The Science and Technology of Growing Young

Can you imagine living to 100, 150, or even 200 years of age… and beyond? Better yet, enjoying those extra years while staying healthy, vigorous, and mentally adept?

In The Science and Technology of Growing Young, Sergey Young explains why this radical concept is not only possible, but inevitable.

It starts with the idea that aging itself is not an inescapable process, but a curable condition.

Unlike other longevity books that are viewed through the lens of a scientist or medical doctor, The Science and Technology of Growing Young was written by an investor-author with his finger on the pulse of dozens of companies on the cutting edge of longevity science.

In his latest book, Young shares his firsthand knowledge of these remarkable breakthroughs.

He identifies the Near Horizon of Longevity—those developments that will allow us to live to 150 (some of which are already in use, like gene editing and organ regeneration).

He also introduces the Far Horizon of Longevity—the future of age-reversal (including digital avatars and AI-brain integration) that could allow us to experience age 200 and beyond.

In addition to revealing the latest scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs gathered from leading health entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, and inventors, The Science and Technology of Growing Young provides practical advice for ways to live better right now for increased longevity.

Young believes that following these steps will help people live long enough to be able to take advantage of the latest technologies when they become available.

The following brief excerpts from The Science and Technology of Growing Young provide insight into Sergey Young’s innovative thinking on achieving practical longevity.

—Laurie Mathena

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS DRIVING THE LONGEVITY REVOLUTION

Scientists now understand far better than ever before the relationship between genes and aging.

And while our genes do not significantly change from birth to death, our epigenome—the system of chemical modifications around our genes that determine how our genes are expressed—does.

The date on your birth certificate, it turns out, is but a single way to determine age. The biological age of your epigenome, many longevity scientists now believe, is far more important.

Best of all, however, science is beginning to offer ways to alter both your genome and epigenome for a healthier, longer life.

New technologies like CRISPR-Cas9 and other gene-editing tools are empowering doctors with the extraordinary ability to actually insert, delete, or alter an individual’s genes.

In the not-terribly-distant future, we will be able to remove or suppress genes responsible for diseases and insert or amplify genes responsible for long life and health.

GENE EDITING IN PRACTICE

The hereditary trait that causes sickle-cell anemia affects tens of millions worldwide, including as many as 30% of sub-Saharan Africans, and up to three million African Americans.

The bone marrow of those with sickle-cell anemia produces abnormally shaped red blood cells that are unable to carry oxygen to the body. This often leads to fatigue, frequent infections, and sudden and excruciating bouts of pain.

Sickle-cell anemia also leads to premature death.

Victoria Gray was just three months old the first time she endured a sickle-cell attack. By the time she was 34 years old, the condition had already gotten so bad that she could no longer walk or feed herself.

Then one day, doctors at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) in Nashville, Tennessee, threw Gray a lifeline: she became the first patient to be treated with a new treatment called CRISPR-Cas9, a new form of genetic engineering.

Using this new technology, doctors at the SCRI removed bone marrow from Gray’s body and altered the genes of her cells. The procedure effectively “edited” the defect, the way you might go through the lines of a book and correct typos or alter words.

Doctors then reintroduced billions of these enhanced cells back into her body to see if they would start doing their job properly.

One year after the treatment, Gray appeared to be doing marvelously.

While SCRI researchers hoped that at least 20% of Gray’s red blood cell system would be positively affected by the procedure, when they checked nine months later, the vast majority of bone marrow cells and hemoglobin proteins found in Gray’s body appeared to be functioning effectively.

More importantly, her pain attacks and hospital visits had ceased completely!

While it is still too early to declare this procedure a cure for sickle-cell anemia, it has at least for the moment completely rehabilitated the life of Victoria Gray.

In laboratories around the world, gene editing is being used to tackle Huntington’s disease, Lyme disease, congenital blindness, and many more conditions.

When perfected, gene editing technology will have the ability to correct 89% of the known hereditary human diseases.

The FDA has stated that it expects to approve 10 to 20 new gene and cell therapies per year by the year 2025. This will drive the cost of gene therapy down and make it available for a wide range of health conditions.

CART-CELL THERAPY

Gene therapy works by effectively providing cells with genes that produce necessary proteins in patients whose own genes cannot produce them.

This process is already being applied to a few rare diseases, but it will soon become a common and incredibly effective medical approach.

Probably the most revolutionary area of gene therapy today is CAR T-cell therapy—a cancer treatment method by which scientists modify a patient’s own immune-system T cells to fight the specific type of cancer they have.

These T cells are equipped in a lab with the antigen receptors they need to latch on to and kill cancer cells, based on the specific characteristics of the cancer cells. The T cells are then reintroduced to the body, where they destroy the cancer cells and then remain on watch for the cancer to return.

CAR T-cell therapy may very well end the scourge of cancer, which takes an estimated 10 million lives per year.

EXAMPLE

Emily Whitehead was the first pediatric patient to receive CAR T-cell therapy, when she was just seven years old. Emily was in hospice care—her last stand in a severe battle against leukemia.

Within a few days of receiving her highly experimental CAR T-cell therapy, the treatment started to work.

After a few weeks, she was in such strong remission that she was no longer considered terminal. Best of all, the CAR T cells remain on duty inside Emily to this day, remembering and watching for her cancer to come back, for the rest of Emily’s life.

Hundreds more like her are alive today after receiving CAR T-cell therapy. It is as close to a “cure” for cancer as we have today, with up to 80% of those receiving the treatment surviving.

IMPORTANCE OF EARLY DIAGNOSTICS

Early and accurate detection of diseases is the key to addressing the prevention of the “premature death” dimension of longevity.

