Category Archives: Human Longevity

''If you interfere with this expression, you interfere with the lifespan extension. And if you over-express some of these genes, the worm actually lives a little bit longer.''

Although the worm is a long way from a human being in evolutionary terms, it has been shown to mirror ageing processes in higher forms of life.

''That's a strong predictor that this mechanism is relevant to people as well,'' said Dr Blackwell.

Collagens are the main structural components in connective tissue and make up about a third of the proteins in the human body.

''Collagens are everywhere,'' Dr Blackwell added. ''They are like the scaffolding for our tissues, and they give us tissue elasticity and strength.''

ECM structures deteriorate with age and collagens have been implicated in conditions ranging from diabetes complications to heart and artery and kidney diseases.

Separate studies have shown that mice given a treatment that makes them genetically disposed to living longer develop stronger and more elastic muscle tendons.

But until now, no one has looked at the possibility that ECM remodelling might be a defence against ageing. Instead, work has focused on protecting and regenerating cells.

The discovery could lead to cosmetic products that also improve health, according to the team whose findings appear Nature journal's online edition.

''It says that beauty is definitely not skin deep,'' said Dr Blackwell. ''In fact, the richest beauty is inner beauty, because if you want to look young you don't start with the outside, you start with the inside.

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Drugs that smooth away wrinkles could boost longevity

Researchers have found new evidence that explains how some aspects of our personality may affect our health and wellbeing, supporting long-observed associations between aspects of human character, physical health and longevity.

A team of health psychologists at The University of Nottingham and the University of California in Los Angeles carried out a study to examine the relationship between certain personality traits and the expression of genes that can affect our health by controlling the activity of our immune systems.

The study did not find any results to support a common theory that tendencies toward negative emotions such as depression or anxiety can lead to poor health (disease-prone personality). What was related to differences in immune cell gene expression were a person's degree of extraversion and conscientiousness.

The study used highly sensitive microarray technology to examine relationships between the five major human personality traits and two groups of genes active in human white blood cells (leukocytes): one involving inflammation, and another involving antiviral responses and antibodies.

A group of 121 ethnically diverse and healthy adults were recruited. These were comprised of 86 females and 35 males with an average age of 24 (range 18-59) and an average body mass index of 23. The participants completed a personality test which measures five major dimensions of personality -- extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness -- (NEO-FFI McCrae and Costa, 2004). Blood samples were collected from each volunteer for gene expression analysis and their typical smoking, drinking and exercise behaviors were also recorded for control purposes. Gene expression analysis was carried out at the Social Genomics Core Laboratory at UCLA.

Leading the research, Professor Kavita Vedhara, from The University of Nottingham's School of Medicine, said: "Our results indicated that 'extraversion' was significantly associated with an increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes and that 'conscientiousness' was linked to a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes. In other words, individuals who we would expect to be exposed to more infections as a result of their socially orientated nature (i.e., extraverts) appear to have immune systems that we would expect can deal effectively with infection. While individuals who may be less exposed to infections because of their cautious/conscientious dispositions have immune systems that may respond less well. We can't, however, say which came first. Is this our biology determining our psychology or our psychology determining our biology?"

These two clear associations were independent of the recorded health behaviors of the participants and subsets of white blood cells which are the cells of the body's immune system. They were also independent of the amount of negative emotions people experienced. The study also found that expression of antiviral/antibody-related genes was not significantly associated with any personality dimension.

In the remaining three categories of personality, 'openness' also trended towards a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes and 'neuroticism' and 'agreeableness' remained unassociated with gene expression.

The research concludes that although the biological mechanisms of these associations need to be explored in future research, these new data may shed new light on the long-observed epidemiological associations between personality, physical health, and human longevity.

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Relationship between personality, health: Study sheds new light on link

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

11-Dec-2014

Contact: Emma Rayner emma.rayner@nottingham.ac.uk University of Nottingham @UoNPressOffice

Researchers have found new evidence that explains how some aspects of our personality may affect our health and wellbeing, supporting long-observed associations between aspects of human character, physical health and longevity.

