Aging Matters
I believe that all we have to do to make ourselves younger is to turn on the genes that were expressed when we were young, and turn off the genes that are expressed when we are old. This will require both knowledge and technique; (1) knowing which genes these are, and (2) having a targeted … Read more
Rapamycin is the best anti-aging treatment yet discovered. Most treatments that work in flies and worms fail when they get to mammals, but rapamycin has consistently extended lifespan more than 20% in mice [review as or 2014]. It works even when administered late in life, and intermittent dosing works as well or sometimes better than … Read more
I wrote a few weeks ago about newly-discovered dynamics of DNA that make Lamarckian genetic inheritance more plausible than ever. I wrote that there was now just one step missing from a fully-documented Lamarckian mechanism. In a comment on that page, a reader pointed me to a paper that fills in that final step. Almost … Read more
Can microbial infections make you age faster? Last week, Alzheimer’s experts cited several lines of indirect evidence linking infections to dementia. There have been other reports, going back decades, suggesting that infections early in life are associated with shorter life expectancy far down the road. “Makes sense” was the comment quoted from medical scientists. It … Read more