New rejuvenation therapy, longevity grandmother of 11, first birhtday party
Plus, the mindset that extends your life
Longevity Hound
February 01, 2024
Welcome to the latest issue of The Longevity Newsletter, bringing you the latest longevity breakthroughs and news.
Today, we have a new therapy that rejuvenates mice like never before… a grandmother of 11 who happens to be a top rejuvenation Olympian… and a first birthday party that you are attending. Let’s dig in.
GOOD FOR THE MICE DEPT.
New therapy removes senescent cells, rejuvenates old mice, and keeps young mice from aging
Corina Amor Vargas, one of the lead scientists in this new study
What's the news: Genetically engineered T cells hunt down senescent cells in mice with bodywide rejuvenation effects.
Why should we believe it: This news is based on a new study published last week by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The scientists engineered a special chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells that targets senescent cells (which accumulate during aging with harmful effects). The result of this therapy:
Treated mice had lower body weight, improved metabolism and glucose tolerance
Treated mice showed increased physical activity
The effects persisted after just one treatment
"If we give it to aged mice, they rejuvenate. If we give it to young mice, they age slower. No other therapy right now can do this."
Why this is a big deal: Senescent cell removal is one of the main approaches to extending healthspan and youthspan. However, most anti-senescence studies so far used small drug-like molecules, which need to be given continuously and can have side-effects.
On the other hand, this CAR T cell therapy uses the body's own cells to hunt down senescent cells. To make things even better, this therapy only needs to be given once to persist. To make it even, even better, CAR T cell therapy is already approved in humans as a cancer treatment, and adapting it to fight senescence might be a straightforward task.
So what's next: As Harvard's David Sinclair pointed out, this research is very exciting, but two immediate questions pop up. The first is if this treatment negatively impacts wound healing (since senescent cells, in spite of all their problems, do contribute to normal wound healing).
The second is whether this CAR T treatment extends life and not just healthspan. The good news is, the same team is already working on answering this question. Whatever they might find, the future of longevity is looking bright.
IRREVOCABLY PERSONAL DEPT.
Amy Hardinson, top rejuvenation athlete and grandmother to 11
Amy Hardison, reporting from her age-defying elliptical machine
Who we're talking about: Amy Hardison, a 64-year-old mother of four and grandmother to 11.
And the news is: Hardison is currently sitting at #5 in the Rejuvenation Olympics absolute leaderboard, one spot above Rejuvenation Olympics founder Bryan Johnson. According to the Dunedin PACE test, Hardison is aging just 0.714 biological years for every chronological year.
How does Hardison slow aging? She uses a very modest and simple longevity regimen:
A home-cooked diet, high in fruits, veggies, and lean meats
An hour of aerobic exercise daily, usually either swimming or the elliptical machine
Quality time spent with her many kids and grandkids
A $79/month supplement subscription
Why this is a big deal: Hardison is another top rejuvenation athlete — along with Dave Pascoe and Julie Gibson Clark — who are sitting at the top of Rejuvenation Olympics charts, without adhering to Johnson's expensive and extreme longevity routine.
“I have lived through several decades. I have seen things come and go, so I don’t get too excited about the latest and greatest.”
So what's next? Hardison says she isn't after longevity per se. “I have 20 years, maybe 25 years or so," she says, "and it’s just, what do I want to do to make those the best possible?”
That's a reasonable view to have today. But if Hardison continues living healthy without aging much, and if the same is true for the rest of her family, I suspect her attitudes might change in another decade or two.
AROUND THE WEB
The mindset that extends your life (Peter Diamandis interviews Steven Kotler)
Obesity drugs have another superpower: taming inflammation
DEPT. OF MANY HAPPY RETURNS
Why don’t chimps get scars? Still wondering after one full year…
Exactly one year ago, on February 1st 2023, I sent out the first issue of The Longevity Newsletter, under the image of the chimp above (minus the party hat).
The first issue featured just one story with the headline, Scars turn into normalish skin — thanks to a hair transplant. It went out to exactly one reader — myself.
It's now one year later. I've sent out 52+ issues of The Longevity Newsletter. I've covered a few hundred breakthrough longevity stories. And my audience has grown from just me to over 2,200 longevity enthusiasts, investors, and entrepreneurs.
We'll see whether The Longevity Newsletter will live to 120. But I'm happy with where it's come in one year. My point being:
Time passes so you might as well act now and have compounding — of good habits and of steady investment – act in your favor. This applies whether you're trying to grow a newsletter, to get rich, or simply to stay healthy and youthful for a long time.
I’ll leave you with that thought for this week. As always, thanks for reading The Longevity Newsletter. If you enjoyed this issue, consider forwarding it to someone who would find it interesting as well. I'll be back in your inbox next Thursday, with more practical, inspiring, and fun news based on the latest in longevity science.
- The Longevity Hound
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