CR in primates

Diet, aging study gains $7.9 million grant
June 13, 2006
by Terry Devitt

[...]

At this point in the study, the disparities between the monkeys on a diet reduced in calories by 30 percent and those allowed to eat as much as they wish are clearly evident. "Most importantly, we're starting to see the separation of the survival curves," Weindruch says, noting that 90 percent of the animals who began the study on a reduced diet are still alive, while only 70 percent of the animals allowed to eat freely have survived to this stage.

[...]

The animals on a restricted diet exhibit 70 percent less body fat, and the fat tissue itself, Weindruch notes, is very different from the fat tissue in the control animals, those allowed to eat freely. His group has also observed that the animals that eat less have less insulin in their bloodstreams and less insulin resistance, which are opposite to increases seen in these hallmarks of type 2 diabetes.
"So far, we've had complete protection from type 2 diabetes," Weindruch explains. "Normally, 30 percent of the animals in a research colony will exhibit type 2 diabetes."

HealthFirst-Repairing humans

By Leslie LoBue
(05/18/06)-- Over the years, we've heard miraculous stories about people getting artificial arms, legs, even hearts.
Some doctors say they can create artificial brains, or at least brain parts, that may help millions of people with diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epilepsy.
The future of the human race is about to take a turn.
"I think all human beings have wanted to be better than well. we have always wanted to transcend the limitations of the human condition," said James Hughes, the executive director of the World Transhumanist Association.
Hughes believes the world is headed for a superhuman future. "We have continued to invent new technologies to extend the reach of the human body.  New tools and new ways of modifying the way the body works."
In Los Angeles, neuroscientist Theodore Berger has developed the first artificial brain part - a hippocampus to help people with Alzheimer's form new memories. "There's no reason why we can't think in terms of artificial brain parts in the same way we can think in terms of artificial eyes and artificial ears," Berger said.
Information would come into the brain the same way, but would be re-routed to a computer chip, bypassing the damaged area of the hippocampus.  "What we're hoping to do is replace at least enough of that function, so there's a significant improvement in the quality of life."
The technology could also help stroke, epilepsy and Parkinson's patients.
At the medical college of Wisconsin, Doctor Jay Neitz  is also on the super-human frontier. "Since we are human beings and we like to try new things, we could say 'Wow, wouldn't it be cool if we had a whole other dimension of vision?'"
Primates and humans have three photo-receptors and can see four basic colors - red, green, blue and yellow. Here's a newsflash: Birds, fish and reptiles have four photo-receptors.
"It is clear that it does allow them to see things that we cannot see. they must have this whole extra dimension of color that we miss out on."
Neitz is studying gene therapy to give humans that extra dimension. By injecting modified genes directly into the eyes of colorblind monkeys, he expects to change their world. "It's hard to imagine that you would even know what it would be like to have this extra dimension of vision," he said.
Neitz says we could see ultraviolet, infrared and all the new shades we'd get by combining them. "I personally, I like the idea of being able to make ourselves better."
"I think this is an intrinsic part of human nature, of the human condition that we see that we are limited. we live in a limited world, and we are trying to push beyond those limits," Hughes said.
Now, it's up to technology to see how far beyond  those limits we can go.

Towards a "free radical theory of graying"

Melanocyte apoptosis in the aging human hair follicle is an indicator of oxidative stress induced tissue damage
Petra Clara Arck, Rupert Overall, Katharina Spatz, Christiane Liezman, Bori Handjiski, Burghard F. Klapp, Mark A. Birch-Machin, and Eva Milena Johanne Peters

Oxidative stress is generated by a multitude of environmental and endogenous challenges such as radiation, inflammation, or psychoemotional stress. It also speeds the aging process. Graying is a prominent but little understood feature of aging. Intriguingly, the continuous melanin synthesis in the growing (anagen) hair follicle generates high oxidative stress. We therefore hypothesize that hair bulb melanocytes are especially susceptible to free radical-induced aging. To test this hypothesis, we subjected human scalp skin anagen hair follicles from graying individuals to macroscopic and immunohistomorphometric analysis and organ culture. We found evidence of melanocyte apoptosis and increased oxidative stress in the pigmentary unit of graying hair follicles. The "common" deletion, a marker mitochondrial DNA-deletion for accumulating oxidative stress damage, occurred most prominently in graying hair follicles. Cultured unpigmented hair follicles grew better than pigmented follicles of the same donors. Finally, cultured pigmented hair follicles exposed to exogenous oxidative stress (hydroquinone) showed increased melanocyte apoptosis in the hair bulb. We conclude that oxidative stress is high in hair follicle melanocytes and leads to their selective premature aging and apoptosis. The graying hair follicle, therefore, offers a unique model system to study oxidative stress and aging and to test antiaging therapeutics in their ability to slow down or even stop this process.--Arck, P. C., Overall, R., Spatz, K., Liezman, C., Handjiski, B., Klapp, B. F., Birch-Machin, M. A., Peters, E. M. J. Towards a "free radical theory of graying": melanocyte apoptosis in the aging human hair follicle is an indicator of oxidative stress induced tissue damage.


I think this could be a major breakthrough.  If we can show that we can stop, or better yet reverse, the graying of hair, this would not only be a great show that aging in general can be controlled, but it would be a big money maker.  Just think how many greying men out there would pay for such a treatment.