R
Reason
Guest
LONGEVITY MEME NEWSLETTER February 23 2004
The Longevity Meme Newsletter is a biweekly e-mail containing news, opinions and happenings for
people interested in healthy life extension: making use of diet, lifestyle choices, technology and
proven medical advances to live healthy, longer lives. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the
Longevity Meme Newsletter, please visit http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/.
______________________________
CONTENTS
- Alcor and the Fight Against Bad Legislation
- Cryonics in a Nutshell
- Read "Death Sucks" as a Longevity Meme Article
- Highlights from Fight Aging!
- Discussion
- Latest Healthy Life Extension Headlines
ALCOR AND THE FIGHT AGAINST BAD LEGISLATION
The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a cryonics provider and research institute, in operation
since 1972, based in Arizona. They are currently on the receiving end of a particularly obnoxious
set of "shut them down without looking like we're trying too hard to shut them down" state
legislation. This has all happened without any input from Alcor or the community, and Alcor was not
even informed of hearing dates - so this has become something of a last minute affair. You can get
up to speed on events at the following web pages:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/projects/assist_alcor_before_february_26th.cfm
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000025.php
Alcor's new President, a man who has inherited a suddenly hot seat by the look of things, has put
together an informative action list. He is asking for us to contact Arizona officials before this
Thursday 26th of February and voice our support for legitimate cryonics research and service
provision. Visit the page below to see how to spend a few minutes of your time to help out:
http://www.alcor.org/legislativealert.html
As many of you may recall, the whole state regulation and threat of shutdown fire drill was recently
put on for the Cryonics Institute in Michigan. The situation there was quickly resolved to
everyone's satisfaction - "benign regulation" as the Institute principles put it
- which raises questions about the intent of regulators and funeral industry lobbyists in Arizona.
For example, author Richard Sandomir quoted Arizona Funeral Board Director Rudy Thomas as saying,
"These companies need to be regulated or deregulated out of business." As I have pointed out once
or twice, Rand Simberg got it right in his comments made when this mess was just getting started:
http://www.interglobal.org/weblog/archives/003115.html
At the root of it all, we recognize that cryonics is legitimate science - and we should defend
legitimate science from those who would try to ban everything unfamiliar and new.
CRYONICS IN A NUTSHELL
If you are new to the concept of cryonics and cryopreservation, you'll find a wealth of information
at the following pages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics http://www.cryonet.org/
The long and the short of it is that a growing cryonics industry offers the only potential hope for
people who are too old to benefit from near future advances in healthy life extension science. We
need not, and should not, leave these people behind - especially since it wouldn't take many
unanticipated difficulties and delays in aging research to make all of us reading this now fall into
this category.
READ "DEATH SUCKS" AS A LONGEVITY MEME ARTICLE
Phil Bowermaster's entertaining, punchy piece on the human relationship with death - spruced up and
rewritten - is now the latest Longevity Meme article.
http://www.longevitymeme.org/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=17&page=1
What are the roots of the fight against aging and the quest to live longer, healthier lives? What
motivates us all to do our part? Why do advocates and scientists stand up and work towards
lengthening the healthy human life span? Read "Death Sucks" and you'll see one set of opinions on
the matter.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM FIGHT AGING!
Have you been reading our new blog? You should be! Here are a few "Fight Aging!" highlights from the
past two weeks:
The True Cost of Delay http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000020.php With so many groups working
towards preventing, delaying or vilifying advances in medical technology, perhaps it is time to be a
great deal more clear with ourselves about the true costs of these delays. Before I start, let me
say that you're going to see some large numbers.
Lengthening Your Natural Healthy Life Span http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000017.php A lot of
the discussion surrounding healthy life extension focuses, understandably, on advances in medical
science and how to best encourage funding and public understanding. After all, without progress,
there will be no meaningful healthy life extension medicine in the future. How about the here and
now, though? What can you do now to help yourself live healthily and longer?
We Would Be Here Already If Not For The Politicians http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000014.php
Korean scientists have pulled off the impressive next advance in stem cell and therapeutic cloning
research, something that the combined US and European research communities could have accomplished
several years ago, if not for the anti-research policies on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Fast And The Slow Of It http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000012.php To those of us
observing the advance of medical science from the sidelines - via the press, the scientific
journals, our connections, and vague memories of being part of the scientific process ourselves
at some point in time - progress is simultaneously blisteringly fast and frustratingly slow. How
can this be the case?
So drop by, or add us to your RSS aggregator. I think you'll find it worthwhile.
DISCUSSION
That would be all for this issue of the newsletter. The highlights and headlines from the past two
weeks follow below. If you have comments for us, or want to discuss the newsletter, please do visit
one of the forums at http://www.longevitymeme.org/forum.cfm or send e-mail to
[email protected].
Remember - if you like this newsletter, the chances are that your friends will find it useful too.
Forward the newsletter on, or post a copy to your favorite online communities. Encourage the people
you know to pitch in and make a difference to the future of health and longevity!
Reason [email protected] Founder, Longevity Meme
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LATEST HEALTHY LIFE EXTENSION HEADLINES
Calorie Restriction in Local News (February 21 2004)
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/health/2856643/detail.html Since a number of national US media
groups ran stories on calorie restriction a few months ago, more local news outlets have been
commenting on this proven life extending lifestyle. The featured article from the San Diego Channel
is a good example of the type: an interview with a healthy, hearty CR practitioner coupled with some
commentary on the science behind it all. Meanwhile, an item from News 8 Austin discusses the use of
calorie restriction to resist neurodegenerative disorders. You can find out much more about calorie
restriction and the community of practitioners by visiting the CR Society website.
