The Scientific Quest to Cure Aging

[JimBowie1958]

I think this will happen unless our civilization collapses.
The scientific quest to cure aging

But a number of scientists are fiercely working toward what was once only attainable in fables and fairy tales: they want to end aging.
The quest has even inspired a competition with a monetary prize from that hub of innovation, Silicon Valley. The Palo Alto Longevity Prize, founded by Dr. Joon Yun, a radiologist who heads Palo Alto Investors, is offering $1 million in prize money as a way to urge researchers figure out how to "hack the code" of aging.
While those in the growing field of longevity research admit the task at hand is expansive and complex, they say big advancements have already been made and expect to see more in the near future.
"The goal is similar to all medical research which is to make people healthier andkeep people alive longer so we can have more productive lives and not be such a burden to society," David Sinclair, Ph.D., a professor of genetics and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at the Harvard Medical School, told CBS News.

 

[JoeMoma]

If this happens, then it will lead to mandatory limits on making babies.

 

[Auld Phart]

I won't volunteer for treatment.

 

[waltky]

Mebbe Granny could stop gettin' older an go to Mars?...

DNA repair discovery could lead to drugs to reverse ageing, fight cancer and help space travel
A drug to reverse ageing and treat cancer may be a step closer after a team of scientists identified a critical step in how cells repair damaged DNA.

Their discovery could even help survivors of childhood cancers and help NASA get astronauts to Mars. "For most of the 20th century we knew that our [cells' ability to repair DNA gets worse over time] and we get old and it's the main reason we get cancer," Harvard and UNSW professor David Sinclair said. "So what we've discovered is the reason why." Published in the journal Science, the international team identified how a vitamin called NAD+ was regulating the interactions that control DNA repair.

The scientists said experiments showed that when mice were given an NAD+ booster called NMN, their cells were better at repairing DNA damage caused by radiation exposure and ageing. "We took old mice that were 20 months old which is [equivalent to] a 60-70-year-old human and we gave them NMN and we found that… many aspects of ageing were reversed," Professor Sinclair said. "Their DNA repair activities went up to youthful levels and they were more resistant to radiation and should therefore be more protected against cancer and ageing itself.

Human trials of NMN therapy will start in Boston in the next six months. "Then we should be able to go into the next studies which we're hoping to do in the US and in Australia and then we really get serious," Professor Sinclair said. "We start looking at how fast people can walk, how strong they are and then eventually we want to get this molecule on the market as a drug to treat a disease like cancer, Alzheimer's or diabetes." Professor Sinclair and his colleague Dr Lindsay Wu are working on making NMN into a drug substance.

NASA sees potential for Mars mission

 

[JimBowie1958]

Thread re-animation!

 

[abu afak]

If this happens, then it will lead to mandatory limits on making babies.

'Life sentences' would also be rather expensive to impose.
`

 

[Vastator]

This will almost certainly be necessary for interstellar travel.