Research has shown that the length of telomeres, which form a “cap” on the end of chromosomes, play a major role in aging. Shortened telomeres are a hallmark of many “premature aging” diseases. Several studies have shown exercise can preserve telomere length in humans, particularly as humans get older, and thus theoretically slow the aging process. Slowing aging is very different than actually reversing aging, however, but a recent study at Harvard has shown aging can indeed be reversed – in mice.

At Harvard, they bred genetically manipulated mice that lacked an enzyme called telomerase that stops telomeres getting shorter. Without the enzyme, the mice aged prematurely and suffered ailments, including a poor sense of smell, smaller brain size, infertility and damaged intestines and spleens. But when DePinho gave the mice injections to reactivate the enzyme, it repaired the damaged tissues and reversed the signs of ageing.

“These were severely aged animals, but after a month of treatment they showed a substantial restoration, including the growth of new neurons in their brains,” said DePinho.

You may be asking yourself, “If telomerase reverses aging, why aren’t we all taking regular telomerase injections?” While telomerase is very active in embryonic and infant humans, leading to rapid cell division, telomerase becomes less active in most cells as humans get older. As a result, the activation of telomerase in adults can cause these cells to become cancerous and lead to tumor growth. Mice, on the other hand, who continue to produce telomerase throughout their lifetimes, don’t appear to be subject to increased cancer risk.

The next steps for this study will measure whether the newly rejuvenated mice will live longer, healthier lives when compared with their control group brethren. Ultimately, while this study provides fascinating insights into one of the causes of aging, scientists have a long way to go before they might apply these findings toward practical anti-aging therapies for humans.

You predict we’ll reach a point with artificial intelligence that you call the singularity. How will that affect us?

By the time we get to the 2040s, we’ll be able to multiply human intelligence a billionfold. That will be a profound change that’s singular in nature. Computers are going to keep getting smaller and smaller. Ultimately, they will go inside our bodies and brains and make us healthier, make us smarter. We’ll be online all the time. Search engines won’t wait to be asked.

Probably nothing new here for those well-versed in Kurzweil’s ideas, but it’s still neat to see transhumanist ideas being published in a magazine with as wide a circulation as TIME.

Why the Singularity isn’t going to happen (10/16/10) – “That is how Singularity-level technologies work in real life. They solve dire problems, sure. They save lives. But they also create problems we’d never imagined – problems that might have been inconceivable before that Singularity tech was invented.” (io9)

Artificial intelligence has a feel for laboratory science (10/14/10) - “‘The artificial experimenter will provide a tool for scientists, which will not only allow them to reduce experimentation costs, but will also allow them to redirect their time from monotonous characterisation experiments, to analysing the results, building theories and determining uses for those results,’ say the researchers in their paper.” (The Engineer)

In New Study, Babies Think A Silvery Robot Is Human, As Long As It Acts Friendly (10/14/10) – “At 18 months old, babies have begun to make conscious delineations between sentient beings and inanimate objects. But as robots get more and more advanced, those decisions may become harder to make. What causes a baby to decide a robot is more than bits of metal? As it turns out, it takes more than humanoid looks–babies rely on social interaction to make that call.” (PopSci)

Scary Smart: The Next Trillion-Dollar Industry (10/12/10) – “I’m convinced the next trillion-dollar industry will be built around all the stuff that makes us smarter. This would include things that go into our bodies–performance-enhancing supplements and drugs, chip implants and the like–and such traditional tools as smartphones, Web search and databases.” (Forbes.com)

Two Days Among The Immortals (10/11/10) - “Exercise, eat healthy and not too much, sleep well, don’t stress out… and you may well live long enough to live forever.” (h+ Magazine)

However, new research shows too much of a good thing may not be so good, after all. A study from Michigan State University shows “high doses” of fish oil can lead to scary symptoms in mice, including colitis and colon cancer.

The findings were surprising, specifically because DHA has been shown to have some anti-inflammatory properties, according to Fenton: “We hypothesized that feeding fish oil enriched with DHA to mice would decrease the cancer risk; we actually found the opposite. These mice were less equipped to mount a successful immune response to bacteria that increased colon tumors.”

Fenton cautions people may not need to avoid fish oil; what the research shows is needed are guidelines on dosing. With any nutrient, there is a “bell curve” effect. On the left of the curve are those deficient in a nutrient; on the right are those in excess.

