A look at some scientific studies of the present bounds of human longevity from Courant: "It's becoming clear that people who break through the 90-plus barrier represent a physical elite, markedly different from the elderly who typically die younger than them. Far from gaining a longer burden of disability, their extra years are often healthy ones. They have a remarkable ability to live through, delay or entirely escape a host of diseases that kill off most of their peers. Supercentenarians - people aged 110 or over - are even better examples of aging gracefully. ... As a demographic group, they basically didn't exist in the 1970s or '80s. They have some sort of genetic booster rocket and they seem to be functioning better for longer periods of time than centenarians. ... The average supercentenarian had freely gone about their daily life until the age of 105 or so, some five to 10 years longer even than centenarians, who are themselves the physical equivalent of people eight to 10 years their junior. This isn't just good news for the oldest old and for society in general; it also provides clues about how more of us might achieve a long and healthy old age."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.courant.com/health/sns-200910201351tmspremhnstr--k-h20091021oct21,0,4810521,full.story
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Here is a Google Tech Talk video of Gregory Benford discussing his latest venture, Genescient, which seems to be close to commercializing its first results: "Genescient is the world's first computational biology company founded on the use of artificial biological selection to cure the diseases of aging. Our laboratory animals have been selected for longevity through 750 generations for the equivalent of 15,000 human years. I will describe Genescient's multiple pathways toward accelerating human longevity, with parallel enhancements of vigor and function. Genescient applies 21st century genomic technology to identify, screen and develop benign therapeutic substances at precise doses, to defeat the diseases of aging. Our singular approach addresses the complex genomic networks that underlie aging and aging-associated diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. I shall display some results and our first product, due in 2009."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuLV01iBSuc
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Human biochemistry isn't as well set up for regeneration as it might be, particularly in the case of nerve damage. But medical technology will one day change all that: "The inflammatory response following a spinal cord injury appears to be set up to cause extra tissue damage instead of promoting healing ... The injury opens tissue to the external environment, increasing the potential to be exposed to pathogens. The immune system doesn't care that the spinal cord is damaged - it just wants to keep the organism alive. And neurons want to regrow, but when they try to grow their axons, they hit a wall of inflammatory cells that they can't get past or that are working against them. ... All of the responding cells in question are macrophages, but the study revealed that they have slightly different characteristics that define their functions. The research suggests that changing the balance of how these cells are activated in favor of the anti-inflammatory macrophages could be a potential treatment strategy. ... if we could minimize damage caused by inflammation, that would be helpful. Each axon that dies gets you closer to a threshold where you lose function. If we could just keep axons and neurons alive, we may have a better chance at promoting recovery."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021133858.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Evolved human biochemistry is suboptimal in some intriguing ways - we don't heal as well as some other species, for example. Here, EurekAlert! notes that our biochemistry is not as radiation-resistant as it might be either: "More than half of all cancer patients are treated at least in part with radiation ... But the same radiation that kills cancer cells can also destroy healthy ones, causing side effects such as nausea and vomiting, skin sores and rashes, and weakness and fatigue. Long-term radiation exposure can lead to the scarring and death of normal tissue. [Researchers] have identified a biochemical signaling pathway that can profoundly influence what happens to both cancerous and healthy cells when they are exposed to radiation. In mouse experiments, they found that blocking a molecule called thrombospondin-1 from binding to its cell surface receptor, called CD47, affords normal tissues nearly complete protection from both standard and very high doses of radiation. ... We almost couldn't believe what we were seeing. This dramatic protective effect occurred in skin, muscle and bone marrow cells, which is very encouraging. Cells that might have died of radiation exposure remained viable and functional when pre-treated with agents that interfere with the thrombospondin-1/CD47 pathway." Given enough time, many beneficial changes to human biochemistry will be possible and affordable.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uops-ptf101609.php
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Researchers continue to uncover the biochemistry of regeneration: "Biologists long have marveled at the ability of some animals to re-grow lost body parts. Newts, for example, can lose a leg and grow a new one identical to the original. Zebrafish can re-grow fins. These animals and others also can repair damaged heart tissue and injured structures in the eye. In contrast, humans have only rudimentary regenerative abilities, so scientists hoping eventually to develop ways of repairing or replacing damaged body parts are keenly interested in understanding in detail how the process of regeneration works. Using zebrafish as a model, researchers [have] found that some of the same genes underlie the process in different types of tissues. Genes involved in fin regeneration and heart repair are also required for rebuilding damaged light receptors in the eye, they found, suggesting that a common molecular mechanism guides the process, no matter what body part is damaged." A common mechanism, if confirmed, would mean that the task of introducing this sort of regenerative capacity into humans will be simpler than thought.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uom-amm101909.php
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/