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Aging of the Other Genome: A Decisive but Ambitious Solution

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Google Tech Talks December, 19 2007 The DNA in our cells consists of not only the well-known 46 chromosomes currently receiving such avid attention from specialists in sequencing technology, but also a large number of copies of a relatively tiny, circular DNA molecule inside the quot;powerhouse of the cell,quot; the mitochondrion. Among other things, mitochondria perform the chemistry of breathing - they extract energy from nutrients by exquisitely regulated chemical reactions that consume oxygen and create CO2. This vital function depends on the 13 proteins encoded by the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), as well as on hundreds of proteins that are encoded in our more famous genome and imported across the mitochondrial surface after construction in the body of the cell. The mtDNA accumulates mutant, non-functional variants far faster than our main genome, so 20 years ago scientists began looking at the idea of putting copies of the 13 genes of interest into the nucleus after making modifications that would cause them to be processed by the same "protein import" machinery that processes the mitochondrion's many other proteins, thus making the mtDNA itself superfluous and mutations in it harmless. I will discuss this concept in detail in my talk. Progress has been very erratic in the meantime but is now very rapid, partly because of Methuselah Foundation-funded research. However, this approach may still prove impossible, so many other, ostensibly simpler ideas - some more promising than others - have been proposed, and I will describe some of these too. Speaker: Dr Aubrey de Grey Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist based in Cambridge, UK, and is the Chairman and Chief Science Officer of the Methuselah Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity dedicated to combating the aging process. He is also Editor-in-Chief of "Rejuvenation Research", the world's only peer-reviewed journal focused on intervention in aging. His research interests encompass the etiology of all the accumulating and eventually pathogenic molecular and cellular side-effects of metabolism ("damage") that constitute mammalian aging and the design of interventions to repair and/or obviate that damage. He has developed a possibly comprehensive plan for such repair, termed Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), which breaks the aging problem down into seven major classes of damage and identifies detailed approaches to addressing each one. A key aspect of SENS is that it can potentially extend healthy lifespan without limit, even though these repair processes will never be perfect, as the repair only needs to approach perfection rapidly enough to keep the overall level of damage below pathogenic levels. de Grey has termed this required rate of improvement of repair therapies "longevity escape velocity".

Channel: Science & Technology
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: googletechtalks

Length: 02:26
Rating: 4.82
Views: 15962

Tags: education  engedu  google  googletechtalks  talk  talks  techtalk  techtalks  

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Video Comments

donnalvx (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Do you know , FACE IS THE INDEX OF MIND not the body. We can do some excercise and strengthen our skin and muscles but can we reallly bring back our INNOCENT face? Yes, says an Indian author. Type "liveinmatrix" in GOOGLE and follow the first link to know the secret
inkstersco (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
I think what's more likely is that the child fills the berth of a dead non-parent.
inkstersco (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
No. The goal of his movement is to achieve rejuvenation, whilst allowing the ageing process to continue. If, at any point, he talks about "ending ageing", he is not referring to a true halt to the ageing process, but to periodical rejuvenation, that renders the ageing process negligible: Hence "Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence".
inkstersco (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
N.Sel. is the structuring force behind modern organisms. In later years of life, one is further from NS's zone of influence(the historical average moment of reproduction, age 19 or whatever). The historical influence of NS fades. So our structure fails. But the time-age of a single cell is not crucial here. The fact is, when a cell divides, the daughter cells get some of the physical imperfections of the parent cells(e.g. indigestible junk). And so there's a lifelong buildup of cell damage.
stevekap8 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
I see. And yet I'm certain that I read that the goal of this "movement" was to END the aging process.
stevekap8 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
I think this really gets at my point. Why would one type of cell age over th lifetime of the organism that it is a part of, and a single cell organism not age. I think the answer is the envirenment that the stomatic cell finds itself in. It is surounded by other cell, and infulenced by them. This we call development, when we like the result, and age, when we don't.
inkstersco (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
But this is another matter. SENS does not attempt to interfere with that aging process. To do so is called the "gerontology approach". The engineering approach is to get right in there and artificially restore the state youth, regardless of how aging initially happened. It's matter of tissue repair. Any gerontologist will tell you that the _difference itself_ between a young and old man exists at a cellular level. This in turn, impairs tissue function, which in turn leads to organ failure.
inkstersco (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
I thought you meant the reproduction of the individual. There's the age of the cell(time-since-division), and then there's the degree of imperfection in the cell that distuinguishes it from a younger guy's cells. When the other bloke referred to "aging cells" he was no doubt referring to the damage that has been passed on from cell to cell during the lifespan of the organism.
inkstersco (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
usual tactic is to ban and censor comments Usual tactic, eh? Even though I've never done it, ever? Never. So, not a usual tactic. Your tactic, on the other hand, isn't even much of a tactic. You accused SENS of being a for-profit scam. This is demonstrably false You accused de Grey of having a fake PhD This is demonstrably false You said de Grey had no peer-reviewed work This couldnt be further from the truth. As always, I had to do your homework for you *after the accusation.
stevekap8 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Also, inksterco, I'd like to point out again that your usual tactic, in the face of contrary opinion, is to ban an censor comments. It is important to get that out, as we are in a forum in which you are powerless to do so.

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