Category Archives: Human Longevity

Lumenlabs

SAN DIEGO (PRWEB) August 17, 2021

The historic Tokyo Olympics began with strict constraints to prevent the spread of highly infectious coronavirus variants. To protect the health of their athletes from the threat of airborne pathogens, the Chinese national team relied on patent pending Lumenizer filtered Far-UVC light technology, announced Scott Gant, Lumenlabs, LLC President and Co-Founder.

Lumenizer germicidal fixtures are protected by patent pending technology and trade secrets that are revolutionary breakthroughs in the human-safe application of Far-UVC light, Gant stated. The Covid-19 pandemic and emerging variant viruses has created a growing $34 billion dollar market for proactive disinfection. The Lumenizer disinfection system represents a safe and effective 222nm Far-UVC application for occupied areas. Our Lumenlabs team brings this lifesaving and revolutionary technology to market through a network of global dealers and strategic partnerships.

Postponed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2021 Tokyo Olympics officials established a wide range of public health measures from vaccines to quarantines and masking to sanitation and attendance restrictions. In addition to having all of their Olympic athletes and staff vaccinated, to provide a comprehensive layer of protection, the Chinese national team installed advanced Lumenlabs Lumenizer far ultraviolet disinfection light fixtures throughout their housing and training facilities.

Developed by Lumenlabs, LLC, a global company with R&D centers in the United States and China, Lumenizer filtered Far-UVC 222nm light technology provides effective, automated and continuous disinfection of occupied spaces. Human-safe Lumenizer disinfection is proven to be 99.9% effective at deactivating airborne viruses and bacteria, achieved as the pathogens lose activity and cannot regenerate.

In 2013, the Radiology Research Center at the Columbia University School of Public Health discovered that extreme ultraviolet light can be used to eliminate airborne microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria. Experiments were conducted to prove the efficacy and safety. In 2018, Dr. David Brenner published a paper in the authoritative scientific journal Nature confirming that 222nm far ultraviolet light rays do not harm the skin and eyes.

For decades conventional germicidal UV light, emitting around 254nm, has been used to disinfect critical unoccupied spaces such as hospital surgery theaters. UV light is well-established as a highly efficient anti-microbial against bacteria and viruses, however, it cannot be used when people are present because higher wavelengths penetrate more deeply into tissues potentially causing damage to the skin and eyes. Far-UVC emits lower wavelengths than traditional UVC with a peak at 222nm that does not penetrate the human dead skin layer or the eye tear layer.

Compact and easy to install, the Lumenizer model 300 germicidal fixture features 60W input power, an efficient and powerful Far-UVC output with a patent pending tilting bulb ceiling or wall mount that uniformly disinfects air and surfaces of 172 ft area (16 meters). Three ultra-high purity quartz glass bulbs with a patent pending Lumenlabs light source design optimize the efficacy of Far-UVC generation. A built-in 100-layer nano coated filter provides the highest Far-UVC pass rate and the blockage of harmful UV. Other features include an innovative high-voltage high-frequency driver, compact design, automated instant start, replaceable bulb, cost efficiency, longevity and safety, and is ozone neutral and mercury free.

For more information on Lumenlabs, LLC and Lumenizer disinfection system applications for your business and community, visit Lumenlabs.com.

About Lumenlabs, LLC

Dedicated to creating a healthier future, Lumenlabs, LLC is a global company with a synergistic wealth of advanced technological, manufacturing, supply chain management and marketing expertise. The Lumenizer disinfection system is protected by patent pending technology and trade secrets that represent major breakthroughs in the human-safe application of Far-UVC light. The Lumenlabs team is driven to create innovative filtered Far-UVC solutions that provide safe and effective continuous sanitation for the spaces where people work, study, live or play. For more information, visit lumenlabs.com or email contact@lumenlabs.com.

For safety and efficacy published papers go to Lumenlabs.com/resources.

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Lumenlabs Far-UVC Disinfection System Protected Tokyo Olympic Athletes from Ongoing Coronavirus Threat - PR Web

Benjamin Franklin had already turned 70 by the time he signed the US Declaration of Independence in 1776, when the average man wasn't expected to live to see 34. The inventor and statesman's remarkable longevity he died at the age of 84 has been attributed to avoiding alcohol and avidly swimming.