A team of health psychologists at The University of Nottingham and the University of California in Los Angeles carried out a study to examine the relationship between certain personality traits and the expression of genes that can affect our health by controlling the activity of our immune systems.

The study did not find any results to support a common theory that tendencies toward negative emotions such as depression or anxiety can lead to poor health (disease-prone personality). What was related to differences in immune cell gene expression were a person's degree of extraversion and conscientiousness.

The study used highly sensitive microarray technology to examine relationships between the five major human personality traits and two groups of genes active in human white blood cells (leukocytes): one involving inflammation, and another involving antiviral responses and antibodies.

A group of 121 ethnically diverse and healthy adults were recruited. These were comprised of 86 females and 35 males with an average age of 24 (range 18-59) and an average body mass index of 23. The participants completed a personality test which measures five major dimensions of personality -- extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness -- (NEO-FFI McCrae and Costa, 2004). Blood samples were collected from each volunteer for gene expression analysis and their typical smoking, drinking and exercise behaviours were also recorded for control purposes. Gene expression analysis was carried out at the Social Genomics Core Laboratory at UCLA.

Leading the research, Professor Kavita Vedhara, from The University of Nottingham's School of Medicine, said: "Our results indicated that 'extraversion' was significantly associated with an increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes and that 'conscientiousness' was linked to a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes. In other words, individuals who we would expect to be exposed to more infections as a result of their socially orientated nature (i.e., extraverts) appear to have immune systems that we would expect can deal effectively with infection. While individuals who may be less exposed to infections because of their cautious/conscientious dispositions have immune systems that may respond less well. We can't, however, say which came first. Is this our biology determining our psychology or our psychology determining our biology?"

These two clear associations were independent of the recorded health behaviours of the participants and subsets of white blood cells which are the cells of the body's immune system. They were also independent of the amount of negative emotions people experienced. The study also found that expression of antiviral/antibody-related genes was not significantly associated with any personality dimension.

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Study sheds new light on relationship between personality and health

xCogTV Episode3 Part1: Longevity Science: Dr. #39;s Leonid Gavrilov Natalia Gavrilova
Longevity Science Part 1 of (Approx 6 Or 8 - More To Come, Please Subscribe For Updates, While We Are Completing Post Production. Next Segments Up Soon!) Discussion Includes: Longevity vs....

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xCogTV Episode3 Part1: Longevity Science: Dr.'s Leonid Gavrilov & Natalia Gavrilova - Video

The moon landing. Birth control. Civil rights. The cultural and technological achievements from 1945 to 1971 represent a "Golden Quarter" in human progress, according to science writer Michael Hanlon in a new article over at Aeon. Since then, Hanlon insists, we've stalled out. But he really couldn't be more wrong.

Encouragingly, Hanlon's piece actually opens by injecting some much needed skepticism into the myths of accelerating change. I've picked apart a few of the myths in this way of thinking myself.

"Yet a moment's thought tells us that this vision of unparalleled innovation can't be right, that many of these breathless reports of progress are in fact mere hype, speculation even fantasy," Hanlon writes about the futurism hype machine of 2014.

And he's absolutely correct. People are too quick to believe that technological progress is exponential. But then Hanlon overcorrects. The article quickly descends into a romanticization of the postwar era; a bizarre fantasy world wherein no real progress has occurred in the last 45 years be it social, cultural, or technological.

"Yet there once was an age when speculation matched reality. It spluttered to a halt more than 40 years ago," Hanlon writes. An age when speculation matched reality? Tell that to every Baby Boomer still waiting for a flying car or jetpack or 20-hour work week.

Hanlon may have legitimate concerns about specific areas of progress (or lack thereof) since he was a kid. But that doesn't mean we've stopped innovating since 1970. The suggestion that we have is just about the oldest complaint in history. And it negates the significant progress we've made in so many areas here in the 21st century.

***

Hanlon insists that the period between 1945 and 1971 was a "true age of innovation," and since then, social and technological progress has been merely incremental. The major problem with his assertion? Progress has always been incremental. Even in this supposed "Golden Quarter" as he calls it.

