[quote]LoRez wrote:
[quote]roybot wrote:
[quote] LoRez wrote:
I think Aubrey de Grey is onto something with his approach of “aging is a disease”, and looking at the mechanisms behind it, and trying to find ways to eliminate and reverse them.
[/quote]
Interesting watch. His core message was to counter aging by means of gene therapy and to effect a paradigm shift where it would be morally and socially acceptable (read: legal) to tamper with human DNA because it would be selfish of us to deny our descendants the option of living longer lives. The German guy at the end asked the right question.
Reproduction is nature’s way of circumventing death.
The airplane timeline was baloney. [/quote]
He’s basically narrowed it down to 7 things that cause “aging”, and is looking at them individually to slow or reverse them.
Mutations - in Chromosomes causing cancer due to nuclear mutations/epimutations:
These are changes to the nuclear DNA (nDNA), the molecule that contains our genetic information, or to proteins which bind to the nDNA. Certain mutations can lead to cancer, and, according to de Grey, non-cancerous mutations and epimutations do not contribute to aging within a normal lifespan, so cancer is the only endpoint of these types of damage that must be addressed.
Mutations - in Mitochondria:
Mitochondria are components in our cells that are important for energy production. They contain their own genetic material, and mutations to their DNA can affect a cell’s ability to function properly. Indirectly, these mutations may accelerate many aspects of aging.
Junk - inside of cells, aka intracellular aggregates:
Our cells are constantly breaking down proteins and other molecules that are no longer useful or which can be harmful. Those molecules which can’t be digested simply accumulate as junk inside our cells. Atherosclerosis, macular degeneration and all kinds of neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease) are associated with this problem.
Junk - outside of cells, aka extracellular aggregates:
Harmful junk protein can also accumulate outside of our cells. The amyloid senile plaque seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients is one example.
Cells - too few, aka cellular loss:
Some of the cells in our bodies cannot be replaced, or can only be replaced very slowly - more slowly than they die. This decrease in cell number causes the heart to become weaker with age, and it also causes Parkinson’s disease and impairs the immune system.
Cells - too many, aka Cell senescence:
This is a phenomenon where the cells are no longer able to divide, but also do not die and let others divide. They may also do other things that they’re not supposed to, like secreting proteins that could be harmful. Immune senescence and type 2 diabetes are caused by this.
Extracellular protein crosslinks:
Cells are held together by special linking proteins. When too many cross-links form between cells in a tissue, the tissue can lose its elasticity and cause problems including arteriosclerosis and presbyopia.[/quote]
He didn’t talk about mutations at all in the vid. He did repeatedly refer to as yet undiscovered “therapies”, and since diet wasn’t a topic either, we know what those proposed therapies are. He is trying to make an ethical argument for life extension via genetics. Of course you can argue that death is a disease if you find a cure, but I never once heard him talk of of death as a disease or claiming to have found one.