Global life expectancy at birth has now topped 70 years for men, and 75 years for women. And the population living to 100 and older is predicted to grow to nearly 3.7 million by 2050, from just 95,000 in 1990. According to a study published earlier this year, the biological hard limit on our longevity barring disease and disaster is as high as 150 years.

The progress made on extending lifespans thanks to vaccines and other breakthroughs has created complications, like difficulty funding retirement for growing elderly populations in some places. But its also inspired people to imagine a future where they pursue multiple careers and effectively combine several lives into one.

At certain points our prospects for longer lives havent looked great; US life expectancy saw its biggest decline last year since at least World War II, as COVID-19 was added to ongoing problems like drug overdoses. France, too, suffered a drop in life expectancy in 2020.

But there are clear indications more of us are headed the way of Jeanne Calment, the French woman who may have reached the age of 122 before dying in 1997.

Questions have been raised about Calments true longevity, but researchers from France and Switzerland say she was the oldest human being. Regardless, her official biography has captured the fancy of those who like the idea of being able to sip Port wine and eat more than two pounds of chocolate per week well past the century mark.

Clearly, the attractiveness of a longer life hinges on its quality.

The researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that the cellular decay behind ageing will be defeated. He's popularized the term Methuselarity to describe the point after which people with access to the right therapies will no longer suffer from age-related health problems, and human longevity will reach escape velocity (de Grey said recently that chances are decent this will occur by 2036).

Ray Kurzweil, an inventor and futurist, has likened the human genome to outdated software, and described ageing as a solvable engineering problem. Eventually we could extend our longevity indefinitely, Kurzweil has said, and relatively soon it may be possible to start adding one additional year to our lifespan every year.

There are potential economic benefits if people become able to live longer while staying healthier. A study published earlier this month used data from the US to suggest that effectively slowing the typical ageing process could create $38 trillion in value in a year of added life expectancy.

However, its unclear how evenly the tools needed for living longer and healthier lives would be distributed. Disparities in terms of healthcare and longevity, even within relatively wealthy countries, have become stark.

The OECD, a group of economically advanced countries, has reported that in 25 of its member states people with the highest level of education can expect to live about six years longer than those with the lowest level of education at age 30, for example.

The potential for effective anti-ageing innovation to worsen inequality in the future has stirred debate some say the advantages the affluent already have in acquiring everything from youth-preserving serums to face cream provide a glimpse of the issues to come.

For more context, here are links to further reading from the World Economic Forum's Strategic Intelligence platform:

On the Strategic Intelligence platform, you can find feeds of expert analysis related to Ageing and Longevity, Global Health, and hundreds of additional topics. Youll need to register to view.

Image: World Economic Forum

Written by

John Letzing, Digital Editor, Strategic Intelligence, World Economic Forum

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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How long are people going to live in the future? - World Economic Forum

Dena Dubals interest in sex differences in aging started early. Growing up in rural India, she was surrounded by great-grandmothers, great-aunts and others who far outlived the men in the family. Her family wasnt unusual. Across the world, women typically outlive men by approximately five years and experience slower rates of age-related cognitive decline.

Now, as a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, Dubal is starting to uncover why those differences occur. In videos of aging mice wandering through a maze, she points out how some animals appear confused, meandering much like people trying to find their cars in a parking garage. Others take quicker, more focused routes through the maze, as if they remember exactly where they left their vehicle. Dubal recently discovered that the difference between these animals stems, in part, from a protein made by a gene on the X chromosome. Over the last several years, her research has homed in on sex chromosomes as a vital contributor to how our brains age.

Two X chromosomes lead to female hormones and features, while an X and Y lead to male traits. These differences affect glucose metabolism, cellular energy production and much more, according to Dubal, an investigator with the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain. Sex chromosomes and gonadal hormones alter fundamental biology in ways that we are just beginning to understand, she says. The X chromosome is 5 percent of our genome, and it has the largest density of brain-related genes compared to any individual autosome. I dont think its coincidence that variations or human mutations in these different X factors affect brain function.

