Lifeboat Foundation

Before the 7.6 billion people alive today, demographers estimate that about 100 billion people lived and died. This is the reality of the human condition. Memento mori, as medieval Christians reflected—Remember that you have to die.

What if it didn’t have to be this way? There are, in fact, organisms whose bodies steadily and reliably replace cells with healthier cells, and whose tissues and organs self-repair and maintain their vigor. They’re called children. And there are cells in adults that divide indefinitely. They’re called cancer. What if there were a way to genetically re-engineer and chemically reprogram our cells to divide indefinitely like they do in children, and to continue this process throughout adulthood without becoming cancerous? Could we become immortal?

“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work,” Woody Allen once said, “I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.” There are today well-funded groups of scientists who believe we can do just that. If these techno-dreamers succeed, would you want to live for 150 years? 300 years? Or even 500 years? I’m not talking about being brain-dead and bedridden on a morphine drip. I mean living a full, rich physical and mental life for centuries, possibly forever. Would you opt for immortality?

Is the longevity industry the healthtech investment trend?

Forbes contributor and finance expert Richard Eisenberg discusses with Taimur Hyat, Chief Strategy Officer at Prudential Financial’s investment arm ($963 billion of funds under management).

Hyat shared his views on investinginto the ageing industry. He noted ‘the first wave of tech and apps was designed with millennials in mind — pizza delivery and Uber. The next wave of platforms and technology will be designed with the needs of the elderly in mind.

Continue reading “The longevity healthtech market is an investor’s dream” »

Researchers have amassed a family tree of 13 million people to trace the last 500 years of Western marriage and migration patterns. They also show that the genetic basis of longevity is lower than many have suggested.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cafeesotericaradio/2018/03/02/c…generation

Summary: Treatability of cancer was raised to over 80% by a new intelligent system that sifts through massive genetic datasets to pinpoint targets for cancer treatment, say these scientists. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

Scientists in Singapore have discovered a significantly improved way to treat cancer by listening to many different computer programs rather than just one.

Their new computer program reaches a consensus on how to treat a specific tumor, and it is significantly more accurate than existing predictive methods. The system isolates the Achilles heel of each individual tumor, helping doctors to choose the best treatment.

Continue reading “Using big data analysis to significantly boost cancer treatment effectiveness” »

Summary: UCSD researchers just reported that a strain of bacteria prevents skin cancer. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

The human microbiome is emerging a major player in protecting our health and researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) just reported that some strains of skin bacteria safeguard against cancer.

Leading the study is Richard Gallo, MD, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor and the chair of the Department of Dermatology at the UCSD School of Medicine, who says.

Monthly summary of the cancer treatment advances, longevity science and other medical discoveries reported during February 2018.

The longest-lived bats—those belonging to the Myotis genus—may have their telomeres to thank for their slow aging process, according to a study published yesterday (Feb 7) in Science Advances.

“In the longest-lived species of bats telomeres don’t shorten with age,” study coauthor Emma Teeling, a professor of biology and environmental science at University College Dublin, tells The Irish Times. “Whereas in other bats species, humans and other animals they do, causing the age-related breakdown of cells that over the course of a lifetime can drive tissue deterioration and ultimately death.”

Teeling and her colleagues conducted wing biopsies on close to 500 bats of four different species at field sites across Europe. Tissue analysis revealed that while the telomeres shortened with age in two bat species, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Miniopterus schreibersii, no such change occurred in species belonging to Myotis, the bat genus with the greatest longevity.

Continue reading “Study: Telomeres Don’t Shorten with Age in Longest-Lived Bats” »

A potential new biomarker of aging has been discovered by researchers. This substance, found in urine, indicates oxidative damage that could be used to determine how much someone has aged biologically.

Why do we need biomarkers of ageing?

It is important for us to develop accurate and reliable biomarkers of aging, as these can show us how much we have aged biologically rather than chronologically. If we know how we are aging on a biological level, it can help to inform our healthcare strategy.