09.30.08

Life is the Road to Utopia, If You Can Stay On It

Posted in Healthy Life Extension Community at 8:41 pm by heaven

From JET, a Nick Bostrom fiction in the spirit of the Fable of the Dragon Tyrant: "Your body is a deathtrap. This vital machine and mortal vehicle, unless it jams first or crashes, is sure to rust anon. You are lucky to get seven decades of mobility; eight if you be fortune's darling. That is not sufficient to get started in a serious way, much less to complete the journey. Maturity of the soul takes longer. Why, even a tree-life takes longer. Death is not one but a multitude of assassins. Do you not see them? They are coming at you from every angle. Take aim at the causes of early death - infection, violence, malnutrition, heart attack, cancer. Turn your biggest gun on aging, and fire. You must seize the biochemical processes in your body in order to vanquish, by and by, illness and senescence. In time, you will discover ways to move your mind to more durable media. Then continue to improve the system, so that the risk of death and disease continues to decline. Any death prior to the heat death of the universe is premature if your life is good. ... One day you or your children should have a secure home. Research, build, redouble your effort!" The road to Utopia is to continue to live well - which, as Bostrom notes, will require great labor devoted to new medical technologies of engineered longevity.


View the Article Under Discussion: http://jetpress.org/v19/bostrom.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Aubrey de Grey in JET

Posted in Healthy Life Extension Community at 8:32 pm by heaven

Here's an essay from Aubrey de Grey in one of the recent issues of the Journal of Evolution and Technology: "A pervasive reaction to the idea of extreme or indefinite postponement of human aging - one heard from many professional bioethicists and also from a high proportion of the general public - is that aging differs morally from other causes of debilitation and death in a manner that exempts us from the duty to combat it that we perceive as so self-evident in respect of those other causes. Precisely what characteristic of aging underpins this alleged distinction? I argue here that it is in fact a false distinction, perpetuated only by unwarranted psychological forces posing as philosophical arguments. ... There are many conspicuous issues regarding which contemporary Western society generally takes a different moral view than it did a century or two ago. Slavery, universal suffrage and homosexuality constitute a representative selection. In all these cases, the view that originally prevailed was overturned because the arguments for the status quo were eventually seen to come down to no more than a fear of the unknown, a faith in the 'natural order' and other similarly unrooted emotions."


View the Article Under Discussion: http://jetpress.org/v18/deGrey.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

09.29.08

Axolotl Biochemistry as a Goal to Aim For

Posted in Medicine, Biotech, Research at 8:58 pm by heaven

It is plausible that mechanisms of unlimited tissue regeneration will be learned from lesser species and then ported to humans: "Urodele amphibians such as the axolotl are the champions of tissue regeneration amongst vertebrates. These animals have mastered the ability to repair and replace most of their tissues following damage or amputation even well into adulthood. In fact it seems that the ability of these organisms to regenerate perfectly is not affected by their age. In addition to being able to regenerate, these animals display a remarkable resistance to cancer. They therefore represent a unique model organism to study regeneration and cancer resistance in vertebrates. The need for this research is even more pressing at the dawn of the 21st century as we are faced with an ever aging world population which has to deal with an increase in organ failure and cancer incidence. ... studying tissue regeneration in salamanders could yield significant knowledge to help regenerative medicine achieve the desired goal of allowing humans to repair and regenerate some of their own tissues as they age."


View the Article Under Discussion: http://pmid.us/18814845
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Mechanisms of Osteoarthritis

Posted in Medicine, Biotech, Research at 8:33 pm by heaven

Researchers continue to learn more about the underlying biochemistry of common age-related conditions: "Until relatively recently, osteoarthritis was believed to be due solely to wear and tear, and an inevitable part of aging. Recent studies have revealed, however, that specific biochemical changes contribute to the disease, changes that might be reversed by precision-designed drugs. Our study provides the first solid proof that some of those changes are related to pain processing, and suggests the mechanisms behind the effect ... the study revealed that pain signals originating in arthritic joints, and the biochemical processing of those signals as they reach the spinal cord, worsen and expand arthritis. In addition, researchers found that nerve pathways carrying pain signals transfer inflammation from arthritic joints to the spine and back again, causing disease at both ends. ... We believe this to be a vitally important process contributing to orthopaedic and neurological diseases in which inflammation is a factor."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uorm-nsp092508.php
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Partners & Simons targets health sector (BizJournals)

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:30 am by heaven

Partners & Simons Inc. has begun a practice targeting health insurance companies, care providers, medical device companies, biotechnology firms and pharmaceutical companies. (EMC) (IRM)

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