She said people already receiving enough omega-3 fatty acids through their normal diet and foods have no need for added supplementation.

While these findings may be alarming for those of us who supplement with fish oil, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, without purchasing the study I can’t comment on what qualifies as a “high dose” given to the mice. In many animal studies, the amount of a substance administered to an animal is far, far beyond levels that are realistically consumed by humans. (If anyone has read the study and would care to enlighten me, I would appreciate it!)

Second, evidence indicates humans evolved to have a roughly 1:1 to 2:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in our diets. Current “Western diets” contain about 15 times the level of omega-6 than we should be consuming. This overabundance of omega-6 can lead to a number of diseases, including cancer, inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases. Taking a regular dose of high quality fish oil, in addition to reducing your consumption of foods high in omega-6, can correct this ratio and may help protect against these diseases.

Third, physicians already do not recommend high doses of fish oil due to potentially unpleasant side effects, including increased risk of bleeding and reduced immune system activity, particularly among those with impaired immune systems to begin with. Therefore, it’s not surprising that this study found high doses of fish oil had a negative effect on immune system function. That said, human studies have administered up to 12 grams per day and beyond, and some health experts advise higher doses than that, at least temporarily.

Ultimately, those of us who regularly supplement with fish oil, even in doses beyond that recommended by the NIH, should have nothing to fear from this study.*

*Note. I’m no doctor. If you’re nervous about any supplement, including fish oil, talk to a qualified professional.

Add another potential benefit to omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil: they may preserve telomere length, thus protecting against cellular aging.

A study in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed patients who had the highest levels of EHA+DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid found in cold weather fish) had the slowest rates of telomere shortening over 5 years. On the contrary, those patients with the lowest levels of EHA+DHA experienced the fastest rate of shortening.

Leukocyte telomere length is an emerging marker of biological age that independently predicts morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases.28In this longitudinal study, we observed that baseline levels of ma- rine omega-3 fatty acids were associated with decelerated telomere attrition over 5 years. The association was linear and persisted after adjustment for potential confounders. These findings raise the possibility that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease.

The study authors pose two potential mechanisms for how omega-3 fish oil may protect telomeres. In the first, omega-3 fatty acids may protect against oxidative stress. In the second, omega-3s may increase the activity of the enzyme telomerase, which can preserve telomeres.

The full study is available on Scribd for the time being, so be sure to check it out. It’s fascinating and another reminder that I should be more vigilant about taking my regular spoonfuls of fish oil every day.

In this article from AlterNet, a writer discusses the “Bizarre Libertarian Plan of Uploading Brains into Robots to Escape Society.” Setting aside his mistaken presumption that all transhumanists share a libertarian political persuasion (although several prominent voices do), he describes several advanced technologies and concepts central to transhumanist thought and comes to the following conclusion:

No one wants to die, but the thought of living forever among narcissistic libertarian cyborgs makes death’s cold embrace seem more like a squishy hug from the Easter Bunny.

Now AlterNet is a “liberal” blog, but I think this post would have been far more interesting had it compared the approach to transhuman concepts from both a libertarian viewpoint and a democratic transhumanist viewpoint as espoused by thinkers like Dr. James Hughes or George Dvorsky.

Politics aside, though, this article does illustrate how most people view transhumanism. First, these technologies are so radical it’s difficult for most people to wrap their minds around them As a result, transhumanist thinkers get labeled as, at best, idealists, and at worst, cranks. Second, even if you convince people that these technologies are feasible and are on their way, it’s a challenge to convince them that they’re desirable. I’m still amazed more people aren’t enthusiastic about the concept that they might never have to die a natural death.

Transhumanism’s struggle in the near future will be portraying itself in ways that aren’t scary, weird or off-putting. Even so, as transhumanist technologies advance I expect a much larger (and organized) backlash. Good, proactive PR can go a long way toward helping to mitigate negative sentiment.

The researchers, who studied more than 1,000 people over the age of 100, identified a set of 150 unique genetic markers that, taken together, are linked to extreme longevity. They acknowledged they didn’t know all the genes involved, nor their exact function in extending old age.

“This is an extremely complex trait that involves many processes,” said lead researcher Paola Sebastiani, a biostatistician at BU’s School of Public Health. Even so, “we can compute your specific predisposition to exceptional longevity.”