Help Alcor Fight Bad State Legislation (February 21 2004) http://www.alcor.org/legislativealert.html
Alcor, the Arizona cryonics provider, has issued a legislative alert in reference to a proposed
state regulatory bill. As they point out, this bill ("a solution without a problem") was crafted
without their input in response to incorrect and hysterical press coverage in 2003 and 2004. The
bill "mandates that Alcor be regulated by hostile parties with no understanding of what we do, and
which does not respect the rights of Alcor members." The Cryonics Institute managed to engineer a
benign regulatory relationship in their home state earlier this year, so let's see if we can help
Alcor achieve an equally satisfactory result. Visit the alert page to see how you can spend a few
minutes to help out.
New Type of Stem Cell to Repair Brains? (February 20 2004) http://www.hhmi.org/news/sanai.html The
Howard Hughes Medical Institute reports that researchers have identified a new type of stem cell in
the brain that probably already functions to repair damage. This work opens the door to a new set of
near future techniques to treat neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - a
topic high on the "must have" list for extending the healthy human life span through regenerative
medicine. You can replace everything else with transplants or artificial organs if necessary, but
you can't replace the brain: your original thinking equipment has to be repaired in situ. Some high
quality commentary on this research can be found at FuturePundit and Brain Waves.
More on Understanding Biochemical Mechanisms (February 20 2004) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/chb-
bct021804.php Understanding the biochemical and genetic mechanisms underlying aging will be the
quickest path to a therapy. EurekAlert reports that researchers have established the mechanism by
which the Sir2 longevity gene (identified fairly recently itself) works in mammals. This uncovers
another piece in what is clearly an interlocking puzzle: oxidative stress, DNA damage, genetic
moderation, cancer, degenerative conditions and other parts of aging all play into one other through
linking mechanisms. The money quote: "If you have molecules that come together to mediate resistance
to environmental stresses that cause aging, one might be able to come up with drugs that would
affect this interaction and slow the aging process."
Death Still Sucks (February 20 2004)
http://www.longevitymeme.org/articles/viewarticle.cfm?page=1&article_id=17 Phil Bowermaster's "Death
Sucks" (from Fight Aging! and the Speculist) has been revised, tweaked and posted as a Longevity
Meme article. I enjoy good inspirational pieces like this; from the heart and with meaning. What are
the roots of the fight against aging and the quest to live longer, healthier lives? What motivates
us all to do our part? Why do advocates and scientists stand up and work towards lengthening the
healthy human life span? Read "Death Sucks" and you'll see one set of opinions on the matter.
Watching Progress in Cancer Therapies (February 19 2004) http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/7989115.htm
Progress in cancer therapies over the past few years has been very promising, although all of the
newest technologies still have to run the twin gauntlets of commercialization and FDA approval. This
article from the Star-Telegram illustrates progress towards curing lung cancer
- one of the most deadly cancers - by causing the body to attack cancerous cells. These new types of
cancer therapy depend on advancing knowledge of biochemical and cellular processes, greatly
accelerated by bioinformatics. From one of the trial participants: "I would tell anyone who gets
the same diagnosis to stretch as far as they can and go to any kind of experimental therapy. If I
hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here now."
The Cost of Delay (February 19 2004) http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000020.php What are the
costs of anti-research policies pursued by Western governments over the past five years? What are
the results of a five year delay in bringing the first (or the last) regenerative therapies for age-
related conditions to market? Read my opinions on the subject at the Fight Aging! blog. The bottom
line is, as always, that shaping the future is in our hands. Will medical research be funded,
supported and widely understood? Will cures be developed for the degenerative conditions of aging?
Will we live longer, healthier lives? We decide, through our actions, the answers to these
questions.
Understanding the Mechanics of Stem Cells (February 18 2004) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-17-
3 In just the last six months, scientists have made noticeable progress in understanding what makes
stem cells tick. Biochemical mechanisms are uncovered, and in this article from Betterhumans, ways
to efficiently control cell differentiation are explored. This particular advance is a clever and
useful one. By introducing a mechanism to lengthen cell telomeres at the right time, researchers can
create immortal progenitor cells that continually divide to create an endless supply of the desired
cell type (spinal neurons in this case). There are uncertainties in the technique, especially
relating to cancer in immortal cell populations, but this looks like it could be a powerful new
addition to the early-stage regenerative medicine toolbox.
Stem Cell Politics and Consequences (February 18 2004) http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040213-121315-
4659r This UPI article thoughtfully points out the probable consequences of bans and criminalization
- or even continuing anti-research pressure of the sort put out by the US administration - on stem
cell and therapeutic cloning technologies. Meanwhile, I am hopeful that we are seeing a shift in the
dynamic of this political debate. It is all fairly obviously about abortion, no matter what the anti-
research groups may actually claim. It is also clear that widespread support for the basic research
leading to regenerative medicine is beginning to make inroads in the political landscape. Ordinary
people like you and I can help this process by standing up and taking part. It doesn't take long to
lend a hand to support medical research, and the end results will be well worth it!
