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Advances in Longevity Research
- 🧪 Aubrey De Grey focuses on developing medical innovations that can postpone age-related illnesses by rejuvenating or repairing molecular and cellular damage.
- 💪 Aubrey De Grey predicts that within 15 years, there is a 50% chance of escaping the death spiral of aging, and he feels confident about his prediction due to the progress made in the last decade.
- 🧪 The combination of rapamycin, stem cell therapy, telomerase, and a senolytic drug shows promise in extending lifespan and improving healthspan.
- 🌱 Aubrey De Grey’s goal is not to make incremental improvements, but to make significant advancements in longevity research, which is exciting for many people.
- 🌍 The importance of diversity in research organizations: “It makes a lot of sense to have a diversity of structures within the movement so as to be able to suit all tastes, everyone’s constraints, everyone’s preferences.”
- 💡 Artificial intelligence, particularly deep learning algorithms like AlphaFold, is revolutionizing medical research by solving long-standing problems such as determining a protein’s three-dimensional structure, which has significant implications for longevity and other areas of healthcare.
Economic and Funding Considerations
- 📈 The establishment of startups and the involvement of big companies in the field of anti-aging medicine have accelerated the pace of progress in recent years.
- 🌱 Aubrey De Grey suggests exploring the possibility of open source licensing for non-profits to enhance scalability and sustainability in their technological developments.
- 💰 The economic argument for investing in longevity therapies is strong, as the cost of preventing age-related health problems is far less than the expenses incurred by treating them.
- 💰 As the financing of the longevity field has increased, the bottleneck has shifted from funding to a shortage of talent.
- 💰 Aubrey De Grey believes that for his own organization, he doesn’t need a lot of money to make progress in longevity research, but the field as a whole could potentially require tens of billions per year.
- 🚀 The speaker mentions that Jeff Bezos eventually donated a few billion dollars to advance the field of longevity, highlighting the potential impact of such a significant investment.
Controversial Concepts in Longevity
- 🤔 The idea of Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) challenges the notion that aging is an inevitable process, suggesting that it is possible to extend human lifespan by continuously staying ahead of the damage caused by aging.
- 🧪 The idea behind LEV is that scientists need to continuously improve therapies at a minimum rate in order for individuals receiving the most recent therapy to stay ahead of the aging process and not biologically age as they chronologically get older.
- 💡 Longevity escape velocity is still a controversial concept, but it is an inescapable corollary of being able to do significant damage repair and could potentially stave off illnesses like Alzheimer’s.
TLDR: The key idea of the video is that medical innovations and research in longevity can potentially postpone age-related illnesses and combat aging, but funding and support are crucial for progress in this field.
1. 00:00 🔬 Aubrey De Grey is working on developing medical innovations to postpone age-related illnesses through rejuvenation or repair of molecular and cellular damage, with progress being made in longevity escape velocity and laboratory work, and the support of influential colleagues being crucial in bringing about a proper war on aging.
1.1 Aubrey De Grey works on developing medical innovations to postpone age-related illnesses through rejuvenation or repair of molecular and cellular damage, focusing on the Lev Foundation and mouse studies.
1.2 Progress in anti-aging medicine was initially hindered by budgetary constraints, but over time, increased funding from investors has led to the establishment of several successful companies in the field.
1.3 The speaker predicts that within 15 years, there is a high chance of escaping the death spiral of aging, with progress being made in both longevity escape velocity and laboratory work, and the support of influential colleagues being crucial in bringing about a proper war on aging.
1.4 The speaker discusses a new research program that aims to combine various therapies to postpone aging in mice, with the goal of extending their lifespan by an additional year.
1.5 Rapamycin, stem cell therapy, telomerase, and a senolytic drug are being tested together to potentially extend lifespan, with updates on the study’s progress being shared regularly.
1.6 Partial reprogramming using yamanaka factors is an exciting area in rejuvenation, but there are reservations about its safety in humans, so alternative approaches are being considered, and it is likely to be tested in the second round of mouse experiments in 2023, along with other interventions such as neutral blood exchange.
