Chemical Immortality

[DamianTV]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/3489881/Scientists-take-a-step-closer-to-an-elixir-of-youth.html


Researchers believe boosting the amount of a naturally forming enzyme in the body could prevent cells dying and so lead to extended, healthier, lifespans..

The protein telomerase helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes which act like the ends of shoelaces and stop them unravelling.

As we age, and our cells divide, these caps become frayed and shorter and eventually are so damaged that the cell dies. Scientists believe boosting our natural levels of telomerase could rejuvenate them.

A team at the Spanish National Cancer Centre in Madrid tested the theory on mice and found that those genetically engineered to produce 10 times the normal levels of telomerase lived 50 per cent longer than normal.

Maria Blasco, who led the research, told the New Scientist said that the enzyme was capable of turning "a normal, mortal cell into an immortal cell".

(more on link):eek:

[tmosley]

Immortal cells normally lead straight to cancer. That is why they have a built in kill mechanism.

There is no one-shot treatment that will lead to immortality. This may be an important step, especially if combined with highly effective anti-cancer treatments.

Other necessities will be prevention of oxidative damage (by free radicals), removal of various types of plaques in the circulatory system and the brain, and methods of revitalization of organs, either by growth from stem cells and implantation/transplant, or by some method of tissue regeneration and scar tissue destruction.

It's a long road, but I think we are well on our way.

[A. Havnes]

And who would be the first to get shot-up with this virtual ambrosia? Obama, of course! He'd get paid to take such a chemical. Would the middle-class and poor people get longer life? No. We'd die off, same as always.

Playing with life like this is kind of creepy anyway. Want to live longer? Exercise, eat right, and stay away from doctors as often as you can.

[PatriotG]

Was Keith Richards A successful experiment with regards to this:)?
Iv'e always wondered.

http://www.usounds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/keithrichards.jpg