Inside the Cryonics Institute (February 17 2004) http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-
11/1076953743290000.xml Mlife.com is running a mostly positive piece on the Cryonics Institute
(CI), in business since 1976. You can find out more about the cryonics industry and cryopreservation
at CryoNet. Cryonics providers like CI and Alcor provide an important service to the healthy
life extension community: the only positive technological response to the blunt recognition that
not everyone will live long enough to benefit from near future advances in medicine. With a new
focus on basic cryonics research from groups like Suspended Animation, the industry should be
capable of growth and improvement in years to come.
Printing New Tissue (February 17 2004) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-16-
3 As a followup to the last item on tissue engineering, Betterhumans reports on progress in using
printing technologies to create structure in tissue. This appears to be mostly still flat printing
with some tweaks, but three-dimensional printing machines (fabricators) are becoming more common.
They are used to produce models in a number of industries, and I imagine they could also be adapted
for bioengineering. From the article: "A large part of the body is made of tubes. We can now make 3D
hollow biological tubes and organ modules, which potentially could be used as grafts."
>From Research To Therapies Takes Time (February 16 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/science/15CLON.html
>From the New York Times, an article to remind us that, despite the
blistering speed of modern medical research, getting from science in the laboratory to therapies
in the clinic takes time. I recently commented on this very topic at Fight Aging: "the fast and
the slow of
it." New research breakthroughs are encouraging, but we have to remember that - even discounting
delays due to regulation and anti-research legislation - it takes years to fund and build the
industry required to bring most new therapies to market. While you see the science in the news,
you hear far less about the hard work and economic necessities needed to follow up on scientific
breakthroughs.
Protandim, Ceremedix, Lifeline (February 16 2004) http://www.9news.com/storyfull.aspx?storyid=24198
We've mentioned Lifeline Nutraceuticals and Ceremedix before in the context of their work to put out
a new super-antioxidant supplement (now called protandim). I advocate waiting for independent
studies before rushing out to buy it based on the marketing hype - there just hasn't been enough
science done on this product to pass my comfort level. As Dave Gobel of the Methuselah Foundation
notes: if protandim works, Ceremedix should enter some of their lab mice into the Methuselah Mouse
prize and prove it. That goes for the rest of the "anti-aging" marketplace too - if you can't
demonstrate an extension of healthy life span in mice, pack up your wares and go home!
If National Pride Is What It Takes... (February 15 2004) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor-
y&cid=1894&ncid=1894&e=16&u=/ap/20040213/ap_on_hi_te/cloning_lag This Yahoo! News article ties
together a number of threads from the therapeutic cloning debate last week: the US research
establishment has been held back by bad legislation (and the threat of more where that came from),
US scientists are now far behind Asia and Europe in vital medical research, and pro-research states
are facing off against the anti-research Federal government. I'm no fan of knee-jerk national and
state pride, but if that's what it takes to get bad legislation pushed aside and the five-year
research setback ended, then that's what it takes. It's great pity, and a comment on the worse
aspects of human nature, that the thousands of lives lost each and every day to conditions that
might already be treatable were not enough to make this happen.
Pioneers of Tissue Engineering (February 15 2004) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uoca-
uoc021104.php EurekAlert reports on the state of tissue engineering, from knees to hearts and even
brains. Tissue engineering is a branch of regenerative medicine in which scientists are attempting
to build structures from scaffolds and tissue to replace damaged portions of the body. Researchers
are now regularly growing undifferentiated tissue like skin and cartilage; the trick is to create
structure, as in heart valves, bone, joints and other organs. Eventually, tissue engineers hope to
produce entire organs for transplant, grown from a patient's own cells. All in all, this is the
infancy of a very challenging field, but the rewards will be enormous. Tens of thousands of lives
could be saved each and every day if new organs could be grown on demand.
Japan Allows Embryonic Stem Cell Work (February 14 2004) http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-
bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040214b1.htm A short piece from the Japan Times notes that the first stem
cell research using locally produced embryos has been allowed to proceed. This will allow
intellectual property rights to be assigned, which is very important for later funding and
commercial development. Meanwhile, the latest advances seem to be stirring up attempts to ban all
embryonic stem cell work in the US again. Given that a single vote in the Senate is all it would
take, now would be a good time to contact your representatives and demand that they support this
vital medical research.
Search for Aging Genes Narrowed (February 14 2004) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-13-
4 More reinforcement for telomere theories of aging is reported by Betterhumans: scientists are
closing in on the inheritance mechanism for telomere length. (Telomeres, as you may recall, are the
"caps" that protect your DNA from damage during replication). This, coupled with other studies,
would seem to confirm that shorter telomeres lead to greater genetic damage with advancing age - and
therefore greater incidence of age-related disease. Like other theories of aging, however, this
doesn't seem to be the whole story. Other mechanisms are at work to produce the familiar
degenerative effects of aging.
Vital Progress Summit Gearing Up For The 15th (February 13 2004) http://www.extropy.org/summit.htm
The Extropy Institute's Vital Progress Summit will commence on the 15th of this month, but the
online areas are already open for visiting registrants and "catalyst" invitees. The aim of the
summit is to provide a loud, clear rebuttle to the anti-research, anti-progress forces epitomized by
the President's Council on Bioethics and the current US administration, groups whose members oppose
healthy life extension, stem cell research and the search for better medicine. Everyone who has an
interest in living longer, healthier lives should sign up and participate.
