3 ms·

Hoping for telomeres to be the basis for aging is unlikely to yield fruit. There is a nice summary of the basis for aging [1] and I think it lays out a case for

Hoping for telomeres to be the basis for aging is unlikely to yield fruit. There is a nice summary of the basis for aging [1] and I think it lays out a case for aging to be more involved and harder to surmount than that. Telomeres are widely recognized as related to aging, and there is intensive interest in therapies to try to test the hypothesis that keeping them longer will prolong life or reduce disease. In fact, there are over 100 clinical trials on the topic [2]. 1 = https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3836174/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3836174/ 2 = https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=Telomere&Search=Search https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=Telomere&Search=...

aetherson 10y ago
The idea that we'll just find one simple magic change and that will vastly reduce aging/senescence is wishful thinking. Literally nothing in our biology works that way.
- kanzure 10y ago
  > The idea that we'll just find one simple magic change and that will vastly reduce aging/senescence is wishful thinking I used to agree with that sentiment. Except a single mutation in a single protein seems to be responsible for sleepers that only require ~6 hours/night for a full night's rest. There's a lot of strange stuff in biology. http://diyhpl.us/wiki/genetic-modifications/ http://diyhpl.us/wiki/genetic-modifications/