Smoking risks

A study of Illinois teachers who teach sex education found 96 percent of them teach about HIV/AIDS, but contraception was less frequently taught. The researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center used data collected by NORC, a survey research fi...

Soft contact lens wearers need to be aware of how to fight the formation of a constellation of resistant organisms called bio-films, a U.S. study said. Researchers at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland said bio-films -- microbial st...

Atlantis launch is set for Feb. 7 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 31 -- The U.S. space agency set next Thursday as the target date for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis's mission to the International Space Station. National Aeronautics and Space Admin...

Researchers continue to make solid progress in detailing the biochemical mechanisms by which calorie restriction extends healthy life: "Calorie restriction (CR), the only non-genetic intervention known to slow aging and extend life span in organisms ranging from yeast to mice, has been linked to the down-regulation of Tor, Akt, and Ras signaling. In this study, we demonstrate that the serine/threonine kinase Rim15 is required for yeast chronological life span extension caused [by] calorie restriction. ... Deletion of stress resistance transcription factors Gis1 and Msn2/4, which are positively regulated by Rim15, also caused a major although not complete reversion of the effect of calorie restriction on life span. ... Notably, the anti-aging effect caused by the inactivation of both pathways is much more potent than that caused by CR." Enumerating the required parts of the chain, one by one, is an early step in the process of building a full understanding - and then reproducing and improving upon natural longevity-inducing biochemistry. Interestingly, Rim15 is also required for the recently demonstrated set of genetic tweaks that boost yeast life-span ten-fold - even though that did not involve calorie restriction.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://pmid.us/18225956
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

It seems there is a whole business ecosystem out there revolving around very short, single-topic educational video clips. In addition to the VideoJug question and answer sessions with biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey - collected on the Methuselah Foundation website - you can find more of the same at Big Think. From the perspective of an advocate, I certainly see the value of collected short answers to many pertinent questions about healthy life extension, the science of repairing aging, and plans to develop real anti-aging therapies. It remains to be seen whether any of these businesses find enough profit in this venture to build a sustaining architecture dedicated to this sort of educational content.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.bigthink.com/experts/browse-by-name/aubrey-de-grey/1
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/