Nanomedicine When? (February 13 2004) http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndm-
ViewId=news_view&newsId=20040211005491&newsLang=en A press release found via KurzweilAI briefly
discusses the timetable for nanotechnology to begin making its mark on medicine and longer,
healthier lives. Robert Feitas - who has an article here at the Longevity Meme - weighs in with his
opinions, amongst others. It appears that diagnostics will be the first branch of medicine to
benefit enormously from nanotechnology. The really interesting stuff described by Robert Freitas is
probably still 20 years away. Researchers are currently working on the tools to make the tools, as
it were, before being able to dive into building medical nanomachines.
Brian Alexander on Korean Therapeutic Cloning Advance (February 12 2004)
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62258,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2 Wired follows up on the
recent advance in therapeutic cloning technology with an interview with Brian Alexander, author of
Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion. As always, Brian Alexander provides a sane, balanced
look at both the science and the (sadly intrusive) politics. The digest version of the article would
be that yes, this is a big step forward in the reliability and capability of therapeutic cloning
technology, but no, he doesn't think that it will result in any more of a political tempest than we
are already experiencing. More commentary can be found at Fight Aging! and the Speculist.
The Next Step in Therapeutic Cloning (February 12 2004)
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62254,00.html As reported by Wired (and in numerous other
places), Korean researchers have accomplished the next successful step in therapeutic cloning and
stem cell medicine: reliably extracting stem cells from cloned human embryos. As the Wired article
says, "a Korean woman now has a set of cells that could one day replace any damaged or diseased cell
in her body with little worry of rejection, if researchers can get stem cells to work
therapeutically." The scientists have even managed to create a new stem cell line from this work,
which is very good news, given the limited number of lines currently available. A New York Times
article provides a good introduction to the medical significance of this advance.
Cloned Stem Cells Repair Heart Damage (February 11 2004)
http://www.infoaging.org/news_article.html?SMContentIndex=1&SMContentSet=0 (From InfoAging).
Advanced Cell Technology has demonstrated that cloned stem cells can be used to repair heart damage
more effectively than adult stem cells. You may recall that human trials using adult stem cell
infusions have already taken place, but further trials have been blocked by the FDA. While this work
by ACT is just the first in what will no doubt be a number of demonstrations using mice, it already
shows great promise for future development of the technology. ACT and other research groups are
doing an impressive job in overcoming technical hurdles on the way to full blown regenerative
therapies based on stem cells and therapeutic cloning.
The Age of Anti-Science (February 11 2004) http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=160812004 An
article from the Scotsman zeros in on aspects of modern society that bother us greatly: why, when
science can do so much for health and longevity, are so many groups fighting so hard to prevent
advanced medical research. The subject of the article is legislation on tissue use in the UK, but it
applies equally to anti-research legislation targeting stem cell work in the US. As the article
notes, we live in a time when "the fate of tissue samples and diseased organs has become more
important than the welfare of the living." This attitude is one that must be fought, tooth and nail,
if we are to maintain the march of medical progress towards longer, healthier human life spans.
Of Mice and Mitochondrial Medicine (February 10 2004) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uorm-
mom020904.php Proving that all journalists like alliteration, a EurekAlert piece looks at recent
steps towards better understanding the role played by cellular mitochondria - the powerhouse of the
cell - in aging and age-related disease. While scientists know that failing mitochondria play a role
in many diseases, they are only now able to reliably manipulate this part of the cell. Working with
mitochondria in mice is the first step towards obtaining more information and greater understanding;
then come interventions, trials and therapies.
A Pessimistic View of Public Interest in Science (February 10 2004)
http://www.sagecrossroads.com/public/news/stories/index.cfm?story=048 An article at SAGE Crossroads
examines the relationships between public interest in science and how science is practiced, arriving
at some strange conclusions. It seems fashionable in some circles to argue that competition and
encouragement in science are bad things; I get the impression this author would like to see
scientists locked in a box of moral purity and isolation, there to slowly work without profit or
acknowledgement. This is nonsense of course - science is at its best when competing teams race for
discoveries and capitalization. Just look at the human genome project: we'd still be waiting on that
if government scientists had been left, unchallenged, to their own schedule.
To Save the Lives of Millions (February 09 2004) http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?-
nodeId=66056&command=displayContent&sourceNode=65583&contentPK=8751990 Growing replacement organs
via regenerative medicine and tissue engineering isn't easy, no matter how fast science seems to be
advancing towards this goal. It will happen, but not by magic, and certainly not without a great
deal of funding and hard work. This article from This Is Nottingham describes parts of the path from
culturing cells to being able to grow an entire liver for transplant. Scientists are currently
working on an intermediary steps, including a tissue matrix for liver cells, and more advanced
options for artificial livers.
A Look at "Breaking the Aging Code" (February 09 2004) http://newsite.lef.org/news/aging/2004/02/09/eng-healthnewsdigest/eng-
healthnewsdigest_083315_2722933232783122805.html The LEF News is carrying an overview of Breaking
the Aging Code, a book probably best described as an attempt at a care and maintenance guide for the
human body. Lifestyle and dietary choices do make an enormous difference to healthy life span, but
only calorie restriction has been proven to extend it. These other maintenance tricks of the trade,
while useful and good for your health, are preventing damage that would otherwise cut into your
natural healthy life span. As for cars, good maintenance only gets you so far - more and better
medical technologies are needed for true healthy life extension.
______________________________
Do you have comments for us, or want to discuss the newsletter? Visit one of the forums listed at
http://www.longevitymeme.org/forums.cfm, or send e-mail to [email protected].
