Book: The Biology of Accelerated Aging, Cancer & Optimal Longevity

For millennia, the aging process has been considered to be uncontrollable, even when the average lifespan did not surpass 40 years, which was just a little over 100 years ago. That changed with Professor Elizabeth Blackburn’s discovery of the telomerase gene. (Source) Furthermore, in the early nineties, research on C. elegans, (a tiny nematode worm) confirmed that a single gene mutation extended its life, and that another mutation blocked that extension. (Source)

The idea that age could be tweaked by twiddling a few control genetic switches ignited a research and investment boom. As more geroscientists and biogerontologists  got better motivated to attempt to break and hack the Longevity Code, new findings started to reveal key biological clocks that epigenically switched on and off longevity genes.

In this perspective, various clinical interventions did increase the worm’s lifespan by a factor of ten and those of lab mice by a factor of two. (Source) Thereafter, telomeres of skin cells were tweaked to lengthen the new unprecedented levels, thanks to a new Lab procedure fine-tuned by Stanford university School of Medicine scientists. These cells were able to divide up to 40 more times more than untreated cells, which means that human somatic cells have been empirically shown to surpass the Hayflick limit and potentially extend their lifespan 40 times more than before. “Skin cells with telomeres lengthened by the procedure were able to divide up to 40 more times than untreated cells”. (Source)

In light of these above-mentioned experimentations, we thus have some limited evidence that we may have in us the regenerative potential to live 40 times more than the Hayflick limit. The Hayflick limit  has been determined to be in between 50 to 70 cellular divisions. After this limit, somatic cells either die or transition into a senescent cell. Seventy divisions are roughly 120 years. Therefore, if we were able to tweak human somatic cells to divide 40 times more than today’s cellular limit, we could potentially live close to 5000 years.  40 times 120 years = 4800 years.

The scientific consensus that human lifespan potential was a little after 100 years old thus transformed almost overnight. The perception of the Aging process went from a few decades of endless struggling to survive to a Darwinian reproduction of the human species that could defer death to 142 years for starts (Cf 2015: Time “This Baby Could Live to Be 142 Years Old”).  Before these discoveries, Time Magazine’s cover in 1958 was: “Growing Old Usefully”), followed by a social issue (Time, 1970: “Growing Old in America: The Unwanted Generation”) to this  “je ne sais quoi” phenomenon (1996: “Forever Young”)

However, the excitement was not long lasting. Successfully tweaking genes in a Petri dish does not necessarily translate into in vivo genetic expressions of supercentenarian lifespan. It was soon discovered that the telomerase enzyme gene was not the central longevity engine anti-aging experts had hoped for. The Longevity Code cook-book is far more complex for mammals and even more so for humans than for a C. Elegans worm, fly, mouse, naked mole, elephant, shark, turtle or even the bat (who has an exceptionally long lifespan).

Hence, the book’s author, Pr. Joubert, prefers to focus on the known “Optimal Longevity” fundamentals that work to at least 122 years of age while simultaneously exploring the best of bio-tech longevity engineering stratagems, many of which are still in the early phases of clinical trials.

As we will see, there are many dozens of ongoing drugs and supplements that are already being used in today’s anti-aging and baby-boomer communities, from telomerase activators and senescent cell removal, (senolytics) to autophagy inducers, caloric restriction mimickers, blood donor plasma transfer, nano-robots, mTOR drugs like rapamycin, gene editing, NAD enhancers, AMPK activators, stem cell boosters, cyro-preservation, sirtuin-activating molecules, and, among others, insulin-modulating drugs like  metformin, which are not without side effects.

Pending the final demonstration that these above-mentioned bio-tech longevity hacks may be proven safe, effective and accessible, we have today the knowledge that clinical pearls from Tradition as well as innovative holistic and lifestyle tools can significantly help to rejuvenate, repair and restore most metabolically impaired tissues to around 100 years. Furthermore, thanks to the author’s findings on the immune system, stem cells, DNA repair, hormonal rejuvenation and another dozen mechanisms, most humans should soon be able to reach the supercentenarian age in good shape, 110 years and beyond, without most of the chronic diseases that plague today’s elderly, including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, most auto-immune diseases, cardiovascular disorders and cancer.