Hanlon writes in Aeon:

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RIP Human Progress (1945-1971)

LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI), a biological data-driven human health technology and cell therapy company, today announced a collaborative agreement with King's College London to access their TwinsUK Registry.

Tim Spector, MD, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, and Director of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at St. Thomas' Hospital, London started the registry in 1993. HLI and Dr. Spector will collaborate directly as part of the agreement. With more than 11,000 twin individuals, the Registry is one of the most comprehensive collections of genome and microbiome samples paired with phenotype information in the world.

HLI will conduct whole genome and microbiome sequencing on up to 2,000 individuals, along with metabolomic analysis on up to 6,000 longitudinal samples in TwinsUK. HLI is working with the company Metabolon to perform the metabolite profiling.

HLI is currently sequencing and analyzing 2,000 genomes per month using Illumina's HiSeq X Ten sequencing machines. The combined high quality, comprehensive data will continue to enrich the HLI Database and HLI Knowledge Base, which includes the company's proprietary informatics analysis and data interpretation and integration. The Database and Knowledge Base form the core of HLI's business. The company is pursuing agreements with a variety of customers including pharmaceutical and biotech companies, academic health systems, governments and insurers.

"The TwinsUK Registry is one of the largest and best characterized databases of individuals in the world," said J. Craig Venter, PhD, HLI's Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. "Having access to the clinical phenotype information collected by Dr. Spector and his team will greatly enhance our Database and Knowledge Base, and will enable the teams to collaborate on identifying correlations between phenotypes and genetic predisposition to disease and health."

Dr. Spector commented, "Combining our detailed health data collected for more than 21 years on the twins with new metagenomics of gut microbes and the exciting technology of metabolomics in longitudinal samples is an amazing opportunity. The next generation sequencing and analysis expertise of HLI, plus the unique data and design of the twin study, provides the perfect platform to unlock the clues to aging-related diseases and personalized medicine."

About Human Longevity, Inc. HLI, a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, CA was founded in 2013 by pioneers in the fields of genomics and stem cell therapy. Using advances in genomic sequencing, the human microbiome, proteomics, informatics, computing, and cell therapy technologies, HLI is building the world's most comprehensive database of human genotypes and phenotypes as a basis for a variety of commercialization opportunities to help solve aging related disease and human biological decline. HLI will be licensing access to its database, and developing new diagnostics and therapeutics as part of their product offerings. For more information please visit, http://www.humanlongevity.com

About King's College London (www.kcl.ac.uk)King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world (2014/15 QS World University Rankings) and the fourth oldest in England. It is The Sunday Times 'Best University for Graduate Employment 2012/13'.King's has nearly 26,000 students (of whom more than 10,600 are graduate students) from some 140 countries worldwide, and more than 7,000 staff. The College is in the second phase of a 1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly 590 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

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Human Longevity, Inc. Signs Collaborative Agreement with ...

Shares of Lincoln National Corp., the Radnor-based insurance and investments company that owns naming rights for the Eagles stadium, are trading above $59 for the first time in six years, and Lincoln CEO Dennis Glass and his managers are "confident of their prospects" for yearly profit growth of 8-10%, Robert Glasspiegel, analyst at Janney Capital Markets in Philadelphia, tells clients in a report today.

Glasspiegel notes some concerns (in addition to interest-rate and stock-market risk): Lincoln has cut way back on its old policy of reinsuring its life insurance, and is holding a lot more of the risk on the books, Glasspiegel notes. He points out that Swiss Re and other European insurers have said they are worried customers are living longer than expected, so they are having to pay some annuities longer than expected. He's watching to see "if this is just a European insurer problem" or whether American firms like Lincoln will have to change their assumptions, too.

Glasspiegel also says Lincoln is investing more money (6%-12% of its new investments) into high-yield junk bonds. He questions "if this is a good time to be re-risking in light of where yields, spreads and valuations are today."

Link:
Lincoln 'confident'; will rates stay flat?