Understanding these differences will be important for developing new treatments. In 2003, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) launched a program to help assess drugs or dietary interventions that could safely extend the life span of mice and eventually humans. This Intervention Testing Program supports studies of approximately 10 to 15 treatments each year, and researchers test interventions in both male and female animals. In 2015, researchers reviewed 14 interventions that had been tested over the previous decade. They found that only five appeared to actually extend life span and four of those worked differently in male and female animals. That suggests theres a fundamental difference in the way we age, said Brnice Benayoun, a biologist at the University of Southern California, in a 2020 podcast.

Dubal and Benayoun are now probing the mechanisms underlying these observations, examining how steroid hormones and sex chromosomes alter the trajectory of cognitive decline with age in different sexes.* Their studies, part of an SCPAB project on sex differences in aging, will help reveal why women are on average more resilient to cognitive decline, memory loss and other brain functions that erode as we grow old. Identifying these factors could inspire interventions that benefit everyone improving not just a persons life span but their quality of life as they age. The things that help us live longer also tend to be the things that help us live better, Dubal says.

Seeking clues as to why a 70-year-old woman is likely to appear far more youthful than a man of the same age, Steve Horvath, a geneticist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his colleagues looked for changes in DNA methylation, also known as epigenetic markers, that control gene expression. They examined blood, brain, lung, liver and other tissues across the human life span and found many sex-associated differences. Samples from older adults showed signs of demethylation, particularly at enhancers and regulatory elements in the genome, which control when a particular gene produces protein and how much. Men typically appeared older and showed more signs of such loss compared to women of the same age. The contrast was most pronounced in liver and blood, and to a lesser extent in brain tissues.

Methylation hints at the cellular mechanisms underlying female cognitive resilience as well as their longer life spans, Horvath says. Its a very consistent finding that women age more slowly than men in several different organs, so on some level methylation reflects that mortality advantage, he says. It could easily be part of the explanation for cognitive resilience but I would never say it explains it all.

In 2019, another clue emerged from studies of how the brain consumes glucose. Manu Goyal, a neuroradiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, found that younger brains use a mix of two cellular pathways, oxidative and non-oxidative metabolism, to break glucose down and fuel their activity. Some older brains shift mostly to oxidative. When Goyal and his colleagues imaged glucose metabolism in the brains of 205 cognitively normal adults aged 20 to 82, they found that female brains on average appeared younger than those of age-matched males by approximately three years.

Surprisingly, mice with two X chromosomes whether they bore ovaries or testes lived longer than their XY littermates. Dubal and her colleagues were the first to note this effect of the X chromosome on life span in a 2018 study. The XX mice also performed better on tests of memory and spatial learning, such as finding their way to a platform through a water maze. If estrogen were the only factor responsible for longevity, then all mice with ovaries should show these advantages, Dubal says. But only XX mice did, whether they had ovaries or testes.

Typically, cells with two X chromosomes silence one set of X-linked genes by epigenetic mechanisms such as methylation, to avoid a double dose of X-linked proteins. In principle, a silenced X should be inactive. But at least 15 percent of X-linked genes in humans escape this silencing. Theres really a handful of factors that escape X inactivation in the brains of both humans and mice, Dubal says.

In a study published in August 2020, the team homed in on four such genes that are expressed in the brain and appear to slip past their epigenetic off-switches, resulting in increased levels of these proteins in XX cells. Some have been linked to intellectual disability and autism.

At a lab meeting, Dubal and her team took a vote on which of the four theyd pursue; the winner was a gene named lysine demethylase 6a, or KDM6A. Not much was known about it, she says. People with mutations in this gene have syndromes that involve intellectual disability and it seemed to be important to how brain cells connect at the synapse in mice. That was enough of a clue for us to wonder whether this was involved in cognitive aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

The KDM6A protein unspools DNA from histones, opening it up to be transcribed and controlling the expression of many other genes. In a series of experiments, Dubal and her team discovered that XX cells, which have higher levels of KDM6A, were more resistant to neurotoxins than XY cells. Decreasing KDM6A levels in XX cells made them more vulnerable to toxins, including -amyloid, a misfolded peptide linked to Alzheimers disease. Boosting levels of the KDM6A protein in XY cells made them more resilient to these exposures and improved XY animals spatial memory, enabling them to remember the location of a platform hidden within a maze and move swiftly toward it much like finding ones car in a garage.

