Scientists discover the secret of ageing

The secret of what makes our cells age has apparently been discovered by a team in the UK.

Scientists discover the secret of ageing

The research, published by the journal Molecular Systems Biology, shows that when an ageing cell detects serious damage to its DNA – caused by the wear and tear of life – it sends out specific internal signals.

These distress signals trigger the cell’s mitochondria, its tiny energy-producing power packs, to make oxidising “free radical” molecules, which in turn tell the cell either to destroy itself or to stop dividing. The aim is to avoid the damaged DNA that causes cancer.

The fountain of youth is still a long way away. However, I find the last bit of this fascinating. If I'm reading this right, aging is apparently one of the body's ways of stopping cancer by destroying or shutting down damaged cells.

It's a great time to be alive, i hope in my lifetime there is something whether it be genetic manipulation or a mix of technological and biological sciences to extend the human lifespan. I wouldn't want to live forever but a good two hundred years or so more would do me just fine. By the time we can do this im sure the arguments commonly brought up against the idea such as lack of resources to accommodate the huge population increase would not be a problem anymore. That's the only reason people are against the idea of artificially increasing our lifespan. Great find anyway, star&flag!

The baby boomers are starting to get long in the tooth...I imagine alot of science is now going to be about extending life.

Totally not opposed to this, I just hope they are also working on a way to utilise resources more effectively as they continue to extend life for us all. I think a lifespan of 150-300 years in healthy bodys would be absolutely fantastic...(problem is in society, just when you start to really become wise, is typically when your body falls apart and you die).

One minor issue...the handover of power from one generation to the next would certainly take a long time...imagine your company with managment not retiring for like 280 years..There would have to be rules in place for those wishing to extend their youth/life I think...hell, create a giant space station (or massive cave city networks deep in the earth) for people over 100 to goto and leave the earth to the under 100s or something, donno...but future tech will come with future problems and future solutions.

reply to post by SaturnFX


You raise some good points there. Population vs. available resources all the way down to "Honey, if I put my nose to the grindstone I might get the boss' job by the time I'm 350!!"

It is great to dream of increased lifespans - but as you mention it does bring out a host of issues.

the reality is that, maybe we already discover the fountain of youth, the problem is that, this would be just for some people, they wont announce to everyone that they discovered that, I mean, you just need to use your brain, so this is not something I would spend much time looking into, since we will never have access or knowledge to whats happening in this research area

Screw population growth and social responsibility to die for the sake of resources, cellulite is not a good look on me.. Where do I sign up????

Originally posted by Frogs
It is great to dream of increased lifespans - but as you mention it does bring out a host of issues.

Us futurists have been chatting about this for several years now. It will happen, and sooner than what mainstream speaks about it...however, there are two roads

1) make consessions for it beforehand...get rules in place so that its clear, practical, and not some "dream" state

2) ignore the current science, dont speak much about any regulations, and as it does happen, only the most rich and elite of society will have access to it

3) ban the development of it completely and let the natural way of things guide our lifespan (except of course for the elite/rich, which will do it anyhow).

So far, 2 and 3 seem the most likely outcome simply because no matter how many advancements we make, the msm requires for it to be played down, then parts of it banned all together because its "weird".

reply to post by SaturnFX


Just wondering if all the "rules" were put in place, and the elder people were essentially banished to another planet, then what's the point in wanting to achieve a long life? So you can get out of the way; make way---for the youngsters under 100?

If this should turn out to be the case it would be rather pointless to even want to live past 100.

Just saying.

Originally posted by Selahobed
Screw population growth and social responsibility to die for the sake of resources, cellulite is not a good look on me.. Where do I sign up????

Its not a "we shouldn't do it because"...its a "We cannot do it because" argument.
I agree, if I can find a way around it, I will be in line before your ass, but until regs are put in place, there will be no immortality pill for the public anytime soon...not for the general public anyhow.

You beat me to it.

“It is absolutely essential to tread carefully in trying to alter processes that cause cells to age, because the last thing we want is to help age-damaged cells from breaking out to become malignant,” said Mr von Zglinicki.

This is what bothers me.

If we start tampering with apoptosis (programmed cell death) by trying to prevent it just seems like a route to cancer. As the article points out, it's this "secret of ageing" that is preventing cancerous cells from proliferating and metastasizing.

