[extropy-chat] Anti-Aging Molecule Discovered

[Robert Bradbury]

On 6/14/06, Harry Harrison <xyz at iq.org> wrote:
>
>
> > Well said.  Indeed, if the alternatives to senescence are apoptosis or
> > cancer, then senescence is clearly the better of the three.  And indeed
>
> Well said, but this is still a good result. From an evolutionary
> standpoint it
> is a cheap and dangerous hack, but it's a nice research tool and for some
> patients suffering, say, from serious wasting conditions the trade off, as
> with other growth promoters, may be worthwhile.


Well, "serious" wasting does not generally happen in people with good
nutritional habits.  But one of the problems is that as one grows older (I'm
watching this in my parents) is poorer dietary habits, perhaps due to a
decrease in taste capabilities and mobility to prepare food.  There are not
I believe dietary recommendations which are adjusted for possible changes in
body chemistry in the older old (say 80+).

I do agree that senescence can be considered a "hack".  Much better would be
more robust systems to reduce DNA damage and facilitate more robust DNA
repair.  Also a stem cell replacement strategy which is under better control
(to enable stem cell replacement of cells which have undergone apoptosis and
multiple levels of control to keep stem cells from running amok [presumably
causing cancer]).

The regulation of the ATM gene is very tricky as it may be involved in
determining which of the 3 DNA critical repair pathways to choose and/or the
apoptosis v. senescence decisions.  These are still areas which are on the
leading edge of our understanding with respect to what is actually going on
in the cells with respect to genome maintenance.

Robert
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