Dubals team has also analyzed databases of genetic variants in Alzheimers disease and found an association between the presence of a genetic variant that increases levels of KDM6A in the brain and lower levels of cognitive decline. Such data could eventually lead to new interventions to prevent age-related loss in brain function and not just in women. If we can unravel what makes one sex more resilient or vulnerable than the other in a specific measure, Dubal says, that could mean novel therapies that could protect both sexes.

In a study published in Nature Aging in July, Benayoun and her colleagues studied how immune cells known as neutrophils changed with age in male and female mice. They found that an animals sex was a strong predictor of immune responses. Neutrophil activity followed sex-specific trajectories as animals aged: Cells from male mice showed higher levels of inflammatory proteins that can damage surrounding tissues, while those from female animals increased the production of extracellular structures correlated with autoimmune disease. These findings suggest that sex differences can become amplified with aging, at least for neutrophils, Benayoun said in a press release.

Benayoun is now developing a mouse model to understand how testosterone and estrogen regulate these processes. Their model allows researchers to externally reverse an adult animals gonads. They can reprogram an ovary-bearing mouse, born with two X chromosomes, to convert the ovaries into testes and produce levels of testosterone that are nearly identical to those of their XY-chromosome-bearing littermates. The model will allow them to answer questions such as how a lifelong exposure to testosterone affects neuro-inflammation or microglia in two animals with identical genetic backgrounds. Its going to help us identify whats beneficial or not in terms of these hormones which are known to modify brain physiology, she says.

To understand how sex hormones shape brain function over a lifetime, Benayoun has turned to the African killifish, a brightly colored tropical fish thats the shortest-lived vertebrate scientists can breed in labs. Killifish life spans range from 3 to 6 months, because they evolved in seasonal ponds of rainwater that dry up for half a year. Their live fast, die young lifestyle makes them ideal subjects for studying aging. They age five to six times faster than a mouse and almost 10 times as fast as zebra fish, Benayoun says. Its so powerful because we can recapitulate most of what we expect from human aging, including cognitive decline, in that short amount of time.

Her team studies two strains of the fish one that evolved in regions with a longer dry season, and another from a region with longer monsoons that allow the strain to live 30 to 40 percent longer than the other. Killifish sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes, so Benayoun aims to use single-cell RNA sequencing and other analyses to seek out sex differences in males and females in both the long-lived and short-lived strains. Theres not a lot of work in the species yet, she says. But we have every reason to believe they will have sex differences like any other vertebrate species.

*Note: Their projects and this story focus on the biological classification of worms, mice and humans as male and female. They do not capture gender, a persons innate sense of identity as male, female, a combination, or a different gender.

Reference:Lu RJ, Taylor S, Contrepois K, et al. Multi-omic profiling of primary mouse neutrophils predicts a pattern of sex- and age-related functional regulation. Nat Aging. 2021:1-19. doi:10.1038/s43587-021-00086-8

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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The XX Factor: What's the Key to Female Longevity? - Technology Networks

Pollution is causing human penises to shrink, according to one scientist.

A leading epidemiologist and environmental expert has published a book that examines the link between industrial chemicals and penile length.

Dr Shanna Swan's book, Count Down, argues that our modern world is altering humans' reproductive development and threatening the future of our species.

The book outlines how pollution is leading to higher rates of erectile dysfunction, fertility decline, and growing numbers of babies born with small penises. Though the headline fact about shrinkage may sound like a laughing matter, the research paints a bleak portrait of humanity's longevity and ability to survive.

"In some parts of the world, the average twenty-something today is less fertile than her grandmother was at 35," Dr Swan writes, dubbing the situation a "global existential crisis" in the book.

Chemicals in our environment and unhealthy lifestyle practices in our modern world are disrupting our hormonal balance, causing various degrees of reproductive havoc."

According to the book, humans meet three of the five possible criteria used to define whether or not a species is endangered. "Only one needs to be met," writes Dr Swan, "the current state of affairs for humans meets at least three."

According to Dr Swan's research, this disruption is caused by phthalates, chemicals used in plastic manufacturing, which can impact how the hormone endocrine is produced.

This group of chemicals is used to help increase the flexibility of a substance. They can be found in toys, food packaging, detergents, cosmetics, and many more products. But Dr Swan believes that these substances are radically harming human development.