Of the nearly 60 million lives lost around the globe each year, more than 30 million are attributed to conditions that are reversible if caught early.

We live in a world of “reactive medicine.” Most people do not have advanced batteries of diagnostic tests unless they’re experiencing problems.

But not for long.

Soon, health care will move from being “reactive” to being “proactive.”

The key to this shift will be low-cost, ubiquitous, connected devices that constantly monitor your health.

Very soon, wearable, portable, and embeddable devices will radically reduce premature death from diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease, and in doing so, add years, if not decades, to global life expectancy.

They will constantly monitor your heart rate, your respiration, your temperature, your skin secretions, the contents of your urine and feces, free-floating DNA in your blood that may indicate cancer or other disease, and even the organic contents of your breath.

EXAMPLE

After it was discovered that dogs can use their highly sensitive noses to detect cancer, UK firm Owlstone produced a handheld diagnostic mask that measures volatile organic compounds (VOCs) transferred from your blood to your breath.

This “breath biopsy” can diagnose inflammation, infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic conditions, and eight different types of cancer.

In a 2016 study of 2,500 smokers and nonsmokers, the Owlstone breath biopsy accurately identified 42 people with lung cancer. Of those subjects, 90% had a curable, early stage of the disease.

SENOLYTIC LONGEVITY PILLS

Dr. Judith Campisi and others have pioneered a new class of potential longevity pills called senolytics, which target and destroy zombie senescent cells.

Cellular senescence is the natural process whereby cells reach their capacity for division and finally take themselves out of service. When senescence proceeds smoothly, expired cells are absorbed by the body and their useful contents recycled.

When they reach the end of their natural life cycle, they sometimes stick around in a kind of “zombie state” instead of being reabsorbed. They become inflamed and begin sending chemical signals to adjacent cells to also become zombies.

High levels of zombie cells in the body are linked to heart disease, diabetes, dementia, osteoporosis, kidney disease, liver failure, and lung conditions.

In studies by Campisi and other researchers, senolytic molecules like dasatinib and quercetin successfully destroyed these zombie cells in mice, subsequently curing or preventing age-related conditions in the lungs, cardiovascular system, bones, and kidneys.

The mice given these senolytics also lived 36% longer than mice that were not.

In 2019, the Mayo Clinic’s resident senescent cell expert Dr. James Kirkland released the results of the first clinical trial exploring the use of senolytics to treat age-related diseases in humans.

In a small, short study of just 14 patients with pulmonary fibrosis, dasatinib and quercetin improved the condition of the subjects in just three weeks.

Another Kirkland study, released later that year, showed that senolytic drugs indeed reduce the number of senescent cells in humans.

LONGEVITY SUPPLEMENTS

Berkeley biochemist Bruce Ames created a list of nutrients that he theorizes are needed for the body’s most important undertakings. When there are enough of these nutrients in the body to go around, they are used to protect the body from aging.

But when there is a shortage, the body prioritizes immediate survival and reproduction over repair of damaged cells.

Of the 41 nutrients on his list, Ames thinks vitamin D, omega-3, magnesium, quinone, and carotenoids—are critical.

Quercetin and its senolytic sister fisetin are also both naturally occurring fruit flavonoids that are available over the counter as supplements.

Many supplements are probably good for longevity. I, myself, take 40 to 50 supplements per day.

PRACTICAL STEPS FOR LONGEVITY

First, early diagnosis is critical for the prevention of disease and age-related decline. This recommendation is not number one on my list by accident. I recommend that you get yourself checked regularly, and as comprehensively as possible, within your means.

At a minimum, you should have a complete annual physical exam that includes blood count and metabolic blood chemistry panels, a thyroid panel, and testing to reveal potential deficiencies in nutrients such as vitamin D, vitamin B, iron, and magnesium. If you are sexually active, you should also be checked for STDs.

Second, eat early, and less often.

Awareness of the relationship between caloric restriction (CR) and longevity goes back to the 1930s, when Cornell animal husbandry professor Clive McCay discovered that rats who were underfed by 30% to 50% not only became healthier than their normally fed littermates but they also lived 33% longer.

These experiments have been successfully repeated in one form or another in worms, mice, rats, rhesus monkeys, and humans.

Caloric restriction predictably reduces common health problems like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and cognitive decline. It reduces the likelihood of obesity and insulin resistance. It preserves immune system function.

And, in animal subjects, at least, it results in as much as an 80% increase in lifespan.

LIVING TO 100

Living to at least age 100 is within reach for most people on the planet today.

In the United States, 50% currently make it past 83 years old and 25% past 90. In Japan, 51% of girls and 27% of boys born today are expected to reach 90.

Going forward, these numbers will only improve for anyone who follows a longevity-optimized lifestyle. The middle-aged today can still add 10 to 15 years of extra life, while for those in their twenties, adding up to an additional quarter century should be a piece of (sugar-free, low-carb) cake!

If you would like to stay alive longer, then my advice to you is to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible, until you are able to take advantage of the next horizon of innovation.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension Wellness Specialist at 1-866-864-3027.

 

Reprinted with permission from BenBella Books, publisher of The Science and Technology of Growing Young by Sergey Young.

Sergey Young is a longevity investor and visionary with a mission to extend the healthy lifespan of one million people. He is founder of the $100 million

Longevity Vision Fund, one of the few funds specializing exclusively in longevity and helping to accelerate longevity breakthroughs. He is also Development Sponsor of Age Reversal XPRIZE, a global initiative designed to cure aging and age-related diseases.

To order a copy of The Science and Technology of Growing Young, call 1-800-544-4440 or visit www.LifeExtension.com

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