Slashdot Mirror
New Research Could Slow Human Aging
schliz writes "A team of scientists from Japan and New Zealand have helped baker's yeast live 50% longer than usual by artificially stabilizing a genetic sequence called ribosomal DNA. The study's authors say that rDNA is a 'hot spot for production of the aging signal.' Because rDNA genes are very similar in yeast and humans, they say their experiment is a first step towards anti-aging drugs."
So, by doing new research, I won't age as fast?
...when 900 yeas old you be, look so good you will not!
... Our immortal yeast overlords.
fresh water supplies at crisis levels and extreme weather happening more often... worst idea evar!
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
These problems are all solvable. Give people an option: 1) Receive treatment, accept delayed retirement age. 2) Forego treatment, retire when planned.
To paraphrase Barack Obama, if you like the lifespan you currently have, then you can keep it.
I suspect, it is too late for the people already in power to be getting any sorts of treatment. Thus, they have no prospect of benefit for themselves...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Great news for Interstellar travel!
Whatever keeps people paying into the system while raising the retirement age, ne?
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Other social aspects will be affected too — such as bosses not retiring for longer, thus slowing down careers of the underlings.
Most everyone's careers would get slowered by that, perhaps proportionally to the lengthening of the active phase of life. But is that a bad thing? It would generally mean that people who get into higher positions would have more experience at average.
Ezekiel 23:20
Does this sort of thing cover both the aging of the body and the brain? What's the gain in living to be 150 if your brain stops functioning at any sort of useful level at age 70? Yeah, "lots of people" are still firing on all mental cylinders at age 70, but most are not. If everyone is alive up to age 150 but is a non-productive consumer of stuff starting at age 70 this whole "live long and prosper" thing will be a total nightmare. Even if brain aging is held in check, do we have the resources to support that many human beings on this planet?
This presupposes that our politicians withhold dollars from this sort of research to help their successors avoid difficult political decisions...these types of breakthroughs would take decades to produce anything even remotely practicable, and it would probably be a century before any imagined longevity vs. retirement age conflict became an issue.
I am pretty cynical when it comes to politics, but that's way out on a limb.
What? Everyone only lives till age 21?
(from the original book, much better than the lame movie).
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
if you aren't aging then you are still viable as a worker. This isn't just extending the time we're elderly, this is extending the time we're in our prime work years.
People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people
I challenge your comment that "it would ultimately be a good thing for society". I look around and I'm not particularly impressed. My neighbour downstairs is 29 with a 13 year old daughter and is on social security (called the dole in Australia) - never worked. Based on her first 29 years, I cannot see anything good coming to society for her living an extra 40 years.
"I suspect, the governments — the leading stewards of the research dollars — aren't particularly interested in lengthening the lifespans"
I suspect that it hinges more on 'lengthening lifespans' vs. 'slowing aging'. Weak, sick, old people are not something anybody with medical or pension obligations really want living longer. If people became weak, sick, and old more slowly, though, you'd score more person-years of post-childhood, post-education, experienced labor (and, given most people's preparations for retirement, having them just say 'eh, fuck it' and stop working could largely be avoided, with the added "benefit" of keeping young workers in cheap, entry-level positions for much longer periods of time).
If this sort of research were steered purely by economic considerations, 'anti-aging' would probably be be behind dealing with common causes of mortality in children and young adults; but would be ahead of treating things that mostly kill old people. (Also worth remembering: 'the governments', if a useful generalization can be drawn at all, are heavily skewed toward people who are themselves... not exactly getting any younger. Compare the US population generally with Congress. If legislating with one foot in the grave doesn't increase the apparent need for anti-aging research, I'm not sure what would...)
This is likely true; but mortality salience isn't one of those factors that you really get conscious control over, any more than fear of flying is cured through statistical demonstration of its (superb) safety record...
.... because people's brains are just like baker's yeast.
Or is it that most people's brains seem to function like they are made up of baker's yeast?
Anyway 50% more of that doesn't sound particularly wonderful.
...more time on the planet with Honey Boo Boo & family.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
much faster
Like .99999 c
Which, of course, would be why you would not trust the government to do anything of this sort.
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." -- Judge Gideon J. Tucker
And never retire. Anti-aging drugs are great and all, but what about the effects on society? Every country in the world has had their life expectancy vastly increase in the past hundred years, ot the point where there's potentially not enough people feeding the system to take care of the non-workers. Japan's average age of it's population is 44. Germany is about 42. Most of Europe is in the early 40's. Only the US in the developed world has a population that is getting younger, and that's primarily due to immigration.
If people start work at 20 or so, and retire at 65, and then die at 130? No. We can't sustain that.
