:50 PM UTC

evo_9 wrote: post #56

seer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's some really exciting research going on around ageing (and cancer as they are quite related) recently. I'm someone very far outside the field, but as far as I can tell we're starting to understand cancer (and ageing) on a much deeper molecular machinery kind of level. Combined with epigenetics it really does look quite doable to extend lifespans of humans as well. I mean there have been techniques known for mi…

Great read. The combination of metformin, revaratrol and NMN is quite something. Add fasting and an intense workouts and it’s amazing how much you can impact your wellness. I recently unretired from the over 40 hockey league i’ve played in the past 8 years and rejoined the top A league playing against 20 year olds... anecdotal sure... but then again so are those sets of 30-40 pull-ups I do in my workout multiple time…

> I’m currently 52 and look mid 30s and have taken supplements for nearly 10 years to affect aging.

Might want some anonymous feedback on how old you really look before you use this tagline in the wild. ;)

It's always a bit awkward when someone tells you how many 15+ years younger they [think they] look and you're stuck between "should I tell them?" and "smile and nod." I always presume they keep getting older but forget to update the story. Soon they're 60 years old and still refer to themselves as baby-faced, their intramural flag-football nickname back in university.

Re: Scientists identify pathways that extend nematode worm lifespan fivefold

#80

Post by lossolo » Thu, Jan 09, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

evo_9 wrote: post #78

UncleOxidant wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which supplements are you taking? NMN? Niagen?

1 gram of NMN, metformin and resveratrol. Beyond that I take other things including carbon 60. Those are the most exotic items; the rest are your usual items such as fish-oil, krill oil, multi-vitiman most of which I tuned from my Inside-Tracker.com blood results. I also have the right genetics; aka longevity gene(s), Ashkenazi Jew markers, etc and my farther is in his upper 80's; his mother lived to 98. I don't want…

Does your father looks a lot younger too? My father is in his mid 50s and he looks 40. I am in my mid 30s and I look younger too. This is genetics obviously. I am also doing fasting 16/8 and eat less than most people. It's possible that those supplements have 0 effects and it's all just genetics.