Have scientists found a cure for ageing?

[Skywizard]

Is it really possible to turn back time?


Finding a way to stop the ageing process has been an elusive, age-old dream. Now scientists from Australia and the US believe they have not only found a way to press pause - but to rewind the ageing process as well.

While the study was conducted using mice, molecular biologist David Sinclair from the University of New South Wales and Harvard University said the findings were significant and could have implications for the treatment of age-related diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The research team discovered a key mechanism that keeps the body's cells communicating.

In youth, communication inside individual cells - between the cell's "battery" known as the mitochondrion and the nucleus - is fast and frequent. But over time, this slows and ageing accelerates.

"The ageing process we discovered is like a married couple - when they are young, they communicate well. But over time, living in close quarters for many years, communication breaks down," Sinclair said.

"And just like a couple, restoring communication solved the problem."

To improve communication inside cells, researchers gave mice injections containing the naturally occurring compound NMN, which raises the levels of a molecule called NAD. This molecule repairs the cells' communication network.

Previously the only way to slow the dropoff in NAD levels in old age was to restrict calories and exercise intensively.

In the study, the Sydney researchers used mice that are considered equivalent to a 60-year-old human and older mice, equating to a 90-year-old human. A control group of mice were fed a calorie-restricted diet.

The results, outlined in the scientific journal Cell on Friday, were better for the younger mice, which were able to rewind the ageing process within a week.

The treatment effectively transformed a 60-year-old into a 20-year-old on some measures, including the degree of muscle wastage, insulin resistance and inflammation.

"If the compound is administered early enough in the ageing process, in just a week, the muscles of the older mice were indistinguishable from the younger animals," said co-author Nigel Turner from UNSW's pharmacology department.

The older mice showed some improvement, but it was not as dramatic.

"It may be in the future that your age in years isn't going to matter as much as your biological age," Sinclair said.

"What we've shown here is that you can turn back your biological age, or at least we think we have found a way to do that."

He said seeing results so quickly came as "a complete shock".

Sinclair said he hoped to start human trials next year.


Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/95394...to-stop-ageing


peace...
skywizard

[kemo]

I certainly hope so as I've gained enough years now and will very glad to go back the other way!

[sheme]

The last thing we need is to reverse ageing. Remember, there are too many of us, I am happy to leave when my time is up to make way for a new soul.

[gripreaper]

Posted by sheme (here)
The last thing we need is to reverse ageing. Remember, there are too many of us, I am happy to leave when my time is up to make way for a new soul.

Oh, I don't know about that. By the time we figure out how things really work and what the truth is, we die. The planet is inhabited by stupid people, and nothing ever changes. I'd say it would be good to keep around those who know what the hell is going on for awhile and maybe we could change things, including overpopulation.

[sheme]

Historically a few other people had similar ideas didn't they? perhaps reverse Eugenics is what we are considering here, just make sure the worthy ones survive live longest?

[Orph]

The cure to aging is to die young.

[panopticon]

I posted a number of really interesting articles on this earlier this week:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...-could-be-next

-- Pan

[foreverfan]

This will be the last time you hear anything about this.

[Fairy Friend]

I don't refute his work, actually complements it but I think a key thing to aging is also about the telomeres of the DNA and not forcing replication cycles. Eat healthy and be happy, you live longer. There's more than one answer.
Some want to live long lives, others don't. Don't forget, you can change your mind. Fairy Friend