Comments on: Longevity gene that makes Hydra immortal also controls human aging

By: asiwel

asiwel — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:21:35 +0000

Well … uh …. amen. Maybe my book (and t-shirt) will come today …. :-{

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:37:00 +0000

why not simply “mice”?

if your 1st msg was pedantic, does it mean your 2nd msg was META-pedantic?:-)

By: Ted Rodosovich

Ted Rodosovich — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 06:25:45 +0000

Try listening in on plant life.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:37:31 +0000

hehehe exactly…

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:34:17 +0000

well.. mating HAS a very expensive biological cost. It does deplete zinc from your synapses, thus having a direct impact in your perception and cognition, which not only IS unpleasant but mitigate your ability to avoid further unpleasant events, not to mention the obvious nutrient and stem cells depletion elsewhere… so… long term, yes =)

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:27:33 +0000

why would restriction of sleep be part of “the process”? and what “process” exactly are you talking about? sleep restriction doesnt help at all!

By: klaatu

klaatu — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:12:01 +0000

I wonder if the press release info is entirely exaggerated
or if they are much further ahead than indicated?
Both. If it is now or when it becomes
possible the public will be the very very last to know.
external noninvasive stimulation of cells & restriction of food & sleep
is probably part of the process that is very much further along
than this.

By: Bob Vasquez

Bob Vasquez — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:56:23 +0000

Does budding feel as good as mating? Just asking.

By: klaatu

klaatu — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:54:45 +0000

Gee golly, I want a pre-ordered Mind & the 2kool T-shirt
not to mention being put on the post human waiting list
of human hydra stem cell resets.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:43:02 +0000

Simple. You’ve got ripped off. That’s what you get for wanting to get ahead of everyone else! =D ironically, that’s how money “works” and the ones who will truly benefit will be the one’s who get it for free, who will not “read” and put it back in the shelves but actually have the b**** to actually try it in practice. Perhaps you should at least get something back, like an actual AI, sooner and non privatized. I dont think there is anything I do not already know there, but if I were you I would want this knowledge in as many humans’ hands as possible.

By: asiwel

asiwel — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:04:07 +0000

Speaking of “How to Create a Mind”, I pre-ordered at 34% discount and for $24.23. Of course it is only Nov 14th .. but I have not yet received my book. Everybody else seems to have read or be reading it already. Barnes Noble lists it retail at $27.95 and is selling it at 42% discount for $15.98 … and they even have an eBook version (which is what I really wanted) for $14.99. Of course I am supposed to also receive a free T-Shirt … but, hey, there seems to be a big price discrepancy here? What happened to us loyal pre-orderers?

By: Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:01:43 +0000

Oops, or better yet “meeces” … ok, back to the topic in hand… :-S

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:55:16 +0000

“Why is the polyp Hydra immortal?”
Hericles would beg to differ.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:37:11 +0000

Haven’t some reincarnation of SOPA “solved” this? I mean, they could kick in through the door anytime! If not, then melajara, please, post an ebook version of How to Create a Mind. Just a link of course please.

By: Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:36:07 +0000

PEDANT ALERT: Shouldn’t that be ‘meeses’? :-)

By: Antenna

Antenna — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:37:10 +0000

“However, the hypothesis cannot be verified on humans, as this would require a genetic manipulation of humans”. Well, then verify it on mouses…

By: melajara

melajara — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:03:31 +0000

Good. Here is another and legit link about foxO relevance for aging regulation http://kenyonlab.ucsf.edu/html/lab_overview.html

Climbing up the ladder ;-)

By: Editor

Editor — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:54:34 +0000

No biggie. Technically, not a violation to post a link. I was just referring to our editorial policy.

By: melajara

melajara — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:33:03 +0000

@Editor,

Oops, then feel free to delete the reference from my comment altogether.
I didn’t check that as it is common to have original articles under copyright in peer reviewed journals but still accessible from universities or preprint versions from the authors themselves, sorry for that shortcoming.

By: Editor

Editor — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:22:00 +0000

“Original article can be found here”: That is a copyright violation, so I’d prefer not to link to it.

By: dduggerbiocepts

dduggerbiocepts — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:55:30 +0000

The question then becomes if and how you can re-activate FoxO in higher older animals, like me. And, it of course if that re-activation is accompanied by similar immune functions that protect against errant cell proliferation as it normally does in youth.

By: jabros

jabros — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:33:10 +0000

WTB FoxO Gene therapy! =oD

By: Gorden Russell

Gorden Russell — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:31:56 +0000

Getting older sure beats the alternative (of dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse).

By: melajara

melajara — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:54:38 +0000

@Editor, a free version of the original article can be found here http://extremelongevity.net/wp-content/uploads/hydra.pdf maybe you could reference this in the links.

This is a very interesting news in identifying a key regulator in aging, the foxO protein and the effects of its expression in down-regulations.

Unfortunately, the article is mute about the up-regulators of foxO as one would, ideally, tune the primary regulator (remember the primum movens, LOL) or, more probably, the primary key set of highest regulators to achieve the most general and lasting effects on aging.

Of course, to decipher upstream regulation is a harder nut to crack, as the protocols can let us only infer from possible co-expression analysis (i.e. without directly interfering in the experiments on the level of foxO produced) who could be an upstream regulator.

But anyway, the article is showing the path on an important future evolution in system biology: diachronic study of complex regulation networks, or phylogenetic evolution of the transcriptome across phyla, complementing the study of ontogenetic evolution of the transcriptome across the lifespan of a single individual. This would be to system biology what paleobiology is to biology, a way to harness when, how and why, complex regulation networks are what they are now.

For example, it is very interesting to see how stem cells in simpler and (evolutionary) very old organisms like hydra, perform multiple functions, they are literally stemming the network.

Thank you Amara for providing this article, much appreciated ;-)