Of course! This is why I said, it will be ultimately useful to society. However, it would require delaying the retirement, which is a difficult thing to do politically.
A 67 year-old may — thanks to some miracle treatment — be hale and healthy, but he is still legally entitled to pension.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Let me guess... You were offended by my questioning the wisdom of our letting the government decide, what aspects of medicine should be helped with our dollars?
Wow... The big-government fans are certainly easy to degrade into name-calling...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Forget vanity, we need to stop aging for one simple reason...
Space Travel
We still haven't created engines that can go 1/10th light speed. So even at best, a 40 light year trip to Alpha Centari will take 400 years even at that speed. OK forget other solar systems, just colonizing mars is going to require us to get the most out of the humans lifetimes we send there.
I wouldn't, of course. Unfortunately, Socialism has this sort of appeal to the "low-information voter".
Any question like: "Would you like the government to help research life-saving medicines?" — gets a resounding "yes" from many people. Without it occurring to most, that it means, the government officials — the same omniscient and benevolent folks, who have already given us the Department of Motor Vehicles, the NSA, the Post Office, Amtrak and commuter rail — will be deciding, what "life-saving" means, and how the research is to be conducted.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
people will in the future die at 17?
I was working on that megadose of natural reservatol.
I agree that this would create massive social issues.
However the idea that delaying the retirement age is politically difficult is only valid in the current context. In a society where people live 50% longer I think there would be great political will to adjust the retirement age to compensate.
It's been done before in response to much weaker motivation.
It may ultimately have big economic advantages. For example:
1. Increased incentive to take care of one's health.
2. Better return (over a longer lifetime) on the costs of raising and educating a child.
3. Increased incentives to save.
4. Better depth of experience for making decisions by adults.
The bad side:
Without term limits we could end up with some really fucking old Congressmen and members of the Supreme Court.
The main problem is not physical aging per se, but the affects of aging themselves.
I have seen some mouse research that might extend lifespan, but if you can't use your brain for those extra 20-40 years, it's not going to do you much good.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
There is no sanctuary
. .
The current PM of New Zealand was raised on welfare.
. .
My Father just had his 100th birthday, he retired 35 years ago. We age at an exponential rate with our probability of dying doubling roughly every 8 years. As an exercise I calculated how long we would live if we aged linearly. Our lifespan would be in the order of 3000 yrs. This would mean we would be old for a very long time. Your 90's could last hundreds of years. This might not be so much fun. When the retirement was set at 65, it was the mean life expectancy, this is now close to 80 which means we will more old people who will be older for longer. Slowing human ageing is not a panacea
get raised on welfare and turn out a politician? disgusting.
— aren't particularly interested in lengthening the lifespans
... of the common folk. For themselves they are all for carefully regulated longevity.
There is a useful book about this: "Assignment In Eternity" by Robert A. Heinlein. Lost his wits toward the end, but he was ill. That part needed a second book and better treatment. Still a good read.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
As I was writing that, I was unsure if I was making a positive comment about people on the benefit or a negative one.
. .
So you think you can keep the treatment entirely under control of the government, so that the government can withhold other goodies if you opt for a long life? Think again.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Any healthy person who earns enough to save a significant amount, can invest that money in a way that provides an income indefinitely after normal retirement age. Such a person cannot be politically controlled into delaying retirement.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
You haven't been paying attention. There are a great many supplements and drugs, each of which provides some statistical life extension. What hasn't happened is the development of one single thing that alone provides a huge life expectancy boost. Do your own literature search on what's necessary to help yourself, then do it.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
If administered from childhood, a 20 year old will behave like a 10 year old kid.
Besides, if people stop dying, what will they make Soylent Green from? There will be famine!
It would be bad if this decreased the overall economic output of the society per capita, but unless this parameter actually worsened, I can't see how this would lead to anything bad either. Also, anecdotal evidence, consisting of an individual we know virtually nothing about to boot, is hardly relevant here.
Ezekiel 23:20
My neighbour downstairs is 29 with a 13 year old daughter and is on social security (called the dole in Australia) - never worked.
At least, if your neighbor lives to 150, she'll have time to turn her life around. And if she's raising a daughter, she's worked - just never been paid for it.
I promise that I really am 18!
I just want to be notified when scientists create zombie yeast.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-aqymxfVrmDVuQcXDaMpljS1I-9zIJ2MHPW0ryWYTWhxAAZTIBw
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
Just because something is work doesn't mean that anyone values that work.
One foot long vegie delight sub on age retarding bread with swiss cheese, all the salad, no sauce and no salt or pepper. No drinks or cookies either thanks, I'm just here to live longer and lose some weight.
Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
If I had any mod points left, I would mod this golden post up.
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." -- Judge Gideon J. Tucker