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posted by martyb on Thursday January 10 2019, @09:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-clan-Macleod dept.

The anti-cancer drug dasatnib in combination with quercetin being trialed for safety against lung fibrosis has shown impressive anti-aging results.

Participants in the trial were ~70 years old and suffering from pulmonary fibrosis a debilitating and eventually fatal disease. After the trial, 100% of the study showed improvement

participants were able to walk faster, get up from a chair more quickly and scored better in ability tests.

The benefit is a result of removing 'zombie cells' from the body.

Senescent cells - also known as zombie cells - are not completely dead so are not cleared out by the body, but are too damaged to repair tissue or carry out normal functions. Unable to repair itself or clear out the waste, the body gradually deteriorates.

Previously animal studies have shown that removing these cells reverses the ageing process, extends lifespan, and restores lost youth.

Better yet, it does not sound like a pill every day for the rest of your life sort of thing

“It has a hit-and-run effect,” added Dr Kirkland. “The drug starts working quickly and we would ideally like to be able to give it just once a month.”

Of course increasing the cost 30x should nicely take care of that drawback.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @11:37PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @11:37PM (#784726)

    and biological immortality is the side effect?

    Then this planet is effectively fucked.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday January 10 2019, @11:52PM (9 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday January 10 2019, @11:52PM (#784735) Journal

    The planet will do just fine. The human species will spread out, get more efficient, and birth rates will continue to drop.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @01:12AM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @01:12AM (#784773)

      "and birth rates will continue to drop."
      So many people just cannot grok this but if you have true immorality birth rates must drop to ZERO. If No one dies, no one can be born. Because nobody can understand this is a good reason reason to ban age extension research.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Friday January 11 2019, @02:18AM (4 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday January 11 2019, @02:18AM (#784806) Journal

        Biological immortality does not mean zero deaths. There will continue to be plenty of accidents, murders, suicides, unexpected medical crises, etc.

        Because nobody can understand this is a good reason reason to ban age extension research.

        Banning the pursuit of knowledge and healthiness? Great idea.

        Just try to ban it. I dare you.

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
        • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday January 11 2019, @05:14AM (3 children)

          by legont (4179) on Friday January 11 2019, @05:14AM (#784905)
          Also, we might use seniority rule: the less experienced employee citizen is fired put to death first.
          --
          "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
          • (Score: 2) by ewk on Friday January 11 2019, @08:35AM (2 children)

            by ewk (5923) on Friday January 11 2019, @08:35AM (#784954)

            Ehm... the other way around work better... the most experienced citizen is put the death first.

            That way the pursuit of (more) knowledge is culled a lot better. :-)

            --
            I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @01:46PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @01:46PM (#785021)

              The rule that encourages the desired result is:
              Anyone who has a child loses anti-aging treatment privileges

              • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday January 11 2019, @11:38PM

                by legont (4179) on Friday January 11 2019, @11:38PM (#785292)

                Yeah... and abortion rights extended to 21 years old of a child.

                --
                "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Friday January 11 2019, @02:58AM (2 children)

        by fyngyrz (6567) on Friday January 11 2019, @02:58AM (#784836) Journal

        So many people just cannot grok this but if you have true immorality birth rates must drop to ZERO.

        As long as there are people who think it's okay to withhold medical care from others for any reason at all, as well as people to see that they get elected or otherwise reach positions of power, there will be plenty of deaths, don't you worry.

        Fixing this kind of thing will likely take a far back seat to fixing how commonly humans act like vicious, empathy-bereft pond scum.

        Then there are accidents. Various natural catastrophes. Crappy diets. Murder for the usual swath of reasons. Disease. War. Police. Etc.

        TL;DR: Don't you worry your little head about it, there's death a-plenty ahead.

        --
        I'd agree with you, but then
        we would both be wrong.

        • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday January 11 2019, @10:40PM (1 child)

          by deimtee (3272) on Friday January 11 2019, @10:40PM (#785268) Journal

          According to this page, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm [cdc.gov] accidents are about 8% of deaths and suicides 2%.
          Eliminating aging and all diseases while changing nothing else would lead to an average life expectancy of around a thousand years before an accident got you.

          In reality, as people live longer, they often become more risk averse. Those that don't will tend to be the ones who die in avoidable ways like extreme sports.
          The long term result will be a risk averse society (Niven's Puppeteers) that over-engineers stuff to avoid accidents. I would expect that eventually suicide will become a leading cause of death.

          --
          If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
          • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Saturday January 12 2019, @01:46AM

            by fyngyrz (6567) on Saturday January 12 2019, @01:46AM (#785334) Journal

            accidents are about 8% of deaths and suicides 2%.

            Yes, so there will be significant attrition just from those. If we manage to finally get into space, that may change the odds some. It's a very unforgiving environment.

            Niven's Puppeteers

            While I am fond of Niven's writing (and give him credit for nearly everything good Jerry Pournelle ever put his name on), I don't mistake him for a fortune teller.

            I would expect that eventually suicide will become a leading cause of death.

            Possibly. Another factor is the urge to have children might settle down a bit if people knew they didn't have to do that to see their genes wander off into the future. It also makes a lot more sense to have children after you've had enough time to establish material circumstances that are able to support them, and are sure that the current social circumstance is one you'd actually want to raise children in. Right now, I wouldn't have kids, for instance — IMHO, our society is in deep trouble and my undertaking parenting isn't called for.

            There is also always the path of regulation. Never underestimate a regulator... they're prone to committing the most amazing abuses, and the citizens have a very poor record of yanking on their leashes.

            Hard to say how things would actually go, though. The obvious path isn't always the path taken.

            --
            Stupidity is actually a superpower. We learn this when
            we repeatedly fail to defeat it with intelligence.