The researchers said they had no plans to patent the technique nor profit from it. Instead, they expect to make a free test kit available on the Internet later this month to foster longevity research.

The free test will be offered by the the New England Centenarian Study and can tell you whether you have the unique genetic characteristics that will increase your chances of living past 100. However, there’s a catch – you’ve got to provide them with your complete genome sequence, which will cost several thousand dollars. That said, the price has been rapidly falling, and you may be able to purchase this service for a mere $30 in the next few years.

He also provides his opinion on who is helping bring about this potential future:

Ok, so who is working towards this eventuality? Well, if it happens this way, pretty much everybody in the NBIC fields – everybody working on nanotech and biotech and AI and brain science, whether as citizen scientists in a collaborationist project or working for a corporation, or those wacky surrealists at DARPA – they’re all pushing this potentiality forward. Of course, we may have to “hijack the singularity” from them eventually – or even now (think gene patent v. open source bio). But mainly, I think all the people who are engaging in open source collaborationist tinkering and culture, the citizen scientists – particularly the more sophisticated and educated young people that are choosing to invest themselves in “garage” projects – I think they all may be taking us there.

I also think the best, smartest critics and skeptics and SF writers and creators are helping – by problematizing these scenarios in advance, by giving us arguments and narratives that remind us about human behaviors and emotions and political and economic and scientific realities. Brilliant fiction adds to our foresight… our pattern recognition… by playing out dramatic, difficult, dark, challenging, ambiguous or dystopian scenarios based on similar technological possibilities.

Like all of R.U. Sirius’ writings, it’s well worth reading.

One of the great things about TED is that, while the conferences are fairly exclusive, they put up video from their presentations online for all of us to benefit. While there are many presentations worth watching out of the 600+ videos that can be found on the TED site, here are my favorite five talks on transhumanist topics:

Aimee Mullins on running (February 1998)

Aimee Mullins garnered attention as a record-setting runner who also happens to be a double amputee. She successfully competed against able-bodied athletes while at Georgetown University on carbon fiber legs that were modeled after those of a cheetah. At TED1998 she spoke about her experiences running in college and at the paralympics, and the challenges she experienced using her then-revolutionary prosthetics.

Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives (February 2003)

Roboticist Rodney Brooks, Director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, spoke in 2003 about how robots would be increasingly integrated into our lives. While advancements in robotics have come a long way since Brooks gave this presentation, a lot of this is still very applicable today, especially his demonstration on how we will provide direction to robots on how to perform complex tasks.

Nick Bostrom on our biggest problems (July 2005)

Philosopher Nick Bostrom, founder of the World Transhumanist Association (Now Humanity+) and current director of Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, presented on humanity’s three biggest problems, including death, existential risk and that “life isn’t usually as wonderful as it could be.” He talks through how humans would need to change, as well as how we would have to change the world around us, to address these issues.

Ray Kurzweil on how technology will transform us (February 2005)

At TED2005, Ray Kurzweil provided an overview of his Law of Accelerating Returns and how it will affect the development of nanotechnology, the growth of computing, and how we will eventually merge with our technology. This is a great overview of many of Kurzweil’s thoughts that he addresses in his books, particularly The Singularity is Near.

Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging (July 2005)

Aubrey de Grey, gerontologist and author of Ending Aging, presented in 2005 on why defeating aging is desirable, why we need to begin serious discussions of radical longevity, feasibility of radical longevity, why humans accept aging, and how we can actually begin to significantly extend lifespans.

EDIT 3/23/10: I clarified some language in the blurb about Aubrey de Grey’s presentation.

David Rollo, a professor of biology at McMaster has found a cocktail of 30 dietary supplements such as B vitamins, vitamin D, ginseng and garlic counteracts symptoms of aging in mice.

The experiment was prompted by research that suggests single vitamin and antioxidant pills don’t work. The researchers wondered if mixing the ingredients would.

Rollo said the results were profound, as not only were the mice twice as active, they also seemed to get smarter.

When researchers examined the animals’ brains, they found the cells were generating fewer of the free radicals that cause aging — evidence that they say shows the supplements make a difference.

Perhaps Ray Kurzweil is on to something with his 250 supplements a day?

(Via Primal Wisdom)