This has been discussed before in this forum. The main reason telomere research alone will not extend lives is because even though you can cease apoptosis by extending telomeres, you will not stop cell division. This would create cysts and masses of unneccessary cells as a result of dieing cells not dieing and being replaced.

~MFP

Thanks, doc!

It's about time I got a pro to chime in on some of my whacky posts!

hehe, no problem. And to be fair, I'm a third year medical student, not quite a doc. Your idea isn't wacky, either. It was good! You wouldn't believe how much research is being done on telomeres and cell life extension.

~MFP

I've got big hopes for telomerase (sp?) inhibitors.

But I've never heard of these Mormon immortals before. Are they like a re-invention of the grail knights? The templar-types tasked with protecting the resting place of the grail?

Or did I just watch Indiana Jones 3?

Seriously though, this is a fascinating prospect on the horizon. Concquering the hayflick limit would go a long way to achieving defacto immortality. You'd probably need regular surgeries and transplants to repair damage and out of control cysts (as mentioned by bsl4doc).


[edit on 11-2-2006 by WyrdeOne]

Originally posted by bsl4doc
This has been discussed before in this forum. The main reason telomere research alone will not extend lives is because even though you can cease apoptosis by extending telomeres, you will not stop cell division. This would create cysts and masses of unneccessary cells as a result of dieing cells not dieing and being replaced.

~MFP

My husband, a biologist, worked with Liz Blackburn 3 years ago on her telomere life extension project. The results you describe was expected, but the in vitro experiments proved otherwise. The tissue cultures were immortalized; no runaway growths occurred. Amazing, huh?

-Forestlady

My husband, a biologist, worked with Liz Blackburn 3 years ago on her telomere life extension project. The results you describe was expected, but the in vitro experiments proved otherwise. The tissue cultures were immortalized; no runaway growths occurred. Amazing, huh?

There's a big difference between lab test results and actual biologica results. You should know that, and I'm positive your husband does. In my medical school (University of Firenze), we can easily create genomically identical stem cells lines from enucleated egg cells and a donor's skin cells. In lab tests, it would seem we can transplant these with relative ease because they are identical ot the donors somatic cells. However, real biological tests prove otherwise. In short, don't put the cart before the horse, no?

I think there is definitely promise in this field, we're just not anywhere near a full, applicable test yet.

~MFP

Yes we both know that. I was just commenting on the lab results to add to the pool of information.

-Forestlady

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
But I've never heard of these Mormon immortals before. Are they like a re-invention of the grail knights? The templar-types tasked with protecting the resting place of the grail?
[edit on 11-2-2006 by WyrdeOne]

There's really not much to it scripturally. In the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ visits the Americas after his Resurrection and shows himself to the people there. He appoints twelve men to be his leaders, and asks them the wishes of their hearts. Nine of the twelve say they want a spot in heaven when they die if they are good. Three ask to remain on the Earth to teach the gospel until Christ returns.

There are no other stories about them in any Mormon scriptures. There are "campfire stories" circulating through the Mormon Church about how "three nice men helped me find my car keys" or "three nice men helped me change a flat tire, and I stood up to thank them.... they were gone!"

But no offical Church teachings exist other than the short blurb earlier.

[edit on 12-2-2006 by Ralph_The_Wonder_Llama]

Telomerase research is more likely to yield cancer results than immortality results.

Our cells divide a certain number of times because of telomerase breakdown. The only examples we really find that are exclusions to this are cancerous.

Think of it as a mechanism of a more fundamental force. That fundamental force is what we need to identify and interact with, i think.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
It wouldn't surprise me at all if cancer was actually the fountain of youth. If you could manage to direct the growth of the cancer, and force it to grow in a certain way, at a certain speed, and stop when you wanted it to stop, we'd have a very viable tool for combating the organ/tissue failure that comes with old age and disease.

I think that our current life span has more to do with the radiation in the part of the galaxy/universe we are currently located in. Ifour planet were not as good at filtering the radiation, we likely would live even shorter.