The Longevity Meme Newsletter is a biweekly e-mail containing news, opinions and happenings for
people interested in healthy life extension: making use of diet, lifestyle choices, technology and
proven medical advances to live healthy, longer lives. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the
Longevity Meme Newsletter, please visit http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/.
______________________________
CONTENTS
- Alcor and the Fight Against Bad Legislation
- Cryonics in a Nutshell
- Read "Death Sucks" as a Longevity Meme Article
- Highlights from Fight Aging!
- Discussion
- Latest Healthy Life Extension Headlines
ALCOR AND THE FIGHT AGAINST BAD LEGISLATION
The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a cryonics provider and research institute, in operation
since 1972, based in Arizona. They are currently on the receiving end of a particularly obnoxious
set of "shut them down without looking like we're trying too hard to shut them down" state
legislation. This has all happened without any input from Alcor or the community, and Alcor was not
even informed of hearing dates - so this has become something of a last minute affair. You can get
up to speed on events at the following web pages:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/projects/assist_alcor_before_february_26th.cfm
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000025.php
Alcor's new President, a man who has inherited a suddenly hot seat by the look of things, has put
together an informative action list. He is asking for us to contact Arizona officials before this
Thursday 26th of February and voice our support for legitimate cryonics research and service
provision. Visit the page below to see how to spend a few minutes of your time to help out:
http://www.alcor.org/legislativealert.html
As many of you may recall, the whole state regulation and threat of shutdown fire drill was recently
put on for the Cryonics Institute in Michigan. The situation there was quickly resolved to
everyone's satisfaction - "benign regulation" as the Institute principles put it
- which raises questions about the intent of regulators and funeral industry lobbyists in Arizona.
For example, author Richard Sandomir quoted Arizona Funeral Board Director Rudy Thomas as saying,
"These companies need to be regulated or deregulated out of business." As I have pointed out once
or twice, Rand Simberg got it right in his comments made when this mess was just getting started:
http://www.interglobal.org/weblog/archives/003115.html
At the root of it all, we recognize that cryonics is legitimate science - and we should defend
legitimate science from those who would try to ban everything unfamiliar and new.
CRYONICS IN A NUTSHELL
If you are new to the concept of cryonics and cryopreservation, you'll find a wealth of information
at the following pages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics http://www.cryonet.org/
The long and the short of it is that a growing cryonics industry offers the only potential hope for
people who are too old to benefit from near future advances in healthy life extension science. We
need not, and should not, leave these people behind - especially since it wouldn't take many
unanticipated difficulties and delays in aging research to make all of us reading this now fall into
this category.
READ "DEATH SUCKS" AS A LONGEVITY MEME ARTICLE
Phil Bowermaster's entertaining, punchy piece on the human relationship with death - spruced up and
rewritten - is now the latest Longevity Meme article.
http://www.longevitymeme.org/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=17&page=1
What are the roots of the fight against aging and the quest to live longer, healthier lives? What
motivates us all to do our part? Why do advocates and scientists stand up and work towards
lengthening the healthy human life span? Read "Death Sucks" and you'll see one set of opinions on
the matter.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM FIGHT AGING!
Have you been reading our new blog? You should be! Here are a few "Fight Aging!" highlights from the
past two weeks:
The True Cost of Delay http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000020.php With so many groups working
towards preventing, delaying or vilifying advances in medical technology, perhaps it is time to be a
great deal more clear with ourselves about the true costs of these delays. Before I start, let me
say that you're going to see some large numbers.
Lengthening Your Natural Healthy Life Span http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000017.php A lot of
the discussion surrounding healthy life extension focuses, understandably, on advances in medical
science and how to best encourage funding and public understanding. After all, without progress,
there will be no meaningful healthy life extension medicine in the future. How about the here and
now, though? What can you do now to help yourself live healthily and longer?
We Would Be Here Already If Not For The Politicians http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000014.php
Korean scientists have pulled off the impressive next advance in stem cell and therapeutic cloning
research, something that the combined US and European research communities could have accomplished
several years ago, if not for the anti-research policies on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Fast And The Slow Of It http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000012.php To those of us
observing the advance of medical science from the sidelines - via the press, the scientific
journals, our connections, and vague memories of being part of the scientific process ourselves
at some point in time - progress is simultaneously blisteringly fast and frustratingly slow. How
can this be the case?
So drop by, or add us to your RSS aggregator. I think you'll find it worthwhile.
DISCUSSION
That would be all for this issue of the newsletter. The highlights and headlines from the past two
weeks follow below. If you have comments for us, or want to discuss the newsletter, please do visit
one of the forums at http://www.longevitymeme.org/forum.cfm or send e-mail to
[email protected].
Remember - if you like this newsletter, the chances are that your friends will find it useful too.
Forward the newsletter on, or post a copy to your favorite online communities. Encourage the people
you know to pitch in and make a difference to the future of health and longevity!
Reason [email protected] Founder, Longevity Meme
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LATEST HEALTHY LIFE EXTENSION HEADLINES
Calorie Restriction in Local News (February 21 2004)
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/health/2856643/detail.html Since a number of national US media
groups ran stories on calorie restriction a few months ago, more local news outlets have been
commenting on this proven life extending lifestyle. The featured article from the San Diego Channel
is a good example of the type: an interview with a healthy, hearty CR practitioner coupled with some
commentary on the science behind it all. Meanwhile, an item from News 8 Austin discusses the use of
calorie restriction to resist neurodegenerative disorders. You can find out much more about calorie
restriction and the community of practitioners by visiting the CR Society website.
