FightAging!
11-18-18
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/11/jim-mellon-donates-100000-to-the-sens-research-foundation-year-end-fundraiser/
Today's good news is that investor Jim Mellon has provided a sizable charitable donation to the SENS Research Foundation in support of their advocacy and rejuvenation research programs. The foundation is currently running their year end fundraiser, and this certainly helps to move the needle towards the goal: I hope that other high net worth individuals take note. The rest of us should also take note! The SENS Research Foundation has succeeded in the past, has helped to advance the field, change the public debate on aging, and move important research from academic lab to clinical development, all as a result of our material support. Collectively, we provided the fuel to power this engine. If we want to see more and better progress towards human rejuvenation in the years ahead, then we must continue to put our shoulders to the wheel and provide the resources needed. Nothing in this world happens without effort, and that effort requires funding.
Accordingly, Josh Triplett, Christophe and Dominique Cornuejols, and Fight Aging! are matching the next year of donations made by any new SENS Patrons who sign up to make a monthly donation to the SENS Research Foundation. Two thirds of our 54,000 matching fund remain to be claimed. Donate today!
The SENS Research Foundation staff and the researchers in laboratories supported by SENS Research Foundation grants are presently hard at work on a range of ways to repair the molecular damage that causes aging, focusing on important areas that are are languishing, both poorly funded and given too little attention by the broader research community. Until comparatively recently that category included work on senescent cells, but now the development of senolytic therapies to destroy those harmful, unwanted cells in order to produce rejuvenation is a rapidly growing, very exciting area of medical biotechnology.
There are many other portions of aging research that could just as readily bloom into sizable medical industries, and just as rapidly given the technology and the proof of concept studies. The goal of the SENS Research Foundation is to enable those starting conditions for each and every one of the known root causes of aging, the forms of cell and tissue damage that ultimately lead to disability, disease, and death. There is tremendous potential in aging research, but all too little of the field is given the resources it merits, when considering the scale of the benefits that can result from the advent of real, actual, working rejuvenation therapies.
That so much of the potential for rejuvenation biotechnology is poorly funded and ignored means that we must step up to do our part. It means that all of the earliest and most important medical research is funded by philanthropy: the radical new directions; the high risk / high reward chances; the promising work for which the tools are lacking. In all such cases the established and very conservative sources of funding shirk their duty. Only philanthropists with a vision for a better future are willing to step up to make the difference. Everything starts with philanthropy, with charitable donations made to those organizations like the SENS Research Foundation that have a proven track record of doing the right thing.
Don't stand on the sidelines. Step up and help us to build a future in which the suffering and death of aging can be prevented or turned back, in which the old are hale and healthy and productive.
The Milken Institute's Longevity Innovators Interviews
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/11/the-milken-institutes-longevity-innovators-interviews/
The Milken Institute has published a set of interviews with a variety of scientists and non-scientists on topics of human longevity. A few these are of interest to those of who would like to see a fast path to rejuvenation therapies unfold in the years ahead. Some of the others illustrate a point I made last week, which is that while all that really needs to happen in this field is for the biotechnologies of rejuvenation to be developed, and as quickly and directly as possible, there are those who feel that the sociological aspects of human longevity must be talked to death in advance. Thus broader advocacy initiatives tend to pull in all sorts of figures who have nothing useful to say about the practical challenges of funding and developing rejuvenation therapies, but who are instead more concerned with how people feel about the topic, or the reaction of the endless rolling bane that is politics, or good health practices in the absence of rejuvenation therapies, or other lin e items that really, truly, do not matter at the end of the day.
If the therapies are built, the peoples of the world will quickly adapt, just as they have for any number of past revolutionary advances, and no-one will give much thought to all who felt that there should have been more discussion beforehand. If the therapies are not built, then we all suffer and die, and no-one will give much thought to all who felt that there should have been more discussion beforehand. The primary focus should be on the building, not the talking. This, of course, is not a popular point of view. One counterargument is that the sort of broad advocacy that involves a lot of talk that I'd consider largely irrelevant to the task at hand is in fact necessary in order to win the support of the public, or at least the largest and most conservative sources of funding, organizations that follow the tide of opinion makers rather than striking out in the right direction regardless. Whether or not this is the case is an interesting question, but larger advocacy initia tives all tend to proceed as though it were, and are arguably led by people who know a lot more about advocacy at scale than I do.
My impression of the past few decades of progress is that we started moving a lot faster once the first rejuvenation therapies were robustly demonstrated in the laboratory, but the details of that progress may or may not support my suggested view of the world above. In any case, I'll draw your attention here to the interviews with Laura Deming and Jim Mellon, both investors in the field of rejuvenation biotechnology, and the former a scientist who has studied aging in addition. As people who are helping to fund the research and development, they are among those who have interesting things to say on the topic. But do glance at the other interviews as well; you may find them interesting regardless.