2. 14:18 📚 Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) is the concept of using damage repair therapies to keep individuals one step ahead of aging, allowing for the eradication of illnesses like Alzheimer’s, but funding is needed to support these projects.
2.1 Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) will initially be conducted extramurally in partnership with a successful spin-out company, as well as for-profit companies led by former employees, focusing on cryonics research and rejuvenation therapies.
2.2 The traditional approach to postponing health problems in late life was to make the body run more cleanly, but it was deemed a non-starter due to the complexity and intertwined nature of damage and the body’s necessary functions.
2.3 Longevity escape velocity (LEV) is the concept that if damage repair therapies can turn back biological time and make someone biologically younger, they can be repeatedly applied and improved over time to keep individuals one step ahead of aging.
2.4 Longevity escape velocity is the inescapable corollary of being able to do significant damage repair, allowing for the staving off and eventual eradication of illnesses like Alzheimer’s through rejuvenation.
2.5 Having a big vision helps align people with your goals, even though fundraising has always been a challenge for the speaker’s unconventional ideas.
2.6 The LED Foundation needs more funding to support their projects and anyone can donate to help them achieve their goals.
3. 22:40 📚 Research organizations should have diverse structures to accommodate different preferences and constraints, grant decisions are now made more efficiently, and the speaker emphasizes the importance of educating the world on longevity research.
3.1 The speaker discusses the challenges he faces in his work and his motivation to make a difference in the world by doing things that others are not doing, while also considering the scalability and sustainability of non-profits through open source licensing.
3.2 Research organizations should have a diversity of structures to accommodate different preferences and constraints, including those who want to get promoted, get rich, or support technological progress through philanthropy or private sector investments.
3.3 Grant decisions are now made more quickly and efficiently through the creation of impetus, allowing money to be allocated to the right places, and organizations should focus on being lean, inspiring, and getting people to understand the importance of solving the world’s most important problem.
3.4 The speaker expresses his satisfaction with the team he currently has and discusses the criteria he looks for in partners, highlighting icore as the ideal choice due to their experience, credibility, expertise, and strong commitment to the longevity mission.
3.5 Aubrey De Grey discusses how people can pitch themselves to be a part of the Lev Foundation ecosystem and emphasizes the importance of educating the world on longevity research.
3.6 People with their own skill sets, successful in their chosen area, may be looking for a new challenge, as well as the general public, to break out of the pro-aging trance and stop making excuses for aging.
4. 30:25 📚 The speaker discusses the importance of accurate and honest communication in longevity research, the role of AI in drug development, and their personal interest in math as a hobby.
4.1 There is a summer internship program at the SENS Research Foundation and the Buck Institute, and a new education program at the Elliev Foundation, but the latter currently lacks resources.
4.2 There was a successful event over the summer where 50 people were taught and connected, and now there will be more events with an online education course, showing the democratization of education through the internet.
4.3 The speaker believes that there is no value in being anything other than accurate and honest about the progress and time frames of longevity research, and their conclusions are based on a comprehensive analysis of existing and ongoing research.
4.4 AI, particularly in the field of drug development, is playing a significant role in longevity research, with examples such as AlphaFold and companies like InSilico Medicine and BioAge utilizing advanced AI technologies.
4.5 The speaker enjoys math as a hobby and finds it to be a rare area where the problem and solution are usually connected, unlike the complexities of life.
5. 35:48 📚 Individuals interested in longevity should identify their unique skills and find ways to contribute to the field, as the shortage of talent is the main bottleneck, and books like “Ending Aging,” “Lifespan,” and “Ageless” provide valuable resources for learning about longevity and aging.
5.1 Longevity technologies will be made available to everyone without any restrictions on ability to pay, as long as they are old enough to need the therapies.
5.2 The economic argument for investing in longevity therapies is that it will be far less expensive to administer these therapies than the cost of treating age-related health problems, making it in the mercenary interests of governments to front-load investments in infrastructure and training to prepare for the arrival of these therapies.
5.3 The speaker discusses the potential cost and implementation of longevity technology, including the possibility of surgical administration and the preference for non-invasive approaches using stem cells, and advises that individuals interested in getting involved in the longevity space should consider their own unique skill sets.
