Longevity

Buck Institute to tackle aging research with stem cell funds

John Carroll — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:45:23 -0400

The Buck Institute for Age Research was the only non-academic group to receive California stem cell grants for new research facilities this year. After qualifying for $20.5 million in state funds, the institute now plans to build a 65,000-square-foot research center on its campus in Novato, CA. When the $41 million facility opens, the institute plans to expand its work in the field of aging and chronic diseases as researchers explore ways to expand the average life span beyond its current limits.

"We think the link between aging and getting diseases has really been under-appreciated," James Kovach, the Buck Institute's president and COO, told BioRegion News. "It's really looking at healthy populations earlier, and then understanding the aging process so that you can delay it. By delaying the aging process, we believe you'll delay the onset of virtually every chronic disease in parallel. We refer to it as the longevity dividend [that results] if you can help people avoid chronic diseases, particularly in the 60s and 70s, so that essentially people live a healthy life--the clinical reference to that is compressing morbidity."

- check out the release on the funding
- read the Q&A from BioRegion News

Genetic mutations slow aging process in centenarians

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Forget those studies of long-lived Italian shepherds and Greek fishermen. It's not fresh air or exercise or a simple whole-foods diet that causes certain people to live past 100, a new study shows. Instead, it's a set of genetic mutations thought to interfere with normal cell growth and thus slow aging.

Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, found the mutations exclusively among centenarians. They affect sensitivity to insulin growth factor 1, which is crucial to children's growth and contributes to regeneration throughout adulthood.

Earlier studies had shown that mice lacking one copy of the IGF-1 gene live 26 percent longer than normal, on average, and damping down that metabolic pathway extended the lifespan of yeasts, worms, and flies.

- read the report from The Guardian
- check out the article in The Telegraph

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Sirtris finds three chemicals with low-cal benefits

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:59:59 -0500

In one of the most closely watched research programs at a biotech company, Sirtris has unveiled three new chemicals that could play a big role in fighting the effects of aging and resisting diabetes. These new drugs are described as far more powerful than resveratrol--a natural ingredient found in red wine--in activating the protein Sirt1. In previous research, resveratrol has been found to induce the same kind of tonic effects triggered by calorie reduction, without the diet. In a study published in Nature, the new chemicals lowered the blood sugar levels of obese mice designed with diabetic characteristics. And unlike resveratrol, Sirtris can patent the chemicals and control the intellectual property.

- read the article from the Wall Street Journal

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Antidepressant extends lifespan in worms

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:59:59 -0500

A team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle blitzed the C. elegans roundworm with tens of thousands of chemicals and found 115 that prolonged their short lives. But one, the antidepressant mianserin, is now commanding all of their attention. The chemical inhibits two neurotransmitters and appears to offer the same kind of extended longevity that severely restricted food consumption can have--without the diet. In the worm, a regular in early-stage studies, the chemical induced a 30 percent increase in average life spans. That translates to about one extra week for the worm, potentially much more in humans.

- read the report from The New York Times

ALSO: Both humans and mice that manage to live to a ripe, old age show a clear change in their glucose metabolism, but it's unclear whether this change alone can increase lifespan. Release

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Genes can increase longevity, reduce cancer risk

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Researchers at UC San Francisco are focusing on a group of genes that not only influence longevity but also reduce the risk of cancer. Analysts say that their work could lead to new therapeutics that would not only extend lives but also make sure that people could live longer without getting cancer. Age and cancer are closely related. A person who is 65 is 100 times more likely than a 35-year-old to get cancer. The researchers include biologist Cynthia Kenyon, who determined in 1993 that a change in the daf-2 gene could double the life span of a C. elegans roundworm.

"This is very exciting," Kenyon said. "There is a widely held view that any mechanism that slows aging would probably stimulate tumor growth. But we found many genes that increase lifespan, but slow tumor growth. Humans have versions of many of these genes, so this work may lead to treatments that keep us youthful and cancer-free much longer than normal."

- here's the release on the research work

ALSO: Understanding how the naked mole rat can shut down its metabolism in lean times could offer insights into lengthening the lives of humans. Report

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Resveratrol shows promise as diabetes treatment

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Scientists have unveiled yet another study on the potential of resveratrol. The chemical, which is found in red wine as well as a variety of plants, has been linked with improved sensitivity to insulin in mouse models, adding another possible therapeutic effect for an ingredient already associated with longevity and DNA repair. Resveratrol activates the SIRT1 enzyme, and researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences say that could make it a candidate for treating diabetes. Researchers report that SIRT1 levels are reduced in insulin-resistant cells and tissues and that treatments that block the enzyme's function lead to insulin resistance. Furthermore, increased SIRT1 activity improved insulin sensitivity. Similarly, resveratrol--at a dose of just 2.5 mg/kg/day--enhanced insulin sensitivity in cells. That low dose of resveratrol also reduced insulin resistance in animals fed a high-fat diet, the researchers showed.

"We found SIRT1 improves insulin sensitivity, especially under insulin-resistant conditions," said Chinese scientist Qiwei Zhai. "Furthermore, we found that resveratrol, at a very low dose compared with many previous studies, improves insulin sensitivity via SIRT1."

- see the release on the new resveratrol research

ALSO: OK, says a feature in the Los Angeles Times, resveratrol has been garnering headlines as a wonder tonic. But keep in mind that for now, at least, what we know about the chemical may only be relevant to mice. Report

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Longevity gene may be key to living past 100

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Studying a group of Ashkenazi Jews noted for their long lives, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine say that longevity genes appear to be responsible for fighting off disease-causing genes in the very old, a condition that causes more disease-causing genes to build up over a person's lifetime. The researchers speculate that it may be possible that a single longevity gene buffers against disease-causing genes, which would open the way to developing new therapies that would mimic the activity of that gene. The Einstein researchers are expanding their longevity research, using high-throughput technology to go beyond the 66 genetic markers involved in this study. They're looking for genetic networks that play a role in aging.

"This study shows that our approach, which was inspired by a theoretical model, can reveal underlying mechanisms that explain seemingly paradoxical observations in a complex trait such as aging," says Dr. Aviv Bergman. "So we're hopeful that this method could also help uncover the mechanisms-the gene interactions-responsible for other complex biological traits such as cancer and diabetes."

- check out the release on their work

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