Healthy Life Extension

A Longevity Accelerator

posted on April 12, 2011

Here’s an update on the future of Life Extension Express.

Earlier this year, you voted on a selection of a variety of potential new titles for my book. The reason this is important is, people tell me the book, if packaged properly and retitled, could be an important fundraising tool to accelerate the research we need to put an extra spring in your step and to add way more steps to your life.

Since that newsletter, I have updated and improved the book. In fact, I have made hundreds of changes which have not been incorporated into the versions at www.MaxLife.org or at Amazon.com.

After narrowing down our title choices, our next step is a much more scientific Internet-based program for an optimal title selection. In addition, it extends you the opportunity to see and to take advantage of the updates. Most importantly, it could help accelerate revolutionary longevity breakthroughs.

Please take a moment to see what this is all about. It can do nothing but enhance your chances for extended youthfulness, and it can certainly help put your children on the path to avoiding the fate of our parents or grandparents.

Please go to http://maxlife100years.com/?page_id=6.

One more thing:

Ray Kurzweil is positioned to go down in history as one of the key contributors to extreme longevity and eventually full regeneration. He is already recognized as one of, if not the most accurate predictors of the future of technology. Anyway, that’s how Bill Gate’s describes him. But Ray does more than predict. He’s helping make this happen and is identified as one of the most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine.

In fact, he is rated #33 so far in a TIME poll, ahead of Barak Obama. Voting is open through April 14, 2011, limited to one vote per nominee per computer per day. Please give Ray your vote. To vote: click on the link below, click on the person you wish to vote for (or against), choose “Yes” or “No”  (influential or not), and click Submit. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2061021_2061023,00.html. You can also share your choice on Facebook or Twitter.

Transcendent Man is a film about Ray’s life.

If you happen to live in the California Bay area, Ray Kurzweil and Director Barry Ptolemy will be presenting Transcendent Man on Thursday, April 14th at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts. Check out the movie and also take the opportunity to meet him in person and mingle with a very interesting and enthusiastic crowd made up of open-minded people with an urge for innovation and radical breakthroughs.

The evening will open with a short presentation by Ray, followed by a screening of the documentary film. It will then conclude with a Q&A moderated by Peter Diamandis founder of the Xprize with Ray Kurzweil and Director Barry Ptolemy. The event begins at 8:00 PM PDT and tickets are available at www.transcendentman.com . 

Long Life,
David Kekich

P.S. Don’t forget to participate in final title selection at http://maxlife100years.com/?page_id=6.
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LATEST HEADLINES FROM FIGHT AGING!

PROGRESS IN METHUSELAH FOUNDATION'S SILVERSTONE INVESTMENT Thursday, April  7, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/progress-in-methuselah-foundations-silverstone-investment.php
The Methuselah Foundation invests in a variety of companies, and one of them is Silverstone Solutions. Here the Foundation notes a demonstration of the company's product: "In what is the largest single-hospital kidney swap in the history of California, five patients received five kidneys from healthy donors in a marathon series of operations on Friday, April 1st 2011. 'Paired donation' is the procedure that makes it possible, a relatively new phenomenon in transplantation surgery that allows for a live kidney going to someone who has a friend or relative willing to donate an organ not compatible for them but a match for someone else. The donor matches one who needs a kidney and that patient's incompatible donor matches someone else and so on, like a chain. Imagine that - multiple lives being extended in one fell swoop! This is one of many reasons why Methuselah Foundation has proudly invested in Silverstone Matchmaker, a break-through computer software that makes the pairings possible. It quickly computes the myriad of possible matches in a pool of prospective donors and recipients, minimizing time and effort that the transplant center needs to reach this goal. That is why we proudly extend an angel financing arm, funding the development of the bleeding-edge improvements to the Silverstone technology called MatchGrid. This event is in keeping with Methuselah Foundation's strategy of making investments in life-extending technologies that work RIGHT NOW (dangit!) and that also have long term positive implications for general life extension in the tissue engineering realm. Our long term vision for this technology? We hope that its massive and super performance data management system will eventually play a role in the an envisioned 'Postscript' language that can send printing instructions for creating new tissues and eventually organs to be used by tissue printers such as Organovo's sci-fi worthy 3D tissue printer, another founding angel investment by you, the donors of Methuselah Foundation."

MUSCLE REGENERATION VIA STEM CELLS Wednesday, April  6, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/muscle-regeneration-via-stem-cells.php
Researchers have demonstrated that "damaged muscle tissues treated with satellite cells in a special degradable hydrogel showed satisfactory regeneration and muscle activity. Muscle activity in repaired muscle in a mouse model was comparable with untreated muscles. Satellite cells (SCs), freshly isolated or transplanted within their niche, are presently considered the best source for muscle regeneration. They are located around existing muscles. Hence, a patient's own cells can be used, from a muscle biopsy. A key issue for regeneration is how cells grow as a structure, as they usually require some form of framework. A hard framework would impede muscle growth and muscle cell penetration. The hydrogel, by contrast, provides a supportive structural skeleton but degrades quickly as muscle tissue returns and the support becomes unnecessary. The gel is initially liquid, hardens in place under UV light, and is easily penetrated by muscle cells. This is using the patient's own cells, without any lengthy culturing process, which means we could take a biopsy, produce the cells in a couple of hours, and implant them where needed - it can be done in theatre as one process. Using the patient's own cells eliminates any tissue rejection. The focus for initial clinical research in humans will be relatively small muscles at first, like deformities in the face and palate, or in the hand. It will be technically more demanding to grow larger muscles with more structure, which would require their own nerves and blood supply."