LONDON, Nov 19:

Trafficking victims in India need more legal support to pursue cases against their perpetrators, while the country's police must understand that bonded and forced labour are also crimes, according to a report published on Wednesday.

The report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Freedom Fund said although illegal, trafficking is widespread across India while perpetrators go unpunished and many victims are unable to obtain justice and compensation.

India is home to more than 14 million victims of human trafficking, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index, which found India had the greatest number of slaves of 167 countries.

Nick Grono, CEO of Freedom Fund, the world's first private donor fund dedicated to ending modern slavery, said human trafficking was a massively profitable business that needed to be "dealt with as a criminal enterprise".

Modern slavery is worth more than $150 billion a year in profits for human traffickers worldwide, according to the International Labour Organization.

"It means using the law effectively to challenge the economic model that supports slavery," Grono told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the TrustWomen conference.

"If you can find effective approaches which make a difference in India, then you can also make a huge impact on the overall scale of the problem globally."

The report found that while hundreds of NGOs across India work on combating trafficking, only a few are able to pursue legal cases through to trial on behalf of victims.

This was due to funding restrictions, as money tends to be directed to non-legal victim assistance instead of legal work, longevity of cases, which can last for years, and the challenges of operating in an overstretched criminal justice system.

Continued here:
Human trafficking victims in India need greater legal support

The secret to a long life may remain in extra-genetic factors, going by a studyGetty

A long life is probably determined by factors other than genes.

Scientists from Stanford University, the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and the University of California Los Angeles who performed whole-genome sequencingon 17 supercentenarians have returned no significant findings.

The subjects are all older than 110 years.

Besides stumbling on an unrelated gene variant for a heart condition in a person older than 110 and unaffected by the gene, the team were not able to see any genetic basis underlying extreme longevity.

In searching for a gene that confers extreme longevity, they were expecting to see a specific mutation altering the protein-coding region in a gene to confer a long lease of life.

The other explanation was a gene that confers extreme longevity when altered by any one of a number of protein alterations, reports Sci-news.com

The team performed whole-genome sequencing were hoping that while many of the supercentenarians may carry variants in the same gene, the variant in each supercentenarian may be different.

"For people born around 1900, the odds of living to 110 are estimated to be 1 in 10,000 people," the scientists wrote in a paper in the journal PLoS ONE, "hence we assume that any genetic variant that contributes strongly to extreme longevity would also be rare."

The scientists analysed rare protein-altering variants, but found no significant evidence of enrichment for a single rare protein-altering variant or for a gene harboring different rare protein altering variants.

Read the original here:
Supercentenarians: 'No Single Gene' Identified For Longevity

San Diego-based Human Longevity Inc., a biological data-driven human health technology and cell therapy company, announced a collaborative agreement with Kings College London to access its TwinsUK Registry.

HLI will conduct whole genome and microbiome sequencing on up to 2,000 individuals, along with metabolomic analysis on up to 6,000 longitudinal samples in TwinsUK, according to Human Longevity.

HLI says it is currently sequencing and analyzing 2,000 genomes per month using Illuminas HiSeq X Ten sequencing machines. The comprehensive data will continue to enrich the HLI Database and HLI Knowledge Base, which includes the companys proprietary informatics analysis and data interpretation and integration. The Database and Knowledge Base form the core of Human Longevitys business. The company is pursuing agreements with a variety of customers including pharmaceutical and biotech companies, academic health systems, governments and insurers.

The TwinsUK Registry is one of the largest and best characterized databases of individuals in the world, said J. Craig Venter, HLIs co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. Having access to the clinical phenotype information collectedwill greatly enhance our Database and Knowledge Base, and will enable the teams to collaborate on identifying correlations between phenotypes and genetic predisposition to disease and health.

In July, the company announced that it had recruited Franz Och, scientist and former head of Google Translate, as the companys chief data scientist.

According to HLI, it is building a comprehensive database of human genotypes and phenotypes as a basis for a variety of commercialization opportunities to help solve aging-related disease and human biological decline.

Human Longevity Inc. is a privately held company founded in 2013.

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Agreement Gives Human Longevity Inc. Access to Major Database