Michio Kaku - The Causes of Aging and How To Reverse The Aging Process

Dr. Michio Kaku, an American theoretical physicist briefly explains the causes of and how to reverse the aging process.

Michio Kaku : DNA is like a shoe lace, it has plastic tips at the end, every time a cell reproduces, the tips get shorter and shorter until it frays.

This happens in every cell, inside a skin cell for example, it has a biological clock, it is doomed to die after 60 reproductions.

Moreover, in his book 'Physics of the Future', he believes the fabled 'fountain of youth' will include a combination of the following:

1. Growing new organs as they deteriorate and become diseased, via stem cells and tissue engineering

2. Ingesting a cocktail of proteins and enzymes which are designed to increase cell repair, regulate metabolism, reset the biological clock, and reduce oxidation.

3. Using gene therapy to alter genes that may slow down the aging process

4. maintaining a healthy lifestyle (exercise and a good diet)

5. using nano-sensors to detect diseases like cancer years before they become a problem.

These advancements will occur between 2030 - 2070, he says it might be possible to slow the aging process by 2050 as a result of gene therapy and stem cells etc. He states that we could live to 150 or longer. And finally, from 2070 - 2100 we will develop methods of reversing the aging process.

Organizations and Initiatives to Tackle Aging

Google announced the creation of Calico, a biotechnology company that will focus on combating aging and its associated diseases.

In addition, David Sinclair, a scientist and entrepreneur is working on increasing human lifespan and health. In 2005, he founded the Glenn Laboratories for Aging Research at Harvard and serves as their Co-Director. His numerous speeches and interviews can be viewed on youtube.

Ray Kurzweil is worth a look - inventor, futurist and engineering director of Google. He's a cunning man whose committed to outwitting death, he takes 150 supplements a day!. Big Think video of Ray Kurzweil diet.

A article with some of his technological predictions.

 

Also there's Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist and Chief Science Officer of SENS Foundation. This is a charity dedicated to combating the aging process.
A link to GEN exclusive on Aubrey.

Below is Aubrey's Seven Causes of Aging

1. Cell Atrophy (waste away or die off)  - Cells die faster than they are replaced. He wants to replace them using Stem cell therapy
2. Proliferation of unwanted cells - like fat cells - cause diabetes.
3. Protein cross-links - the formation of links of certain protein and the loss of elasticity in tissues like artery walls - these cause high blood pressure. Invent drugs to break these bonds.
4. Accumulation of junk outside cells (cellular garbage). We need to engineer enzymes to digest this junk
5. Accumulation of junk inside cells - causes problem like hardening of arteries and heart disease. Again engineer enzymes which digest this junk
6. Mitochondrial damage - they produce energy for cells chemical activities. Wants to swap mitochondria DNA to protect it - by using gene therapy
7. Chromosomal (thread like structures of DNA inside nucleus) mutations and runaway cell division - this causes cancer
  
Video - Undoing aging: Aubrey de Grey at TEDxDanubia 2013:

Few apt quotes from Star Trek

Dr. Soran -  Time is the fire in which we burn.

Dr. Soran - Aren't you beginning to feel time gaining on you?

Dr. Soran - It's like a predator; it's stalking you. Oh, you can try and outrun it with doctors, medicines, new technologies. But in the end, time is going to hunt you down... and make the kill.