New Research Could Slow Human Aging

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New Research Could Slow Human Aging

Posted by samzenpus on Monday September 9, 2013 @08:44AM from the slowing-things-down dept.

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."

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How does that work? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-09 08:48 · Score: 5, Funny

So, by doing new research, I won't age as fast?
1. Re:How does that work? by Mitchell314 · 2013-09-09 08:50 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Well, remaining mentally and physically active has been linked to prolonged life spans . . .
  
  --
  I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
2. Re:How does that work? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-09-09 09:03 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Well, remaining mentally and physically active has been linked to prolonged life spans . . .
  And vice versa, confirmed by a recent study on a large group of scientists with the control group being the local cemetery.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
3. Re:How does that work? by cayenne8 · 2013-09-09 09:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  over active people also wear out their body parts with the exertion. there is a happy medium though and i think that it just needed to be clarified. if you run several super marathons every year its going to kill you early... if you run a 5k it's all good.
  I think more studies are showing that intermittent interval sorts of exercise are the best.
  You do explosive runs for short bursts...and then do slow walking, lower activities in between, but these short intense explosions of activity mixed with low intensity activity seems to have the best effect on the human body.
  At least from what I'm reading these days...
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
4. Re:How does that work? by DavidClarkeHR · 2013-09-09 09:42 · Score: 2
  
  Well, remaining mentally and physically active has been linked to prolonged life spans . . .
  Right. So if I work hard, exercise and deprive myself of good food, I might live long enough for them to slow down my aging process to 1/10th of normal. And I'll have a chipper 4 more years until death, instead of several weeks.
  
  --
  - Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
5. Re:How does that work? by mcgrew · 2013-09-09 10:23 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And as this study shows, genetics can play an even larger part. But try convincing my 84 year old mother that, she's convinced eating right and getting exercise was why she's old and healthy, despite the fact that she's the baby of the family and almost all of her siblings are still alive. One is 99 and owned a bar when she was middle aged, my guess from knowing bar owners she was far from a teetotaler.
  Now I understand what part of my DNA had the health screeners say my vitals showed a healthy forty year old and excellent for someone 61. They thought I must work out, but I get little exercise and eat a lot of junk food, drink a little beer and have smoked pot for four decades. Most people are amazed that I'm over 50. Of course, my rDNA won't keep me from staggering in front of a bus or something.
  If all your grandparents died of natural causes before age 60, no amount of diet or exercise will keep you alive past 70. But perhaps this research will come up with something that will.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
6. Re:How does that work? by moteyalpha · 2013-09-09 12:54 · Score: 2
  
  I am a planarian and I -am- immortal you insensitive clod! I remember the Mesoproterozoic Era, the times we had. I guess I will be 1.7 billion years old this year, but it seems like yesterday. I have this AI to help me post on slashdot, and they relaxed the rules a bit because of my age. But I am the one that spawned the original line and I have my original brain which has been active for nigh on a billion years, so now get off my bacterial lawn. I attribute my great age to proper eating habits as I only eat free range organic protozoa and keep kosher.
7. Re:How does that work? by bitt3n · 2013-09-09 15:26 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Well, remaining mentally and physically active has been linked to prolonged life spans . . .
  not just linked. there's a concrete relationship: 100% of dead people are neither mentally nor physically active.
  
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  how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
8. Re:How does that work? by FingerDemon · 2013-09-09 22:39 · Score: 2
  
  You are over simplifying things. I mean it is great if you are on track to a long and happy life of easy to maintain good health. But I can think of numerous scenarios right now where a person's grandparents die of natural causes before 60 and the genetic issues that person inherits are now treatable with modern medicine. Sure on an actuarial table, it doesn't look good. But it is probably better to say that if all your grandparents died of natural causes before age 60, make sure you have regular checkups with your doctor as you hit your forties and beyond.
  