Help Alcor Fight Bad State Legislation (February 21 2004) http://www.alcor.org/legislativealert.html
Alcor, the Arizona cryonics provider, has issued a legislative alert in reference to a proposed
state regulatory bill. As they point out, this bill ("a solution without a problem") was crafted
without their input in response to incorrect and hysterical press coverage in 2003 and 2004. The
bill "mandates that Alcor be regulated by hostile parties with no understanding of what we do, and
which does not respect the rights of Alcor members." The Cryonics Institute managed to engineer a
benign regulatory relationship in their home state earlier this year, so let's see if we can help
Alcor achieve an equally satisfactory result. Visit the alert page to see how you can spend a few
minutes to help out.
New Type of Stem Cell to Repair Brains? (February 20 2004) http://www.hhmi.org/news/sanai.html The
Howard Hughes Medical Institute reports that researchers have identified a new type of stem cell in
the brain that probably already functions to repair damage. This work opens the door to a new set of
near future techniques to treat neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - a
topic high on the "must have" list for extending the healthy human life span through regenerative
medicine. You can replace everything else with transplants or artificial organs if necessary, but
you can't replace the brain: your original thinking equipment has to be repaired in situ. Some high
quality commentary on this research can be found at FuturePundit and Brain Waves.
More on Understanding Biochemical Mechanisms (February 20 2004) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/chb-
bct021804.php Understanding the biochemical and genetic mechanisms underlying aging will be the
quickest path to a therapy. EurekAlert reports that researchers have established the mechanism by
which the Sir2 longevity gene (identified fairly recently itself) works in mammals. This uncovers
another piece in what is clearly an interlocking puzzle: oxidative stress, DNA damage, genetic
moderation, cancer, degenerative conditions and other parts of aging all play into one other through
linking mechanisms. The money quote: "If you have molecules that come together to mediate resistance
to environmental stresses that cause aging, one might be able to come up with drugs that would
affect this interaction and slow the aging process."
Death Still Sucks (February 20 2004)
http://www.longevitymeme.org/articles/viewarticle.cfm?page=1&article_id=17 Phil Bowermaster's "Death
Sucks" (from Fight Aging! and the Speculist) has been revised, tweaked and posted as a Longevity
Meme article. I enjoy good inspirational pieces like this; from the heart and with meaning. What are
the roots of the fight against aging and the quest to live longer, healthier lives? What motivates
us all to do our part? Why do advocates and scientists stand up and work towards lengthening the
healthy human life span? Read "Death Sucks" and you'll see one set of opinions on the matter.
Watching Progress in Cancer Therapies (February 19 2004) http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/7989115.htm
Progress in cancer therapies over the past few years has been very promising, although all of the
newest technologies still have to run the twin gauntlets of commercialization and FDA approval. This
article from the Star-Telegram illustrates progress towards curing lung cancer
- one of the most deadly cancers - by causing the body to attack cancerous cells. These new types of
cancer therapy depend on advancing knowledge of biochemical and cellular processes, greatly
accelerated by bioinformatics. From one of the trial participants: "I would tell anyone who gets
the same diagnosis to stretch as far as they can and go to any kind of experimental therapy. If I
hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here now."
The Cost of Delay (February 19 2004) http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000020.php What are the
costs of anti-research policies pursued by Western governments over the past five years? What are
the results of a five year delay in bringing the first (or the last) regenerative therapies for age-
related conditions to market? Read my opinions on the subject at the Fight Aging! blog. The bottom
line is, as always, that shaping the future is in our hands. Will medical research be funded,
supported and widely understood? Will cures be developed for the degenerative conditions of aging?
Will we live longer, healthier lives? We decide, through our actions, the answers to these
questions.
Understanding the Mechanics of Stem Cells (February 18 2004) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-17-
3 In just the last six months, scientists have made noticeable progress in understanding what makes
stem cells tick. Biochemical mechanisms are uncovered, and in this article from Betterhumans, ways
to efficiently control cell differentiation are explored. This particular advance is a clever and
useful one. By introducing a mechanism to lengthen cell telomeres at the right time, researchers can
create immortal progenitor cells that continually divide to create an endless supply of the desired
cell type (spinal neurons in this case). There are uncertainties in the technique, especially
relating to cancer in immortal cell populations, but this looks like it could be a powerful new
addition to the early-stage regenerative medicine toolbox.
Stem Cell Politics and Consequences (February 18 2004) http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040213-121315-
4659r This UPI article thoughtfully points out the probable consequences of bans and criminalization
- or even continuing anti-research pressure of the sort put out by the US administration - on stem
cell and therapeutic cloning technologies. Meanwhile, I am hopeful that we are seeing a shift in the
dynamic of this political debate. It is all fairly obviously about abortion, no matter what the anti-
research groups may actually claim. It is also clear that widespread support for the basic research
leading to regenerative medicine is beginning to make inroads in the political landscape. Ordinary
people like you and I can help this process by standing up and taking part. It doesn't take long to
lend a hand to support medical research, and the end results will be well worth it!
