L͢o͢n͢g͢ ͢L͢i͢v͢e͢ ͢L͢o͢n͢g͢e͢v͢i͢t͢y͢
One of Cambrian Bio’s research projects is in today’s WSJ: “Every year that you’re alive, your risk of dying increases by 10%. We all know, of course, that we’re more likely to die as we get older and accept this as a fact of nature. If you cast the net a bit wider, however, this fact of nature appears less immutable. Some kinds of salamanders and fish, tiny pond creatures called hydra, and burrow-dwelling rodents called naked mole-rats all have a risk of death unrelated to how long ago they were born.
So do we humans have to age the way we do? Rapid progress in the biology of aging is leading us to wonder whether humans could take our first tentative steps towards negligible senescence by treating the aging process itself. The aim of biogerontologists working in this fast-developing field is to maximize not lifespan but healthspan: the number of years we spend free from disease, disability and impairment. No one wants to live to 130 if it includes a 50-year stint in a nursing home at the end. Extended healthy life is less attention-getting than eternal life, but pursuing preventive treatments that target the underlying cause of most human suffering could lead there and to a profound revolution in medicine.
Already, therapies to combat cell senescence—senolytics—are undergoing human trials. There are currently at least 20 startups trying to transfer senolytics from the lab to the clinic. These efforts target specific diseases in which senescent cells are known to be key villains. A team including scientists at the Mayo Clinic who first demonstrated senolytics in mice is working to use the same drug cocktail to treat age-related lung fibrosis.
Aging causes 85% of deaths in the U.S. but receives just 6% of government health research funding—substantially less than research into diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s that aging causes. The amount of funding for research into actually treating aging is even smaller, while treating the chronic diseases of aging is a huge component of health costs.”
— https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-remedy-for-our-diseases-aging-less-11618003335
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