"Babies are now entering the world already contaminated with chemicals because of the substances they absorb in the womb," she says. Much of Dr Swan's recent work has focused on the effects of phthalates, initially looking at phthalate syndrome in rats.

In 2000, however, there was a breakthrough in the field, and it became possible to measure low doses of phthalates in humans.

Since then Dr Swan has authored papers on how these chemicals can pass between parents and their offspring, the impact on female sexual desire, and - most recently - on penile length.

One of her most famous studies examined the intersection between sperm count and pollution in 2017, in ground-breaking research which looked at men's fertility over the last four decades. After studying 185 studies involving almost 45,000 healthy men, Dr Swan and her team concluded that sperm counts among men in Western countries had dropped by 59 per cent between 1973 and 2011.

But there is some good news. Since the creation of the European Environment Agency, European citizens are exposed to 41 per cent less particulate pollution than we were two decades ago. It's believed that these regulations have gifted Europeans an extra nine months of life expectancy, on average.

A demand for change from citizens and subsequent strong policies have helped to clear the air in parts of Europe before, and can continue to do so to ensure that high pollution today does not need to be tomorrows fate," says Michael Greenstone, director of the Energy Politics Institute at the University of Chicago.

So if pollution reduction measures can be properly implemented, there is still hope for the future and humanity's fertility.

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Environmental scientist warns that pollution is causing penises to shrink - Euronews

At age 96, Patricia Segal lives alone in an airy Sydney apartment with views of the sea. Time spent with her feels uplifting, invigorating, and when you ask for her secret Segal doesnt hesitate: her positive and curious attitude is the key to her longevity, she says.

And although scientists don't understand exactly why, research suggests she is correct.

As COVID-19 continues to expose the vulnerability of Australias elderly and an inquiry laid bare abuse in aged care homes Segal projects a dramatically different image of what it can mean to reach very old age.

She does not appear as a woman eyeballing 100. Segal looks years younger. Stylishly and carefully dressed, with her hair kept dark brown and cropped close, she radiates calm, upbeat confidence.

ABC News: Catherine Taylor

Our conversation roves across politics and sociology. The novel shes currently reading rests on her coffee table shes regular a member of two local libraries. Her apartment is decorated with original artwork the fruits of a painting hobby that she first took up aged 90-something.

"I just thought Id try it. I walked into the art class one day, everybody said 'hi!, everybody was smiling. The teacher was fantastic and it's just wonderful," she explains. "Sometimes when I look at the paintings I think 'did I really do that?'"

Researchers say Australians are entering an era in which remaining vital well into your 90s will be not just possible, but common. And your 80s may well deliver some of the best years of your life.

The average lifespan of an Australian woman is now about 85, packing on 25 additional years in a century, meaning one in two women will reach this age or beyond.

That's an ageDexter Kruger, Australia's oldest personbefore hepassed away this weekaged 111, reached with ease. Research suggests he's not alone:Centenarians are now Australia's fastest-growing demographic.

ABC News: Phoebe Hosier

Between 2000 and 2020 the numbers of Australians aged over 85 grew by 110 per cent, compared with national population growth of 35 per cent. A baby girl born today has an almost 40 per cent chance of reaching 100.

Life expectancy for men is increasing along a similar upwards curve, just behind the long-lived women.

Professor Perminder Sachdev, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of NSW, is leading the Sydney Centenarian Studythat is hunting for environmental and genetic determinants of successful ageing.He wants to know how the brain ages, and has enrolled around 450 study participants ranging in age from 95 into theirearly 100s.

Although the lifespan of Australians is increasing Sachdev says up to 50 per cent of people will suffer some kind of cognitive decline including dementia or Alzheimer's disease once they near 100.

It is a reality that concerns Segal, who says she does not want to reach a century if she is no longer in control. "Old people can get pretty useless," she says. "I've got a wonderful family but I don't want them to have to worry about me. I'm very, very lucky. I've had a wonderful life. I haven't missed anything."

ABC News: Catherine Taylor

Solving the riddle of what it takes to not just live longer, but do it with verve and enthusiasm and without mental impairment, is what Sachdev's team hopes to unravel.

