Reviewing Present Biomarkers of Aging
Today's open access paper, with more than 120 contributing authors, is a tour of the broad topic of biomarkers of aging, an attempt to say at least something about every aspect of cellular biochemistry and functional capacity that is either used or proposed to be used to measure biological age, from grip strength to epigenetic clocks. Biological age is in one sense an aspirational concept, a way to measure the progression of aging that will accurately reflect mortality and disease risk. In another sense, biological age is self-evidently real. Different people age at different rates, and exhibit very different risk levels f...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 1, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Manganese: The Magical Element?
The element manganese is essential for human life. It’s aptly named after the Greek word for magic, and some mysteries surrounding its role in the body still exist today—like how our bodies absorb it, if very high or low levels can cause illness, or how it might play a role in certain diseases.
Manganese is necessary for metabolism, bone formation, antioxidation, and many other important functions in the body. The element is found in strong steel, bones and enzymes, and drink cans. Credit: Compound Interest CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Click to enlarge.
Making Much With Manganese
Structure of the human manganese s...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - April 26, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Molecular Structures Cellular Processes Proteins Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 24th 2023
In this study, researchers show that mice lacking a functional ATF4 gene show little to no loss of grip strength and treadmill performance into late life; it is quite an impressive effect size. Assessments of muscle biochemistry do show age-related declines, but to a lesser degree than the controls. How ATF4 knockout functions to produce this outcome is an interesting question. The researchers point out a range of possible downstream and upstream targets that have been implicated in the regulation of muscle growth, but it will clearly require further work to identify the important mechanisms involved.
Aging slowly...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 23, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Investigating Mechanisms By Which Some Gut Microbes May Shorten Fly Life Span
The lifespan of flies is especially sensitive to intestinal function, making them perhaps an interesting model in which to study mechanisms by which changes in the gut microbiome can affect health and longevity. It is clear that the gut microbiome changes with age, and different microbial populations can affect health in different ways. At the high level, it is thought that much of the harm done in later life is mediated by increased chronic inflammation, a reaction to harmful species or the metabolites that they produce. At the detail level, a lot of work remains to be accomplished when it comes to mapping the biochemistr...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 20, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Career Conversations: Q & A With Polymer Chemist Frank Leibfarth
Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Frank Leibfarth.
“I love that you can change the molecular-level structure of a material, then pull it, bend it, or twist it and see firsthand how the molecular changes you introduced influence its stretchiness or bendiness,” says Frank Leibfarth Ph.D., an associate professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. In an interview, Dr. Leibfarth shares with us his scientific journey, his use of chemistry to tackle challenges in human health and sustainability, and his beliefs on what makes a career in science exciting.
Q: What led you to study chemistry?
...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - April 19, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Tools and Techniques Cool Tools/Techniques Profiles Source Type: blogs
ATF4 Knockout in Mice Greatly Slows Age-Related Loss of Strength and Endurance
In this study, researchers show that mice lacking a functional ATF4 gene show little to no loss of grip strength and treadmill performance into late life; it is quite an impressive effect size. Assessments of muscle biochemistry do show age-related declines, but to a lesser degree than the controls. How ATF4 knockout functions to produce this outcome is an interesting question. The researchers point out a range of possible downstream and upstream targets that have been implicated in the regulation of muscle growth, but it will clearly require further work to identify the important mechanisms involved.
Aging slowly...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 17, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 17th 2023
In conclusion, oral NR altered the gut microbiota in rats and mice, but not in humans. In addition, NR attenuated body fat mass gain in rats, and increased fat and energy absorption in the HFD context.
Glycine Supplementation as a Methionine Restriction Mimetic
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/04/glycine-supplementation-as-a-methionine-restriction-mimetic/
Supplementation with the non-essential amino acid glycine has been shown to modestly slow aging in short-lived laboratory species. In today's open access review paper, researchers note glycine supplementation as essentially a calorie restricti...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 16, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Nicotinamide Riboside Affects the Gut Microbiome Differently in Mice and Humans
In conclusion, oral NR altered the gut microbiota in rats and mice, but not in humans. In addition, NR attenuated body fat mass gain in rats, and increased fat and energy absorption in the HFD context. (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - April 13, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Demographic Aging is Absent in Naked Mole Rats
Naked mole rats are an extreme example of compression of morbidity in mammals, in that individuals show few signs of aging until very late in life. Their biochemistry is peculiar in a number of ways when compared with other mammals. Their senescent cells do little harm to surrounding tissues; their protein synthesis is highly efficient; the are better at repairing DNA damage; they exhibit impressive cancer suppression mechanisms; and so forth. Will it be possible to build human enhancements or medical technologies from what is learned of naked mole rat metabolism? It is plausible that this is a very complicated extremely l...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 12, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Can Epigenetic Clocks be Suitably Customized to Measure Centenarian Ages?
Verifying the ages of those who claim to be extremely old is rarely as easy might be the case. Many parts of the world are lacking any sort of suitable records infrastructure dating back far enough to help. Particularly past the age of 110, the small number of verified individuals makes any attempt to learn from epidemiological data quite difficult. This in today's open access paper, researchers here report on the construction of epigenetic clocks using data from the oldest living people, with the hope of producing a tool that can help to verify claims of exceptional old age, and thus expand the databases.
While thi...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 11, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 10th 2023
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 9, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
A Flawed Software Framing of Programmed Aging
The hypothesis that aging is a genetic program that is to some degree selected has always been a vocal minority view in the research community. There are just as many quite diverse theories of programmed aging as there are more mainstream evolutionary theories of aging that orbit the concept of antagonistic pleiotropy, the idea that lesser selection pressure in late life, because early reproduction means greater evolutionary fitness, allows for the evolution of mechanisms that are beneficial in youth and harmful in late life. There is even a fusion of the two sides: the hyperfunction theory of programmed aging suggests tha...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 5, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 3rd 2023
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 2, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
In Other Words: Not All Bases Are in the Ballpark
You might first think about sports when you hear the word base, but not all bases are on the baseball diamond. In chemistry, a base is a molecule that reacts with an acid, often by accepting a proton from the acid or from water. Baking soda and dish soap are common bases.
Credit: NIGMS.
A Building Block for Life
Bases are found throughout biological systems and in many molecules critical to life. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic (“alkaline”) liquids, such as water or blood, are. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, while liquids with a pH greater than 7 are basic. Electrolytes, like sodium, ca...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - March 29, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Molecular Structures DNA In Other Words RNA Source Type: blogs
The Tradeoff of Working with Short-Lived Laboratory Species
It is cheaper and faster to study aging - and potential approaches to treat aging - in short-lived species. The disadvantage is that much of what is learned and achieved will be irrelevant to aging as it occurs in longer-lived species such as our own. The response to calorie restriction, an upregulation of cellular housekeeping mechanisms that lengthens life, fortunately evolved early on in the development of life, and the biochemistry is surprisingly consistent even across widely divergent species. Thus much can be learned of it in lower animals with short life spans. Unfortunately, it turns out that this class of interve...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 29, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
