In a message dated 5/1/00 6:39:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
bdelaney@infinitefaculty.com writes:
> CurtAdams@aol.com wrote:
> > just recently I saw a mention
> > of some study that "conclusively proved" old human
> > cells do not divide less than cells from young
> > adults (so obviously the issue is still open). Fetal
> > cells *do* outlast adult cells; but that may be
> > a different process.
>
> Hi Curt,
>
> Are you by (very small) chance thinking of Aubrey de Grey's response to my
> ,post in Sci.life-extension?
>
> (de Grey cites: (Cristofalo et al, PNAS 95:10614)
I've seen something about this online recently, but I don't remember where.
I haven't read Sci.life-extension for several years.
> Have you read it, or, if this isn't the study you saw mentioned: any
details
> about any other relevant study?
I have to apologize because I don't have any details. I did some research on
this a couple years back and encountered articles on both sides of the
"old cells divide less" controversy. I didn't keep any refs, unfortunately.
> This is an extremely exciting area of research. (It will be fascinating,
from a
> political/sociological standpoint, to see what happens when, in a very
small
> number of years [zero, some are now saying...], the means to greatly
extended
> life span are clearly at our disposal, but the standard medical research
> protocol -- clinical trials, etc. -- hasn't yet run its multi-year course,
and
> people with a lot of extra cash start thinking, "Hey, I can just buy the
> necessary lab equipment, hire a couple of underpaid bio-med researchers,
and
> a doc, and...." It will be legal somewhere in the world quickly, though,
> presumably. But who knows.)
We've had expensive quackish anti-aging clinics for a while (remember Aslan?)
The difference will be when they start working. If aging gets reversed, the
effects will be pretty spectacular. If it's just slowed, it'll take years
and the
effects will kind of creep up on us. There would be kneejerk deathist
responses
to imminent immortality but if it's just a smidgeon at a time almost nobody
will
say anything.
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