Biogerontologists have identified seven major causes of aging, including cell loss, mutations, and junk accumulation. Proposed solutions include stem cell therapy, removing telomerase genes, moving mitochondrial DNA, finding enzymes to break down harmful molecules, eliminating death-resistant cells, and finding compounds to break down excess cross-links. If all causes can be addressed, humans may live for thousands of years.
Biogerontologists have scientifically studied aging for over a century and have since identified seven major causes of aging. The last cause was discovered in 1981 and no other causes have been found since then, leading many to think that these may be the only ones. In the context of anti-aging research, it has been argued that, if therapies could be devised to remove the toxic effects associated with each of the causes, lifespan could be extended indefinitely. The seven primary causes of aging, as listed by biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey, are cell loss, nuclear mutations and epimutations, mitochondrial mutations, extracellular junk, intracellular junk, cellular senescence, and extracellular crosslinks.
As people age, muscle atrophy occurs, in part due to declining levels of hormones and growth factors. Injecting growth factors or encouraging exercise may alleviate this problem somewhat, although a long-term solution would likely require the use of stem cell therapy.
Due to a variety of causes, the genetic material in the nucleus of cells occasionally mutates, although this cause of aging is kept in check by the massive redundancy of cells in the body. Nuclear mutations are only truly dangerous when they create cancerous cells, which can replicate and overrun the entire body. The proposed solution to this problem is to remove the telomerase genes from all cells in the body. Telomerase is used by cancer cells to ensure their ability to continue to replicate.
The powerhouses of cells are the mitochondria, organelles that produce ATP, the energy currency of all life. Like the nucleus of cells, mitochondria have some of their own genetic material, which is susceptible to mutation. Mutated mitochondria can get out of control and cause severe oxidative damage to tissues in the human body. The proposal to stop this cause of aging is to move mitochondrial DNA into the nucleus, a process that evolution has already been doing for millions of years. The task of the bioengineers would simply be to complete it.
There are various types of intracellular and extracellular junk that accumulate in the body, one example being the amyloid plaque found in Alzheimer’s patients. To counteract this cause of aging, scientists propose to find enzymes that can break down harmful molecules without harming surrounding tissue. The search is currently ongoing.
The two final causes are cellular senescence and extracellular cross-links. In cellular senescence, cells don’t die when they should. Instead, these “death-resistant” cells stick together, take up space, and secrete potentially harmful proteins. Eliminating them requires injecting something that causes these cells to commit suicide while preserving the surrounding cells, or stimulate the immune system to target them as it normally would.
Extracellular cross-links are what cause an older person’s skin to become rough and wrinkled. Cells are normally held together by protein cross-links, but these can become too dense and lead to various health problems. The proposed solution is to find compounds (called AGE-breakers) that break down the excess cross-links.
If all causes of aging can be addressed using biotechnological solutions, then humans may be able to live for thousands of years, provided they don’t die by unnatural means.
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