Laura Deming: Healthspan, Not Lifespan
How can we make longevity an essential topic for potential investors?
I think that problem is actually already solved. People in the financial community, at least right now, are rapidly investing or interested in the space. That's the complete opposite of eight years ago, when nobody wanted to put capital into it. One thing that's been helpful is that companies either get access to the public markets or get started with less capital from well-earned means, and these two events have really raised the profile with the field. Going forward, I think what will be helpful is for longevity researchers to make better strides in science. I think the most important thing will be getting that first longevity-specific drug into the hands of patients. Once we see a drug from this area of science that actually produces a measurable benefit to patients that they could not have gotten otherwise, that will be the largest invite to new investors.
What do you think are the main reasons for scientists focusing on increasing healthy lifespan?
One big driver has been that nobody wants just to increase lifespan. It's nobody's idea of a good plan. It's kind of fascinating, because I think in the early days of the field, we didn't really understand what it was that we wanted to optimize for. But now it's very clear to everyone that we should be focusing on increasing the healthy part of the life, not just maximum lifespan in an old, decrepit state.
Jim Mellon: Investing in the Growing Longevity Market
Can you assess the current climate of longevity science? Is the market ready for this opportunity?
The market is now ripe for development. The excitement over rapalogs and senolytics, in particular, is helping, as is the prospect of the metformin trial, TAME. I expect that in the next year a lot of venture capital and possibly public funding will flow the way of longevity science. I think we are at about the internet of 1995 in terms of development.
How does the message of Juvenescence apply to nations that have yet to confront the challenges of population aging?
This will be one of the challenges of our age. Africa is the only place in the world where populations continue to grow rapidly. There is no reason why the life expectancy of Africans on average won't reach at least 100 within 30 years. Policymakers really need to drill down into this.
Are there other ways, besides taking your view of aging as a disease, that might increase government and corporate-funded research into aging?
Yes, we must improve our collective lobbying. The best way to do this is to point out the inevitability of pension scheme failures if governments don't recognize the ultra-longevity that is coming soon - and quickly.
How are younger workers affected when older employees remain on the job past the traditional retirement age?
The nature of work will have to change. As Joan Ruff of the AARP has said, older workers will not only be hired, they will be required. I believe that there will be plenty of work for all, it will just be different. Don't get caught up in the gloom of automation. Just be observant of trends.
11-18-18
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/11/jim-mellon-donates-100000-to-the-sens-research-foundation-year-end-fundraiser/
Today's good news is that investor Jim Mellon has provided a sizable charitable donation to the SENS Research Foundation in support of their advocacy and rejuvenation research programs. The foundation is currently running their year end fundraiser, and this certainly helps to move the needle towards the goal: I hope that other high net worth individuals take note. The rest of us should also take note! The SENS Research Foundation has succeeded in the past, has helped to advance the field, change the public debate on aging, and move important research from academic lab to clinical development, all as a result of our material support. Collectively, we provided the fuel to power this engine. If we want to see more and better progress towards human rejuvenation in the years ahead, then we must continue to put our shoulders to the wheel and provide the resources needed. Nothing in this world happens without effort, and that effort requires funding.
Accordingly, Josh Triplett, Christophe and Dominique Cornuejols, and Fight Aging! are matching the next year of donations made by any new SENS Patrons who sign up to make a monthly donation to the SENS Research Foundation. Two thirds of our 54,000 matching fund remain to be claimed. Donate today!
The SENS Research Foundation staff and the researchers in laboratories supported by SENS Research Foundation grants are presently hard at work on a range of ways to repair the molecular damage that causes aging, focusing on important areas that are are languishing, both poorly funded and given too little attention by the broader research community. Until comparatively recently that category included work on senescent cells, but now the development of senolytic therapies to destroy those harmful, unwanted cells in order to produce rejuvenation is a rapidly growing, very exciting area of medical biotechnology.
There are many other portions of aging research that could just as readily bloom into sizable medical industries, and just as rapidly given the technology and the proof of concept studies. The goal of the SENS Research Foundation is to enable those starting conditions for each and every one of the known root causes of aging, the forms of cell and tissue damage that ultimately lead to disability, disease, and death. There is tremendous potential in aging research, but all too little of the field is given the resources it merits, when considering the scale of the benefits that can result from the advent of real, actual, working rejuvenation therapies.
That so much of the potential for rejuvenation biotechnology is poorly funded and ignored means that we must step up to do our part. It means that all of the earliest and most important medical research is funded by philanthropy: the radical new directions; the high risk / high reward chances; the promising work for which the tools are lacking. In all such cases the established and very conservative sources of funding shirk their duty. Only philanthropists with a vision for a better future are willing to step up to make the difference. Everything starts with philanthropy, with charitable donations made to those organizations like the SENS Research Foundation that have a proven track record of doing the right thing.
