> When the researchers looked at normal signs of aging in the animals that had undergone the treatment, they found that the mice, in many ways, resembled younger animals. In both the kidneys and skin, the epigenetics of treated animals more closely resembled epigenetic patterns seen in younger animals. When injured, the skin cells of treated animals had a greater ability to proliferate and were less likely to form permanent scars—older animals usually show less skin cell proliferation and more scarring. Moreover, metabolic molecules in the blood of treated animals did not show normal age-related changes.
I'm cautiously optimistic. While technology might conceivably allow us to live significantly longer, thus creating a population problem, we are already seeing a curbing of population growth in the most technological civilizations today. Perhaps there will be something to living longer as a human that compels reproduction less so than otherwise, especially given that birth control is available. I certainly hope that I get to have a long enough healthspan that I can accomplish even just 1/10th of the things I want to do but won't have the time to do.
I hope I'm wrong, but assuming these treatments do prove effective in humans, it won't be made available to the likes of us. The elite will get to enjoy unnaturally long lives (or perhaps escape death completely) while the rest of humanity is literally rendered disposable.
This has never happened with any other medical treatment. Why would this be different?
Compare this relatively simple treatment to the unbelievable amount of resources spent to treat the diseases that directly come from aging (cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, etc)
Medicare pours billions of dollars into treating these diseases with relatively little success. This would be an order of magnitude less expensive.
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[ 0.19 ms ] story [ 20.0 ms ] thread> When the researchers looked at normal signs of aging in the animals that had undergone the treatment, they found that the mice, in many ways, resembled younger animals. In both the kidneys and skin, the epigenetics of treated animals more closely resembled epigenetic patterns seen in younger animals. When injured, the skin cells of treated animals had a greater ability to proliferate and were less likely to form permanent scars—older animals usually show less skin cell proliferation and more scarring. Moreover, metabolic molecules in the blood of treated animals did not show normal age-related changes.
Kidding aside, looking forward to the equivalent treatments being developed for humans.
Compare this relatively simple treatment to the unbelievable amount of resources spent to treat the diseases that directly come from aging (cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, etc)
Medicare pours billions of dollars into treating these diseases with relatively little success. This would be an order of magnitude less expensive.