It's believed that cancer is the result of mitochondrial damage. Damage that prevents the cell from apoptosis/antiproliferation.

If anything, this may be the first step to a drug that effectively stimulates the "signals" produced from DNA that prompts the mitochondria to do it's job of terminating the cell, thereby destroying cancer.

-Dev

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

Just wondering if all the "rules" were put in place, and the elder people were essentially banished to another planet, then what's the point in wanting to achieve a long life? So you can get out of the way; make way---for the youngsters under 100?

If this should turn out to be the case it would be rather pointless to even want to live past 100.

Just saying.

The point would be to continue living...the reason why once you pass the first grade in school, you dont stick around. It takes up deskspace, and its time for you to get going.

Elders would have to leave and go...somewhere that didnt effect a massive strain on the resources. Thats simply how it is, and at the moment, we have no real solution for it...however that may change in 10 years as we probe more and more alternative energy solutions. (energy is key here)

reply to post by DevolutionEvolvd


The science itself is rather old...glad to see they are having more breakthroughs

What sort of took me back was how they downplayed the telomeres role. My biology understanding is that even if we were to make a way for everyone to look 18 years old their entire lifetime, once you hit about 125, there are no more telomeres to shrink and the body in essence starts a full system shutdown. This has been one of the questionmark obsticles when even pondering longevity in a biological aspect.

I am reading doubletalk in this article. most people have no concept of the telomere issue and so wont question their hypothesis...I smell a rat.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Again, I can't imagine anyone who would want to continue living while being considered nothing more than a strain on resources to the point that it was "time to go". Struggling for long life, only to have it then become an undesirable, banishable condition?

Sorry, this doesn't make any sense. Perhaps by the time anything like this would happen, humans would be evolved enough to come up with a better plan, which would still include equality for all.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Who said anything about undesirable condition? hell, I imagine the environment you go to after the tipping point age would be far better kept than the earthspace that is home to grumpy teens, kids funlands everywhere, angst ridden violent 20-30 year olds, etc...

with age comes wisdom, and a desire to not break stuff because it looks cool when you break it.

frankly, if lets say, the moon, or mars was colonised by the over 100 crowd, it might be a flipping eutopia that is longed for by the under 100s (sure, they can come visit, but no sticking around for months on end!)

Your thinking of the move as some negative bucket on the head and tied backward to a horse banishment...think of it more as a graduation.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Followup comment.

Initially, it will be in the interest of most elitists to actually put undesirable traits on longevity, from God didnt want it, to other sociological memes to lessen the amount of people that would initially extend until the the resources issues were resolved.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Nah, I don't think so. You can think of it that way if you like, but I don't like people making decisions like that for me. Even the fantasy 250 year old me. lol.

But I will say Mr. SaturnFX, I'm glad you won't be in charge. Old people can be irritable and impatient. I don't think you would last long.

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

Nah, I don't think so. You can think of it that way if you like, but I don't like people making decisions like that for me. Even the fantasy 250 year old me. lol.

But I will say Mr. SaturnFX, I'm glad you won't be in charge. Old people can be irritable and impatient. I don't think you would last long.

People like me are rarely in charge...hense why technology is continously suppressed...because people want everything but will give up nothing or even discuss changing beforehand...therefore, no tech for anyone.

Can you imagine a world where in a few hundred years, the population would go from 7 billion to about 40 billion because people simply stopped dying?

Either you make concessions for it and plan ahead, accept it will never happen even when it could, or accept the extinction level event that it will cause by releasing tech without planning. Which one are you arguing for, because clearly you dont want to plan for it.

reply to post by SaturnFX


No, I just don't want you to plan for it.

[edit on 2/16/2010 by ladyinwaiting]

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

No, I just don't want you to plan for it.

[edit on 2/16/2010 by ladyinwaiting]

If you can suggest a alternative viable plan, then be my guest, but simply saying plan A doesn't work witout suggesting a plan B that has equal promise is not adding to a conversation, its actually just being a luddie.

My suggestion is to give a age based alternative. you want the treatment, then you become sterile and stop sucking up the resources of the planet after a certain age...or dont take the treatment and die with the rest of the schmuck...your choice.

now your turn...go.

reply to post by SaturnFX


No thanks. Actually I think I shall rest my case.