Anti-aging Drugs on Horizon

The day after our Responsible Aging entry, Red Herring posted an article that included this:

[D]rugs that prevent aging itself are on the distant horizon, and with them could come dramatic social changes, such as much later ages for everything from puberty to retirement, and massive inequality in life expectancy between those who can afford the life-lengthening compounds, and those who can't. These changes, in turn, would have a significant impact on the global economy.

"What we're talking about is not curing diseases...but slowing the aging process itself," said Alan Cohen, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, who on Friday moderated a panel on the topic at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis. . .

While many scientists agree immortality through pharmacy is not yet worthy of serious debate, and many are cautious of even making hard and fast predictions about life-extending therapies, most agree they are worthy of discussion and tentative planning.

"Over the past couple of years, definitely, aging science has experienced momentum and I think we now know enough to consider the consequences of slowing down aging," Shin-ichiro Imai, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington University.

It's fascinating how quickly the idea of radical life extension is moving from the extreme fringe toward the mainstream. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that so many reporters, editors, politicians, and bloggers are "baby boomers," now in their 50s and experiencing the pains of growing older.

Still, the increased awareness of anti-aging research and its potential are not enough to satisfy some advocates who argue that "we have a chance to defeat aging in our lifetimes," but that a "massive con game" could "suck the oxygen from serious attempts at real progress."

Mike Treder

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[Joe Bain]

Drugs are not going to give us greatly increased life spans. They may increase it 100% - 200%, but real extream longevity will come from stem cells, nano, and other tech not even on the radar yet.

[Jacqueline Roeder]

Radiance International-non-nanotechnology!
There appears to be much debate on whether isolating a single active ingredient in a laboratory to attain specific levels of a single chemical constituent is superior to those found in nature in achieving superior therapeutic affect. Currently there appears to be no tests or health standards that measure the heath risks associated with using effects of nano-technologically modified cosmetics. There is concern that the molecular structure found in many anti-aging products on the market today is so small, the molecules have the potential to enter the blood stream, potentially creating blood clots, molecular protein changes, and other physiological problems. There is also great concern these potentially toxic and dangerous changes will be reversible. Isolated and chemically synthesized amino acids, lacking their essential cofactors are often proven to not have a desired therapeutic affect. The consequences of altering the energetic quality of the natural plant, herb, and enzyme are the comparable to "drugs" that many global health and wellness conscious consumers seek to avoid. At Radiance International, we are committed to using only the highest quality all natural herbal anti-aging ingredients that lead to superior beneficial r results. We are happy to have found others that are concerned about the effects of nano-technology.

[Mike Treder, CRN]

Nice try, Jackie. We'll let your first post (above) stand, but the second one has been removed because it was nothing more or less than a commercial. And we don't do that here.

[canabisseed]

yeah!! i agree that drugs are not going to increase the life span but it can also be generated to make as a big problem in the next generation...

[Anonymous]

"Non-nanotech...Non-progressive..."