5.4 The main idea is that in order to contribute to the field of longevity, individuals should identify their unique skills and find ways to apply them, as the main bottleneck in the field is the shortage of talent.
5.5 Books like “Ending Aging” by Aubrey De Grey and recent releases such as “Lifespan” by David Sinclair and “Ageless” by Andrew Steele provide valuable resources for individuals at different stages of their interest in longevity and aging.
5.6 The speaker employs a team of people to read and filter scientific literature, allowing for informed decision-making and similar to Winston Churchill’s approach.
6. 44:19 📝 The speaker prioritizes neglected areas in damage repair, remains open to unexpected discoveries in biology and biomedical research, and surrounds themselves with inspiring people to optimize for happiness and self-actualization.
6.1 The speaker does not have specific areas of focus in damage repair but prioritizes neglected areas and is open to unexpected discoveries.
6.2 Surprising discoveries in biology and biomedical research, such as CRISPR and induced pluripotent stem cells, continue to occur, with recent examples including the easier transfer of mitochondrial DNA and the uptake of antibodies by cells.
6.3 Happiness means feeling fulfilled and going to bed at night knowing that I have spent the day well.
6.4 Spending time in a hot tub helps the speaker generate ideas and they surround themselves with inspiring people to optimize for happiness and self-actualization.
6.5 The speaker admires those who are self-motivated and does not need to do anything specific to stay healthy as they are naturally lucky and age younger than their actual age.
6.6 It is important to be conservative and attentive to one’s body, but the speaker does not practice mindfulness or meditation.
7. 49:53 📚 Recent research shows that aging can be reversed through methods like calorie restriction, and the field of longevity research requires significant funding for clinical trials and research, which can be supported by wealthy individuals who understand the importance of combating aging.
7.1 Recent research has shown that various species experience a decrease in the abundance of long transcripts during their lifespan, which is an intriguing and significant finding.
7.2 The study did not show causality in the direction of simulating the transcription of Longines in older animals for rejuvenation, but it did show that typical rejuvenating methods like calorie restriction can reverse the bias with age caused by aging.
7.3 The speaker needs around 50 million dollars a year for his own organization, but the field in general could potentially spend tens of billions per year for clinical trials and research.
7.4 The wealthiest people in the world tend to donate money to noble causes rather than technology, but many of them made their wealth through tech and understand the approach to combating aging.
7.5 After speaking at Ted more than 15 years ago, the speaker gained interest and funding, including small and large checks, with Jeff Bezos eventually investing billions of dollars into the field of longevity.
7.6 Altos Labs has made good decisions by hiring top scientists in the fields of partial reprogramming and epigenetic clocks, which ensures diversity of thought and collaboration, unlike Calico, and inspires progress towards helping humanity.
8. 56:58 🔬 The crypto community is investing in longevity research, new discoveries in regeneration are being made, good news outlets exist for longevity information, telomerase can target cancers, progress is being made in understanding longevity, and it is important to be curious and learn something new.
8.1 The crypto community, including the creator of Ethereum and other individuals, has been investing significant amounts of money into longevity research, inspiring others to do the same.
8.2 Scientists are making new discoveries in the field of regeneration, such as using electrical currents to stimulate regeneration, and it is important to not restrict oneself to studying with gerontologists and to have a good understanding of the field in order to ask the right questions and get accurate information.
8.3 There are now good news outlets for longevity-related information, such as fight aging, lifespan.io, and Longevity Technology, so there is less need for Aubrey De Grey to provide regular updates himself, and he recommends that people experiment to find their own ways of maximizing productivity.
8.4 Cancers can be targeted by using telomerase to lengthen telomeres, but for the minority of cancers that don’t use telomerase, an alternative mechanism called alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) is still needed to extend telomeres and prevent cell division issues.
8.5 There has been progress in understanding longevity, and the speaker’s foundation is working on research, advocacy, and funding organizations to improve the quality of debate and encourage more funding for longevity research.
8.6 Visit our website to learn more, subscribe to our podcast, and check out our YouTube channel for timestamps and links, and be curious and learn something new.