How do old cells in adult humans give rise to the youthful cells found in infants? New research suggests they reset to their lowest biological age in early embryonic development, with potential ramifications for longevity science.
For a long time, it was assumed that germline cells—those that form eggs and sperm and pass a parent’s genetic information on to their children—were essentially ageless. But how this could be was never clear and more recent research had shown that germline cells do accumulate the signs of aging.
This led to the conclusion that there must be some kind of rejuvenation event that allows the offspring’s cells to start with a clean slate. But when and how this occurs was a mystery.
Now a team from Harvard has shown that the age of mouse embryo cells resets about a week into development, representing the “ground zero” of aging. The finding not only provides insight into the fundamental dynamics of aging, but also suggests we might mimic the process in adult cells to rejuvenate aging tissues.
Edd Gent
June 28, 2021
Harvard Scientists Pinpoint ‘Ground Zero’ of Aging in Mouse Embryo Study
[I had often wondered about this. If old age is caused, primarily, by the shortening of telomeres, then how do embryos get normal length telomeres from non-infant parents? I figured that someone must know, it’s such an obvious question. And the obvious follow up question of, “Can we replicate this restoration of telomeres in an organism?” Must have an answer similar to, “No, it only happens during the union of a single sperm and egg.”
That these were unanswered questions has incredible consequences now that answers are being discovered.—Joe]
I am sure there are billionaires who would just LOVE to reset their telomeres every decade, and stay in that healthy, active 20-30 age range, while continuing to grow their wealth and loot the rest of the world, making us normal people all slaves, as the rich grow ever more decadent and depraved looking for the next high of excitement. Of course, I’m sure they’d want to largely depopulate the world so more of it is like a nature preserve, and there are enough resources to go around for the remaining half-billion or so Eloi they keep around.
Because of this fear, I’m sure this will develop into a technology that will only be deployed on the most moral, learned, wise and just individuals, in order to maintain a sense of historical continuity….
Ya, I’m with you on this one Rolf. I see very little good to come from giving humans immortally. Their nature being what it is. (Wicked beyond belief.)
In a previous conversation, a coworker mention this. I asked him if he liked sweating all day, ass-deep in concrete? To pay a 100 year mortgage on that crap-box house that wouldn’t last 50?
The problem is the way we perceive ourselves.
Were slaves. And slaves breed slaves.
Don’t think you are? Tried getting away from Bezos, Gates, or Soro lately? (Just to name a few of the front men.)
As Dylan sang; Your going to have to serve somebody. It might be the devil. Or it might be the lord. But your going to have to serve somebody.
No thanks, I already did 40 years at hard labor. The useless eater handle suits me just fine now. Thank you.
Pretty sure this is what the oligarchs have in mind.
“Doctor, you mentioned the ration of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?”
“Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature”
– General Buck Turgidson & Dr Strangelove
This, even if pans out, will not be a sliver bullet. Aging is more than just length of the telomeres. Just look at blood vessel growth which continues unabated and as the network grows it becomes less and less efficient with more space taken by the blood vessels. And there are cells that never reproduce, such as the eye.
Odd. I just had a Nigerian scientist email me that he has unlocked this very same secret and will gladly send me a vial of his new serum.
For a long time, it was assumed that germline cells—those that form eggs and sperm and pass a parent’s genetic information on to their children—were essentially ageless. But how this could be was never clear and more recent research had shown that germline cells do accumulate the signs of aging.
Having known many people who had to use in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to have children, we discovered that there is a HUGE difference in egg cell quality — and viability — if the eggs are harvested from a 29 year old woman versus a 39 year old.
Sperm quality declines with age, too, but not as much or as quickly as egg cells.
Even if the germline cells or embryos are cryogenically preserved for years, the quality and viability remain the same as when they were harvested.
The practical science behind it all can be fascinating stuff.
To throw a curve in here, I came across a reference to a fertility clinic that was having a 100% failure rate successfully fusing egg and sperm if either donor had been given one of the Covid “vaccinations.” Not willing to go on record for obvious reasons, but it matches up with other available data. If that proves true over time, that’s going to throw a kink in a lot of plans, especially if it includes natural conception too.
