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In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

nature.com

161–170 of 170 posts

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#161
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Altered Carbon, and to a lesser extend Upload! touch on this dystopian part - the great leveller is that every billionaire will one day die - imagine if that wasn't the case, and they could keep hoarding wealth and having undue political influence.

If you take a step back you see that when they currently die, someone with roughly their money takes over. Good families keep generational wealth, so you will always be under the influence of some rich person. It is our modern royalty after all. Given that is the case and everything else being equal, I would prefer that exact scenario with an opportunity to live forever. Even if that means someone I don't like gets t…

There's a chance, however, that their descendants aren't as ruthless, or as competent.

Doesn't one of the Koch sons sell Hawaiian print t-shirts?

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#162
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. And this is why the FDA won't approve drugs based on changes to biomarker (which is what these "epigenetic clocks" are) unless a direct link between that biomarker and a beneficial outcomes has been proven.

unless its for Alzheimer's? [0] 'The FDA’s eventual decision to ignore the advice of its advisory committee and approve the drug, it says, was based on aducanumab’s ability to lower levels of amyloid plaques in the brain — protein clumps that some scientists think cause Alzheimer’s.' ... With aducanumab, the agency has shown that it is willing to push the paradigm to a broader set of people. One reason that decision…

Indeed! The Alzheimer’s drug was an Accelerated Approval. Basically conditional, based on a “likelihood” that the biomarker is indicative of a benefit, but requiring further study to prove benefit.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#163

I'll be happy if two things happen: 1. I can have "better years" in the same lifespan. Lots of energy at 90 for instance. 2. I can increase the lifespan of my dog by 50 years :)

I think daily exercise can get you #1 As for #2 Totally. We’ll only show that we deserve longer lifespans if we solve it first for dogs.

You are planning on asking the dogs if they really want to do that first, right?

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

unless its for Alzheimer's? [0] 'The FDA’s eventual decision to ignore the advice of its advisory committee and approve the drug, it says, was based on aducanumab’s ability to lower levels of amyloid plaques in the brain — protein clumps that some scientists think cause Alzheimer’s.' ... With aducanumab, the agency has shown that it is willing to push the paradigm to a broader set of people. One reason that decision…

I wonder if those amyloid lowering drugs could have a prophylactic effect while having no curative effects. I would love to see a trial in people at high risk of Alzheimer...

They are already doing those and they aren’t working out too well either.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#165
post #57

Quoted post unavailable.

1) There is no "epigenetic clock theory". There is an epigenetic clock though, and it's a well established system[0]. They are talking about measuring a cellular "age" by measuring the methylation/acetylation tags on DNA and histones. These tags are essential for specialized cellular function and a core part of Horvath's/Sinclair's "epigenetic theory of aging". 2) Sinclair is not a quack, and to depict him as such do…

Follow Brenner for a while on Twitter and you'll come to realize most of Sinclair's public claims are pure BS.

> There is no "epigenetic clock theory". There is an epigenetic clock though

Well, there's an epigenetic clock wikipedia page, but yes it's a theory that those epigenetic markers are meaningful indicators of age. Except there are pro-aging molecules like hGh which reverse some of the epigenetic markers despite being pro-aging.

I don't know man, I'm just a SWE, so I'll leave this to the PhD's, but clearly many of Sinclair's claims are false, similarly to Dr. Huberman. A lot of SiValley folks have bought into their futuristic promises despite most of them relying on poor science.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#166
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a distinction without a difference to me.

Why? They seem quite distinct to me

I mean, i have no idea about what religion you follow or what its views on the afterlife are, but generally speaking, having some sort of spiritual/soul afterlife usually means having the good parts of physical life without the bad parts.

Nobody wants immortality because they miss being constipated.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#167
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Immortality is literally the carrot that religion holds in front of its followers.

That's "opiate of the masses" claim, but rather its removal of suffering and imbuing life with permanent meaning and purpose which isn't lost at the point of death (theosis). What is the point and purpose of life, beyond avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure? Even the ancient pursuit of honor and memory is rather ephemeral and lame.

> imbuing life with permanent meaning and purpose which isn't lost at the point of death (theosis)

That's generally how most people define imortality.

If you take that + remove suffering, it is one hell of a carrot.

> What is the point and purpose of life, beyond avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure? Even the ancient pursuit of honor and memory is rather ephemeral and lame.

That is something we all have to discover for ourselves. Many people find that through religion, and as long as they aren't hurting others i don't begrudge them of it, but there are lots of paths to finding existential meaning.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not just money, but liberation of creative people from the bureaucracy and limitations that come with the public grant system. AFAIK the professors in Altos Labs get a million dollars yearly salary and they are free to dig into whatever matter they find interesting, as long as it is somehow related to biology of aging, rejuvenation, regeneration etc. No need to stay within relatively narrow limits of an approve…

I didn't think about that part being a slowdown. The only interview I was able to find is that they are building a completely new lab in UK this year (one of the multiple locations), so it takes time to ramp up experiments. I'd love them to be more public about their plans. mRNA / viral delivery needs to be optimized of course, but there are lots of other parallel experiments they can start, and we probably have to w…

The latest news is a few days old and concerns their cooperation plans with the Kyoto University:

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/altos-labs-announc...

There are four concrete topics mentioned.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#169
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people are fundamentally motivated by fairness, and knowing someone else is getting more than they seem to deserve can violate that. Schadenfreude is a thing. Myself, I think that longevity treatments are unlikely to remain unaffordable to the poor for very long after they are invented — even in a cynical world where the rich are greedy enough to try and keep it for themselves, old-age healthcare is really expen…

I suspect that in any society where this exists, the government will end up making it available for everyone... or will be voted out / overthrown for a government that will.

In general I agree, but I wanted to cover even extreme cases such as North Korea.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’ (2019)

#170
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a distinction without a difference to me.

Why? They seem quite distinct to me

I think that the commenter is saying they're both unobtainable in today's terms.
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