Re: we all are going to age and die ?

[Guest guest]

> I grant that CR will not prevent people dying, but CR is not the

only game

> in town.

> Many researchers are currently working on not just retarding, but

actually

> reversing the aging process.

" ......... **reversing** the aging process ............ " YES YES!

Walford mentions this. He says he regards CRON as a near term

measure to keep us alive long enough until we can take advantage of

even better technology.

He lists about half a dozen different theories of aging. One of

those he mentions, perhaps it can be called 'telomere theory', seems

to me to be very promising. Here is some info.

It derives from cancer research into cell function. In particular

the inability of cells to divide more than about 70 times before they

simply just stop functioning effectively, and in consequence the

organism also.

Geron, a company in California that bought the company that developed

Dolly the sheep, can now routinely turn an 85 year old human cell

into a 25 year old one. One place I have seen this was on Scientific

American Frontiers on PBS - Alan Alda, where this transformation was

shown under the microscope.

The telomeres are at the end of the strands of our DNA and each time

a cell divides the telomeres become shorter. When they get down to

only 15% of their original length the cell pretty much stops

functioning. Geron has developed a technique to restore the

telomeres to full length. The technique was discovered in cancer

cells which can divide indefinitely, because they have a gene that

creates an enzyme that has come to be called 'telomerase' which, each

time a cell divides, automatically restores the telomeres to full

length.

Also they have already created healthy human cells outside the body

that contain the telomerase gene, and therefore are called 'immortal

cells' because their telomeres are automatically restored to full

length each time the cell divides. My understanding is that they are

currently selling these immortal cells to various other research

organizations for their own experiments. Particularly to skin

treatment product companies.

The question now seems to be whether they can find a way to treat the

entire individual so that all the cells are restored to 25 years

old. If they do then it will remove one (possibly the only?) major

barrier to VERY long lifespans.

Of course this will not unclog clogged arteries. But, if a 'full

body' treatment can be devised, it WILL, as I understand it, restore

the immune system to 25 year old status.

This is a great reason to do everything we can now to extend our

lifespans as far as possible.

Now, I am not an expert on this stuff. The above is EVERYTHING I

know about it! So please understand it may not be 100% of the

story. Research it if you are interested, and please report back

whatever you find out. Thanks.