Don't stand on the sidelines. Step up and help us to build a future in which the suffering and death of aging can be prevented or turned back, in which the old are hale and healthy and productive.
The Milken Institute's Longevity Innovators Interviews
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/11/the-milken-institutes-longevity-innovators-interviews/
The Milken Institute has published a set of interviews with a variety of scientists and non-scientists on topics of human longevity. A few these are of interest to those of who would like to see a fast path to rejuvenation therapies unfold in the years ahead. Some of the others illustrate a point I made last week, which is that while all that really needs to happen in this field is for the biotechnologies of rejuvenation to be developed, and as quickly and directly as possible, there are those who feel that the sociological aspects of human longevity must be talked to death in advance. Thus broader advocacy initiatives tend to pull in all sorts of figures who have nothing useful to say about the practical challenges of funding and developing rejuvenation therapies, but who are instead more concerned with how people feel about the topic, or the reaction of the endless rolling bane that is politics, or good health practices in the absence of rejuvenation therapies, or other lin e items that really, truly, do not matter at the end of the day.
If the therapies are built, the peoples of the world will quickly adapt, just as they have for any number of past revolutionary advances, and no-one will give much thought to all who felt that there should have been more discussion beforehand. If the therapies are not built, then we all suffer and die, and no-one will give much thought to all who felt that there should have been more discussion beforehand. The primary focus should be on the building, not the talking. This, of course, is not a popular point of view. One counterargument is that the sort of broad advocacy that involves a lot of talk that I'd consider largely irrelevant to the task at hand is in fact necessary in order to win the support of the public, or at least the largest and most conservative sources of funding, organizations that follow the tide of opinion makers rather than striking out in the right direction regardless. Whether or not this is the case is an interesting question, but larger advocacy initia tives all tend to proceed as though it were, and are arguably led by people who know a lot more about advocacy at scale than I do.
My impression of the past few decades of progress is that we started moving a lot faster once the first rejuvenation therapies were robustly demonstrated in the laboratory, but the details of that progress may or may not support my suggested view of the world above. In any case, I'll draw your attention here to the interviews with Laura Deming and Jim Mellon, both investors in the field of rejuvenation biotechnology, and the former a scientist who has studied aging in addition. As people who are helping to fund the research and development, they are among those who have interesting things to say on the topic. But do glance at the other interviews as well; you may find them interesting regardless.
Laura Deming: Healthspan, Not Lifespan
How can we make longevity an essential topic for potential investors?
I think that problem is actually already solved. People in the financial community, at least right now, are rapidly investing or interested in the space. That's the complete opposite of eight years ago, when nobody wanted to put capital into it. One thing that's been helpful is that companies either get access to the public markets or get started with less capital from well-earned means, and these two events have really raised the profile with the field. Going forward, I think what will be helpful is for longevity researchers to make better strides in science. I think the most important thing will be getting that first longevity-specific drug into the hands of patients. Once we see a drug from this area of science that actually produces a measurable benefit to patients that they could not have gotten otherwise, that will be the largest invite to new investors.
What do you think are the main reasons for scientists focusing on increasing healthy lifespan?
One big driver has been that nobody wants just to increase lifespan. It's nobody's idea of a good plan. It's kind of fascinating, because I think in the early days of the field, we didn't really understand what it was that we wanted to optimize for. But now it's very clear to everyone that we should be focusing on increasing the healthy part of the life, not just maximum lifespan in an old, decrepit state.
Jim Mellon: Investing in the Growing Longevity Market
Can you assess the current climate of longevity science? Is the market ready for this opportunity?
The market is now ripe for development. The excitement over rapalogs and senolytics, in particular, is helping, as is the prospect of the metformin trial, TAME. I expect that in the next year a lot of venture capital and possibly public funding will flow the way of longevity science. I think we are at about the internet of 1995 in terms of development.
How does the message of Juvenescence apply to nations that have yet to confront the challenges of population aging?
This will be one of the challenges of our age. Africa is the only place in the world where populations continue to grow rapidly. There is no reason why the life expectancy of Africans on average won't reach at least 100 within 30 years. Policymakers really need to drill down into this.
Are there other ways, besides taking your view of aging as a disease, that might increase government and corporate-funded research into aging?
Yes, we must improve our collective lobbying. The best way to do this is to point out the inevitability of pension scheme failures if governments don't recognize the ultra-longevity that is coming soon - and quickly.
How are younger workers affected when older employees remain on the job past the traditional retirement age?
The nature of work will have to change. As Joan Ruff of the AARP has said, older workers will not only be hired, they will be required. I believe that there will be plenty of work for all, it will just be different. Don't get caught up in the gloom of automation. Just be observant of trends.