I can’t believe how many months I procrastinated in writing this blog post. Among deadlines and diaper changes, it just took me that much time to put my thoughts in order regarding a part of aging that I thought was crystal clear: aging leads to slow clearance therefore autophagy induction must always be a good…… Continue reading Eaten alive: the double-edged sword of autophagy
Tag: gerontology
How to divide and conquer aging by tackling rare diseases
This blog post is not an argument for reductionism. Instead, it is an argument for speeding up treatments that work in the case of a complex disease like aging. While demand for such treatments exists, anti-aging clinical trials are extremely rare. Elderly patients are the most complex ones of all – it is what intellectually…… Continue reading How to divide and conquer aging by tackling rare diseases
How targeting multiple aging pathways doubled the maximum lifespan of fruit flies
During my previous post I mentioned how the evolutionary theory of aging was tested empirically by selective breeding of fruit flies for longevity and later on for shorter lifespans. The longer lived fruit flies obtained in the lab got the nickname of Methuselah flies. Displaying a longer mean and maximum lifespan, they expressed hundreds of…… Continue reading How targeting multiple aging pathways doubled the maximum lifespan of fruit flies
How to play with evolution in the lab to create longer-lived animals
I was a college student when I first stumbled upon the “Ending Aging” book by Dr. Aubrey de Grey. I read that book cover to cover but I never got highly enthusiastic about SENS since there were important details which didn’t make sense. The types of damage that humans incur as they age are excellently…… Continue reading How to play with evolution in the lab to create longer-lived animals