The new research harnesses previously unknown features of this ancient viral DNA, creating a biological clock to track a person’s age from the DNA’s chemical changes.
And the researchers now believe that new antiretroviral therapies, similar to those used to fight the HIV virus and AIDS, might one day help reverse the signs of aging.
‘Our findings indicate that retroelement clocks capture previously undetected facets of biological aging,’ said study co-author Dr Michael Corley, an assistant professor of immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
Researchers have discovered cells in a sea anemone that might explain its potential immortality. These cells, regulated by ancient genes, offer insights into regeneration and aging processes that could illuminate human health and longevity.
The study reveals how these genes, active in humans for forming reproductive cells, also confer regenerative abilities on cnidarians, a group of animals including sea anemones.
Traditional and folk medicines offer many botanical extracts that can be tested by modern science for their medicinal properties and influences on aging. One such plant is the Bolivian prawn sage (Salvia haenkei).
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Personal identity seems so strong. We have the same sense of ourselves throughout our lives, even though everything about our physical bodies and brains is changing constantly. What then causes the continuity of personal identity? Where does transhumanism fit in? Some say personal identity is an illusion, but that seems like cheating. Others credit a nonphysical soul. That seems as though it’s cheating too.
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Natasha Vita-More is a faculty member in design, media arts, and theory at the University of Advancing Technology. She is a strategic designer in the area of human enhancement and life extension. Her interests are located within the ethical uses of science and technology and socio-political implications of revolutionary advances impacting humanity’s future.
Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
It’s no revelation that the human body undergoes natural wear and tear as we age. But you might be surprised to discover that this process isn’t as gradual as we’d presumed.
A recent study reveals some remarkable truths about aging, specifically when and how our bodies start to ‘break down’
The man at the helm of the study is Michael Snyder. Chair of genetics at Stanford School of Medicine and recognized for his exceptional contribution to the field, his team’s research provides some fascinating insights into the specifics of our biological aging process.
Researchers found that removing certain inflammation-causing cells from mice every month, starting in their middle age, not only extended their lifespans but also improved their heart health and overall physical function throughout their lives. This method shows promise for extending the period of good health as mice age, potentially pointing to new aging treatments for humans.
Everyone wants to live to a ripe old age, but no one wants to be decrepit. Now, University of Connecticut researchers have demonstrated a treatment that could lengthen life—and vigor—up to the very end.
Even as human lifespans have lengthened over the past century, most people in old age suffer a serious health decline in the last decade of life. Chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease may begin, followed by frailty. Many interventions can prolong life, but not necessarily good health. And nobody wants to spend the last years of an extra-long life in decrepitude.