Inside the Cryonics Institute (February 17 2004) http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-
11/1076953743290000.xml Mlife.com is running a mostly positive piece on the Cryonics Institute
(CI), in business since 1976. You can find out more about the cryonics industry and cryopreservation
at CryoNet. Cryonics providers like CI and Alcor provide an important service to the healthy
life extension community: the only positive technological response to the blunt recognition that
not everyone will live long enough to benefit from near future advances in medicine. With a new
focus on basic cryonics research from groups like Suspended Animation, the industry should be
capable of growth and improvement in years to come.
Printing New Tissue (February 17 2004) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-16-
3 As a followup to the last item on tissue engineering, Betterhumans reports on progress in using
printing technologies to create structure in tissue. This appears to be mostly still flat printing
with some tweaks, but three-dimensional printing machines (fabricators) are becoming more common.
They are used to produce models in a number of industries, and I imagine they could also be adapted
for bioengineering. From the article: "A large part of the body is made of tubes. We can now make 3D
hollow biological tubes and organ modules, which potentially could be used as grafts."
>From Research To Therapies Takes Time (February 16 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/science/15CLON.html
>From the New York Times, an article to remind us that, despite the
blistering speed of modern medical research, getting from science in the laboratory to therapies
in the clinic takes time. I recently commented on this very topic at Fight Aging: "the fast and
the slow of
it." New research breakthroughs are encouraging, but we have to remember that - even discounting
delays due to regulation and anti-research legislation - it takes years to fund and build the
industry required to bring most new therapies to market. While you see the science in the news,
you hear far less about the hard work and economic necessities needed to follow up on scientific
breakthroughs.
Protandim, Ceremedix, Lifeline (February 16 2004) http://www.9news.com/storyfull.aspx?storyid=24198
We've mentioned Lifeline Nutraceuticals and Ceremedix before in the context of their work to put out
a new super-antioxidant supplement (now called protandim). I advocate waiting for independent
studies before rushing out to buy it based on the marketing hype - there just hasn't been enough
science done on this product to pass my comfort level. As Dave Gobel of the Methuselah Foundation
notes: if protandim works, Ceremedix should enter some of their lab mice into the Methuselah Mouse
prize and prove it. That goes for the rest of the "anti-aging" marketplace too - if you can't
demonstrate an extension of healthy life span in mice, pack up your wares and go home!
If National Pride Is What It Takes... (February 15 2004) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor-
y&cid=1894&ncid=1894&e=16&u=/ap/20040213/ap_on_hi_te/cloning_lag This Yahoo! News article ties
together a number of threads from the therapeutic cloning debate last week: the US research
establishment has been held back by bad legislation (and the threat of more where that came from),
US scientists are now far behind Asia and Europe in vital medical research, and pro-research states
are facing off against the anti-research Federal government. I'm no fan of knee-jerk national and
state pride, but if that's what it takes to get bad legislation pushed aside and the five-year
research setback ended, then that's what it takes. It's great pity, and a comment on the worse
aspects of human nature, that the thousands of lives lost each and every day to conditions that
might already be treatable were not enough to make this happen.
Pioneers of Tissue Engineering (February 15 2004) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uoca-
uoc021104.php EurekAlert reports on the state of tissue engineering, from knees to hearts and even
brains. Tissue engineering is a branch of regenerative medicine in which scientists are attempting
to build structures from scaffolds and tissue to replace damaged portions of the body. Researchers
are now regularly growing undifferentiated tissue like skin and cartilage; the trick is to create
structure, as in heart valves, bone, joints and other organs. Eventually, tissue engineers hope to
produce entire organs for transplant, grown from a patient's own cells. All in all, this is the
infancy of a very challenging field, but the rewards will be enormous. Tens of thousands of lives
could be saved each and every day if new organs could be grown on demand.
Japan Allows Embryonic Stem Cell Work (February 14 2004) http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-
bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040214b1.htm A short piece from the Japan Times notes that the first stem
cell research using locally produced embryos has been allowed to proceed. This will allow
intellectual property rights to be assigned, which is very important for later funding and
commercial development. Meanwhile, the latest advances seem to be stirring up attempts to ban all
embryonic stem cell work in the US again. Given that a single vote in the Senate is all it would
take, now would be a good time to contact your representatives and demand that they support this
vital medical research.
Search for Aging Genes Narrowed (February 14 2004) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-13-
4 More reinforcement for telomere theories of aging is reported by Betterhumans: scientists are
closing in on the inheritance mechanism for telomere length. (Telomeres, as you may recall, are the
"caps" that protect your DNA from damage during replication). This, coupled with other studies,
would seem to confirm that shorter telomeres lead to greater genetic damage with advancing age - and
therefore greater incidence of age-related disease. Like other theories of aging, however, this
doesn't seem to be the whole story. Other mechanisms are at work to produce the familiar
degenerative effects of aging.
Vital Progress Summit Gearing Up For The 15th (February 13 2004) http://www.extropy.org/summit.htm
The Extropy Institute's Vital Progress Summit will commence on the 15th of this month, but the
online areas are already open for visiting registrants and "catalyst" invitees. The aim of the
summit is to provide a loud, clear rebuttle to the anti-research, anti-progress forces epitomized by
the President's Council on Bioethics and the current US administration, groups whose members oppose
healthy life extension, stem cell research and the search for better medicine. Everyone who has an
interest in living longer, healthier lives should sign up and participate.