THE METHUSELAH GENERATION Wednesday, April  6, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/the-methuselah-generation.php
The Methuselah Generation is a documentary film in progress, far enough along that the filmmaker is putting out early versions: "Is aging a disease that can be cured? Is it possible to live forever? Even if we could, should we? The Methuselah Generation (working title) is a 3D verite documentary about the science and philosophy of Life Extension - the scientific hypothesis that individuals may be capable of extending human life beyond anything humans have yet imagined. The story will follow a select few individuals at the forefront of this movement as well as those skeptical and antagonistic toward the goals of life extension. The film will follow five protagonists as they progress with their movement to change humanity. Through intimate interviews, observational shooting and provocative imagery, this character-based 3D documentary will explore the big philosophical ideas of Life Extension, while also examining the scientific feasibility - the film will explore the what, how and (most significantly) the WHY of long-lived humans."

CALLING STEM CELLS TO WORK Tuesday, April  5, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/calling-stem-cells-to-work.php
Understanding how to manipulate the signaling systems that command stem cells into action will enable many of the same beneficial results as stem cell transplants: "The chemical which summons stem cells from bone marrow to the site of a wound has been discovered by scientists. The study identified the distress signal - HMGB1. The authors believe it can be used to put 'a megaphone in the system' to improve the treatment of injuries such as burns and leg ulcers. Bone marrow was thought to play a role in repairing damaged skin, but the exact process was unknown. Scientists [gave] mice bone marrow cells that glow green - which can be tracked while moving round the body. They then wounded the mice and some were given skin grafts. In mice without grafts, very few stem cells travelled to the wound. Those with grafts had many stem cells travelling to the wound. Grafted skin tissue has no blood vessels and therefore no oxygen. This environment leads to the release of HMGB1 [which] results in stem cells moving to the wound. Researchers [are] developing a drug to mimic HMGB1. They hope to begin animal testing by the end of the year and human clinical trials shortly afterwards."

A REVIEW OF TELOMERE STUDIES Tuesday, April  5, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/a-review-of-telomere-studies.php
Telomere length seems to correlate with general levels of wellbeing. This article reports on: "several studies showing that psychological stress leads to shorter telomeres - the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are a measure of cell age and, thus, health. The findings also suggest that exercise may prevent this damage. [Researchers]  examined telomeres in leukocytes, or white blood cells, of the immune system, which defends the body against both infectious agents and cell damage. Our findings suggest that traumatic and chronic stressful life events are associated with shortening of telomeres in cells of the immune system, but that physical activity may moderate this impact.

The current research [followed] for two years 63 healthy postmenopausal women who were the primary caregivers for a family member with dementia. In an earlier analysis of 36 of these women, pessimism was associated with high levels of a pro-inflammatory protein often associated with aging and disease states, and with short telomeres. In a recent and separate analysis of the full group of women, an increase in perceived stress was related to an increase in the odds of having short telomeres only in the non-exercising women. Among those who exercised, perceived stress was unrelated to telomere length. In the current analysis of the larger group, it was revealed that an increase in perceived stress over the course of one year was associated with a decrease in telomere length during that time. A third study [analyzed] data from 251 healthy, non-smoking women ages 50-65 of varying activity levels. The findings showed that non-exercising women with histories of childhood abuse had shorter telomeres than those with no histories of abuse. But, in those women who exercised regularly, there was no link between childhood abuse and telomere length, after controlling for body mass index, income, education and age."

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CYTORI THERAPEUTICS CEO Monday, April  4, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/an-interview-with-the-cytori-therapeutics-ceo.php
Some interesting quotes can be found in this short piece: "We are at the beginning of a new age in medicine called Regenerative Medicine. The foundation of this is the living cell, although the emerging field will encompass a broad array of technologies. Remember the early days of the Computer Age circa 1978 where there were these new potentially powerful tools, but not a lot of software or applications? Today, almost everything we use or touch is in some way an offspring of this technology. Regenerative Medicine will explode in a similar way with new tools and applications and treatments, many of which are rapidly being developed around the world and I expect will ultimately impact the lives of billions of people. I predict that the innovations around these cell therapies will have as much impact on medicine as the silicon chip has had on technology. Medical tourism is gaining momentum worldwide. As the world becomes more 'flat,' medicine becomes somewhat of a commodity. With ever-increasing access to information, patients are doing more research on their conditions, and instead of only having access to treatment at their local medical facility, their reach becomes global. So when new technology is developed and available in one country and not another, savvy patients with the means to access it are able to identify, research, and ultimately receive the care they might not have otherwise. This hopefully will drive down the cost of care, speed the access to innovations, and raise the standard of care globally."

RECELLULARIZATION ATTEMPTED IN HUMAN HEARTS Monday, April  4, 2011 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/04/recellularization-attempted-in-human-hearts.php

The technique of recellularization has been used to prepare heart valves for transplant, and here researchers are attempting the whole heart: "US researchers have revealed they made the hearts by stripping cells from the hearts of people who had died, leaving behind the organ's tough protein skeleton, known as a 'ghost heart'. The researchers seeded eight ghost hearts with living human stem cells, which successfully stuck to them and then, crucially, started turning into heart cells. The hearts are growing and we hope they will show signs of beating within the next week. There are many hurdles to overcome to generate a fully functional heart, but the hope is that it may one day be possible to grow entire organs for transplant. It follows a series of successes by [researchers] in growing beating animal hearts. The team has also taken the ghost hearts of rats and pigs and seeded them with human stem cells. Again, the cells multiplied, colonized the structure and started to beat independently. The beating strength was up to 25 per cent that of a normal heart, but the fact the hearts were beating at all was seen as a triumph."

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