Readers of The Niche know that I lean skeptical about many of the statements from some corners of the longevity or anti-aging field.
The Niche has covered research about senolytics, questionable stem cell efforts at longevity (unproven stem cells, etc.), in vivo reprogramming, and more.
It’s a gemish of interesting data, hype, and many things in between.
Longevity gray zones
Some things fall into gray zones.
For instance, the idea of epigenetic and other aging or health clocks has been growing on me a bit since reading more, but they still have a long way to go. They aren’t really ready to be used to measure small changes (say a few years) in biological age due to interventions. Things like eating more veggies such as kale for a month or taking an expensive supplement for a year are unlikely to be measurable in terms of impacts on biological age as assessed by these clock models.
One problem is what tissue to measure. Most clocks just assess blood cells or other biologics in blood. Measuring the apparent biological age of blood cells is not necessarily going to be a good surrogate for the age of your internal organs.
But those organs are hard to sample. Want to give me a little piece of your brain so I can analyze its DNA methylation? So I can measure those telomeres in the “little gray cells”? Uh, no.
In vivo reprogramming is an exciting idea but a hard one to master. If you get it wrong, you don’t just see nothing happen. You probably get many tumors.
Where are we now on longevity research and more biohacking-like stuff?
Biotechs are getting into this area too. Look at Altos Labs, a unique kind of biotech institute. It’s a powerhouse, but even it has not yet revolutionized longevity in its few years of existence. This kind of research takes decades.
Someone asked me, where are we right now on the emerging anti-aging technologies? Biomedical science can help the average person live a longer, healthier life, but the possibility of extending the maximum human lifespan much beyond the 120s is not looking much brighter than it was decades ago.
The broader idea of “curing” aging in a general sense, remains elusive. Maybe it’s just not doable. To think about a cure here you also have to buy into the idea of aging as a disease, which I’m not sure I do.
Stem cell clinics love the idea of longevity as a disease. They are increasingly selling stem cell procedures that they claim, largely baselessly, help reverse aging.
Okay, on to the more fun part of this post.
The Immortal’s To-Do List
I asked Google’s Gemini to write a satirical poem about anti-aging and out came the below, which knocked my socks off:
“I nibbled broccoli, green and grand, Felt youth surge through the promised land. A single floret, crisp and bold, Surely added years, I’m told!
Then gulped a supplement, neon bright, For collagen and youthful light. It promised skin of dewy sheen, Like I was barely seventeen. My gut then rumbled, quite confused, But surely health can be infused!
A weekly scan, a daily poke, To chase the aging, cruel joke. My telomeres, a constant dread, Are they still long inside my head? A dozen tests, from blood to brain, To prove I’m not in slow decline again. “Your levels look… peculiar, dear,” The doctor chirped, dispelling fear. “Just add more herbs, and less of fun, Your youthful race is far from done!”
I meditate, I purge, I cleanse, Avoid all joy that life extends. No cake, no wine, no hearty laugh, Just kale and quinoa, in my bath. For every wrinkle, every sigh, I ask, “What bogus thing can I Now buy or chew or meekly try, To cheat the clock and never die?”
So watch me glow, a verdant saint, My vibrancy a self-made paint. Though deeply bored and quite morose, At least I’m boosting my life’s dose!”
It’s a savage poem in many ways. I couldn’t have done a better job of highlighting some of the more extreme statements from longevity practices.
How about enjoying life too?
One of the key threads through this poem is the sad sacrifice of certain joys of life in attempts at extending life.
I believe that some of the more intense efforts at combating aging stand a good chance of not only reducing the quality of life but paradoxically also the length. As I’ve written before, trying to cheat death can kill you sooner.
I also reviewed a recent preprint about an “amazing” but secret gene SB000 that supposedly can can make cells younger without turning them into iPS cells.
In addition, The Niche covered some potential natural stem cell boosts that could aid health or aging, but these are generally common sense things that are no easy fixes. Eat a plant-based diet. Exercise. Sleep better.
Nothing about magic pills.
I’d say enjoying life does not get enough attention in the longevity space.