  Anecdotally, I had a relative that was a heavy smoker (cigarettes) and overate all the wrong things. Had warnings for years from doctors. He must have been blessed genetically because he still lived a pretty long time. Who knows how much longer he would have lived if he had eaten a better diet, quit smoking and gotten some exercise? Genetics is a part of the picture. It isn't everything. I also think stress has a big role. You sound pretty happy with your lifestyle. That can help. Just stay away from busses when you are drinking beer. :-)
  
  --
  
  "Contrarily the lookaside buffer might not be the panacea... "
But by nani+popoki · 2013-09-09 08:50 · Score: 4, Funny

...when 900 yeas old you be, look so good you will not!
1. Re:But by macraig · 2013-09-09 08:54 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Even at 900, spell better than you Yoda could!
2. Re:But by mjpollard · 2013-09-09 08:55 · Score: 2
  
  Unless you're a Time Lord, in which case you stand a good chance of looking like David Tennant or Matt Smith. I could live with that.
Re:Are governments interested in long lifespans? by mi · 2013-09-09 09:05 · Score: 2

I suspect that those in power are very interested in it for themselves
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...

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In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Re:With a world population of 7 billion, by jedidiah · 2013-09-09 09:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

Don't be silly. The poor won't get to stop aging at 30. They will get screwed just like they always have. Only the ultra wealthy will have access to this stuff. Only a small subset of the population will get to stop aging at 30. The rest will get shortened lifespans if anything.

--
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Re:With a world population of 7 billion, by gl4ss · 2013-09-09 09:09 · Score: 4, Insightful

longer life expectancy correlates with smaller population growth.. just saying.
btw if you want to buy some fresh water I got plenty to sell. it's not running out. moving it to where people for some stupid historical reason want to live is the problem...

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world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Re:With a world population of 7 billion, by Nutria · 2013-09-09 09:18 · Score: 2

How in the hell do you equate extending life is a bad idea with contracting life is a good idea? Aren't /. readers supposed to have a higher-than-average level of intelligence?

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"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Re:Are governments interested in long lifespans? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-09-09 09:20 · Score: 2

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
What exactly is slowed? by jasnw · 2013-09-09 09:20 · Score: 4, Insightful

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?
1. Re:What exactly is slowed? by marcosdumay · 2013-09-09 09:34 · Score: 2
  
  TFS says they tested that in yeast, thus you either didn't care enough to read it, or is asking if the yeast mental activity was degraded.
  
  --
  Rethinking email
2. Re:What exactly is slowed? by Daniel+Dvorkin · 2013-09-09 11:25 · Score: 2
  
  Does this sort of thing cover both the aging of the body and the brain?
  Does it cover both the aging of the body and the heart? Both the aging of the body and the liver? Both the aging of the body and the third toe on the left foot?
  I know what you meant, but I get really tired of people acting like the brain and the body are something separate. The brain is part of the body; a complex and unique part, to be sure, but essentially it's just another organ. So if we can slow down aging generally, most likely our brains will benefit just as much as the rest of our bodies will.
  
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  The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Yes by the+eric+conspiracy · 2013-09-09 09:30 · Score: 4, Funny

.... 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.
Re:With a world population of 7 billion, by Arrogant+Monkey · 2013-09-09 09:51 · Score: 2

You could argue the exact opposite. Life extension would just as likely mean folks making the decisions impacting climate and environment now have to live with the consequences.

And if you hadn't noticed, birth rates are dropping precipitously in those countries where poverty rates fall -- China and India are showing this today, just as many of the asian tiger countries did 20 years ago. So much so that we're going to be having real problems in 20-30 years in the developed world, because (aside from the US) we don't have replacement workers coming into the market to replace the ones retiring and dying. We will level off around 10B.
Re:Prepare to work forever by mark-t · 2013-09-09 09:57 · Score: 2

If you are healthy enough for a longer period, what's so awful about working longer, and continuing to contribute usefully to society?

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File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
People forget the most important reason.. by t0qer · 2013-09-09 10:01 · Score: 3, Interesting

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.
Re:Are governments interested in long lifespans? by the+eric+conspiracy · 2013-09-09 11:27 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.