Nanomedicine When? (February 13 2004) http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndm-
ViewId=news_view&newsId=20040211005491&newsLang=en A press release found via KurzweilAI briefly
discusses the timetable for nanotechnology to begin making its mark on medicine and longer,
healthier lives. Robert Feitas - who has an article here at the Longevity Meme - weighs in with his
opinions, amongst others. It appears that diagnostics will be the first branch of medicine to
benefit enormously from nanotechnology. The really interesting stuff described by Robert Freitas is
probably still 20 years away. Researchers are currently working on the tools to make the tools, as
it were, before being able to dive into building medical nanomachines.
Brian Alexander on Korean Therapeutic Cloning Advance (February 12 2004)
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62258,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2 Wired follows up on the
recent advance in therapeutic cloning technology with an interview with Brian Alexander, author of
Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion. As always, Brian Alexander provides a sane, balanced
look at both the science and the (sadly intrusive) politics. The digest version of the article would
be that yes, this is a big step forward in the reliability and capability of therapeutic cloning
technology, but no, he doesn't think that it will result in any more of a political tempest than we
are already experiencing. More commentary can be found at Fight Aging! and the Speculist.
The Next Step in Therapeutic Cloning (February 12 2004)
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62254,00.html As reported by Wired (and in numerous other
places), Korean researchers have accomplished the next successful step in therapeutic cloning and
stem cell medicine: reliably extracting stem cells from cloned human embryos. As the Wired article
says, "a Korean woman now has a set of cells that could one day replace any damaged or diseased cell
in her body with little worry of rejection, if researchers can get stem cells to work
therapeutically." The scientists have even managed to create a new stem cell line from this work,
which is very good news, given the limited number of lines currently available. A New York Times
article provides a good introduction to the medical significance of this advance.
Cloned Stem Cells Repair Heart Damage (February 11 2004)
http://www.infoaging.org/news_article.html?SMContentIndex=1&SMContentSet=0 (From InfoAging).
Advanced Cell Technology has demonstrated that cloned stem cells can be used to repair heart damage
more effectively than adult stem cells. You may recall that human trials using adult stem cell
infusions have already taken place, but further trials have been blocked by the FDA. While this work
by ACT is just the first in what will no doubt be a number of demonstrations using mice, it already
shows great promise for future development of the technology. ACT and other research groups are
doing an impressive job in overcoming technical hurdles on the way to full blown regenerative
therapies based on stem cells and therapeutic cloning.
The Age of Anti-Science (February 11 2004) http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=160812004 An
article from the Scotsman zeros in on aspects of modern society that bother us greatly: why, when
science can do so much for health and longevity, are so many groups fighting so hard to prevent
advanced medical research. The subject of the article is legislation on tissue use in the UK, but it
applies equally to anti-research legislation targeting stem cell work in the US. As the article
notes, we live in a time when "the fate of tissue samples and diseased organs has become more
important than the welfare of the living." This attitude is one that must be fought, tooth and nail,
if we are to maintain the march of medical progress towards longer, healthier human life spans.
Of Mice and Mitochondrial Medicine (February 10 2004) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uorm-
mom020904.php Proving that all journalists like alliteration, a EurekAlert piece looks at recent
steps towards better understanding the role played by cellular mitochondria - the powerhouse of the
cell - in aging and age-related disease. While scientists know that failing mitochondria play a role
in many diseases, they are only now able to reliably manipulate this part of the cell. Working with
mitochondria in mice is the first step towards obtaining more information and greater understanding;
then come interventions, trials and therapies.
A Pessimistic View of Public Interest in Science (February 10 2004)
http://www.sagecrossroads.com/public/news/stories/index.cfm?story=048 An article at SAGE Crossroads
examines the relationships between public interest in science and how science is practiced, arriving
at some strange conclusions. It seems fashionable in some circles to argue that competition and
encouragement in science are bad things; I get the impression this author would like to see
scientists locked in a box of moral purity and isolation, there to slowly work without profit or
acknowledgement. This is nonsense of course - science is at its best when competing teams race for
discoveries and capitalization. Just look at the human genome project: we'd still be waiting on that
if government scientists had been left, unchallenged, to their own schedule.
To Save the Lives of Millions (February 09 2004) http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?-
nodeId=66056&command=displayContent&sourceNode=65583&contentPK=8751990 Growing replacement organs
via regenerative medicine and tissue engineering isn't easy, no matter how fast science seems to be
advancing towards this goal. It will happen, but not by magic, and certainly not without a great
deal of funding and hard work. This article from This Is Nottingham describes parts of the path from
culturing cells to being able to grow an entire liver for transplant. Scientists are currently
working on an intermediary steps, including a tissue matrix for liver cells, and more advanced
options for artificial livers.
A Look at "Breaking the Aging Code" (February 09 2004) http://newsite.lef.org/news/aging/2004/02/09/eng-healthnewsdigest/eng-
healthnewsdigest_083315_2722933232783122805.html The LEF News is carrying an overview of Breaking
the Aging Code, a book probably best described as an attempt at a care and maintenance guide for the
human body. Lifestyle and dietary choices do make an enormous difference to healthy life span, but
only calorie restriction has been proven to extend it. These other maintenance tricks of the trade,
while useful and good for your health, are preventing damage that would otherwise cut into your
natural healthy life span. As for cars, good maintenance only gets you so far - more and better
medical technologies are needed for true healthy life extension.
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Do you have comments for us, or want to discuss the newsletter? Visit one of the forums listed at
http://www.longevitymeme.org/forums.cfm, or send e-mail to [email protected].