Actually the odds are very high that eventually, now that we know it IS possible to
“reset” telomeres and restart the aging clock science will eventually find a way to
do this in an existing organism….and eventually humans. That is if we don’t regress back to the dark ages societally. And it does raise a LOT of questions,
from ethics to economics to the notion that EVERYONE is entitled to benefit from such scientific advances. One can only hope that we find a feasible and economic way to climb out of our gravity well and colonize other worlds. If not the earth is doomed…..we already have a population issue. Imagine how much worse it would get if people started living MUCH longer lives.
War, disease, murder, and agreeing to pre-set euthanasia data so you can have a much longer young and healthy period before dying at 91 exactly (after 16 years of retirement looking and feeling like a 30 year old, and a 45 year life looking and feeling 25) might have its upsides. Yeah, people would likely try to do a Logan’s Run near the end, but that’s what war, murder, and bounty-hunters are for.
I plan to upload my brain into a giant killer robot before I die. 🙂
Dan, we don’t need to colonize anywhere else. Every person on the face of this planet would fit in Africa, with 2 sq. miles to themselves.
The problem is that were not rising the level of society to think in terms like the west.
Our population is actually declining. Right? We think in terms of quality of life for our children. So we refrain from having them. The third world doesn’t.
We have the tech to rise the worlds standard of living to our own. Without destroying it. But we instead dream of the stars.
Ask yourself this. Why would a very smart man like Elon Musk sell electric, (read coal fired) cars to people if he wanted to save the planet?
When we could get a 25% boost in gas mileage just by replacing the piston engine? With something more along the lines of a turbine?
Almost every element we’ve ever mined is right there in the garbage dump waiting to be reworked. (can’t destroy matter.)
Almost everything that comes out of government and industries mouth is a lie. Why?
If there was a just god, Why would he let us off this planet?
And if there isn’t one. Why do we refuse to take responsible action to make this one better?
Humans don’t require all that much space. What they DO require is NUMEROUS SQUARE MILES of land for the RESOURCES needed to allow them to live a modern life style. THAT is the problem with population growth…..everyone wants to live a high class first world life. Something that takes LOTS OF RESOURCES.
And if everyone lived in Africa with 2 sq. miles apiece. I wonder what would be going on in the rest of the earth?
And most of the resources we consume in a modern society are energy based. Which is very renewable.
Like I said, most human problems are inter-relational based. Mostly because we refuse to control ourselves.
The idea of running off to another planet to escape them seems fanciful at best.
But, spending as much money as we do on it is just an insane distraction.
Why hasn’t Elon Musk figured out how to put out wildfires with drones? Sure would be handy not having all those resources out west going up in smoke every year?
So if there is embryonic reset of cells, doesn’t that undermine the “just a clump of cells” narrative and argue for personhood. Not that the “party of science” will give a rip.
I suspect that there’s a reason much of the animal kingdom loses the ability to regenerate telomeres after some early life stage: it gives them a good chance of getting through their lives without being killed by cancer.
Cancer begins with a mutation in a single cell that disables the (unknown) mechanism that detects when enough cells have formed and stops cell division, probably along with a second mutation that prevents repairing the DNA or cell death when the DNA cannot be repaired. This allows that cell to divide many times and form a lump of parasitical mutant cells – but if that’s the last mutation, the cancerous cells will die when they use up their telomeres and start losing functional DNA in each cell division. So another mutation is needed to re-enable resetting the telomeres in the cancerous cells.
IMO, the need for 3 (or more) specific mutations together makes cancer unlikely enough that you have a decent chance of living a normal lifespan without developing tumors that threaten life or function. Restore the ability to reset telomeres and you’ve in effect introduced one of these mutations.
At least one more mutation will be required eventually. A lump of cells simply growing uncontrollably will not include working blood vessels. It gets food and oxygen only from intracellular fluid filtering in, and when it gets too big, the cells in the middle die of starvation. So another mostly-embryonic process must be restarted: emitting whatever hormones attract the growth of blood vessels. (These must be made from normal cells that divide as needed to fit the pattern, and grow from existing blood vessels into and back out of the tumor.) Finally, for full-blown cancer this mutation or another one must enable cancerous cells to slip into those blood vessels and ride the bloodstream to plant more tumors in other places. Otherwise, it’s still a “benign tumor”, possible to completely remove surgically or to kill by focused radiation, etc.