There's no one pathway to a healthy long life, Sachdev says. It is a puzzle that is still being completed.

Increasing lifespans have paralleled improvements in healthcare, nutrition and education, as well as rising quality of life for most Australians that helps to ensure things like stable housing, another longevity indicator. Lifestyle improvements have also been significant particularly a successful campaign to reduce smoking. Even playing tennis has been pinged in one studyfor its associationwith greater longevity than other sports.

"All we have [to work with]are lifestyle factors," Sachdev says, and "we realise that these factors impact from birth. Ideally one wants a lifetime of good effort."

But researchers like Sachdev, and Professor Henry Brodaty who collaborates with him on the centenarian study, note growing evidence that successful ageing includes less tangible and more mysterious influences.

Segal's comment about her attitude to life was spot on. An optimistic personality, strong social connections and what the Japanese call "ikigai", a reason for being, are all core attributes of long lifers.

"We found people who are 100-plus and they are still volunteering in committees and other areas, engaged socially and with their great grandchildren, Sachdev says. It is this kind of physical and mental activity we tend to see repeated in different [ageing] studies around the world."

Quality education in childhood, and lifelong learning, is also key. Precisely how it impacts longevity and brain health is not fully understood.

Sachdev hypothesises that education may raise the likelihood of making sensible lifestyle choices, or offer socioeconomic benefits, like access to higher-paying job that puts a better standard of housing andhealthcare within reach andin turn predisposes these people to healthier bodies in old age.

He also argues that there are indications education builds "better cognitive reserves during the developmental period and you set yourself up for a lifetime of more complex cognitive activity".

"All the data points to the fact that if there is one thing we should do (to maximise healthy aging)it is improve the quality of education," he says. "Because people who had better education preserved their brains."

The lifestyle ingredients of longevity are so routinely effective as to feel almost predictive of long life. Could there be a "recipe"for successful ageing?

Regions around the world known as "blue zones" where the populations have unusually high numbers of centenarians offer clues.

The islands of Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece and Okinawa in Japan as well as Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula and California's community of Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda make up five zones where residents outlive the rest of the world.

Researchers have also distilled nine traits of these communities that are credited with underpinning each community's health.

They include:

Blue zones are less pronounced in Australia and pockets of longer-lived citizens tend to be linked to socioeconomic advantage. The ACT and Sydney's affluentsuburbs of Mosman, Hunters Hill as well as the Hills District,emerge as areas where residents have a slightly higher than average life expectancy.

In the Northern Territory, however, life expectancy is concerningly below the national average. Yet NT has also shown the greatest percentage growth in over 85s in Australia, suggesting disadvantage is slowing.

Longevity zones in Australia are also linked to retirement communities, Henry Brodaty notes, where higher concentrations of older people in turn creates a greater probability of encountering the 95-plus cohort. This is a quirk of internal migration rather than a true, blue zone.

In Segals case, as we talk, it's astounding how consistently her natural choices throughout life offer a real-world masterclass in hitting those longevity KPIs: never a smoker, a light and occasional drinker, Segal remains close to her two children, four grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

She's been active throughout life, a regular at the tennis club, and now walks everywhere ("I'm considering getting a walking stick not for stability but because it allows me walk even faster"). And she eats small, healthy meals that she cooks herself ("I've never cared about food").

And what about her self-acknowledged positive attitude to life?

One of the difficulties of living into very old age is that lifelong friends pass away, become ill or do not maintain the same attitude to living, Segal says. Her husband died four years ago at age 95, and Segal is matter-of-fact as she explains that loneliness can be one of the hazards of a long life.

Unwilling to slow down and give up her social nature, Segal enlisted her granddaughters to match her up with the grandmothers of their friends so she could expand and rebuild her friendship group as she aged.

"I've been lucky, I've made new friends," she says with trademark pragmatism. "I like to go out at least twice a week. I probably go out more than that but as long as I'm out twice a week I'm quite happy on other days to stay home and just read or write."

Even COVID lockdown hasn't slowed her down. Segal continues to swap books and the library and keep in touch with friends and family.

Segal also acknowledges how fate has worked in her favour. She fled Berlin with her Jewish family just before World War II, escaping the horrors that were to unfold in Europe. She grew up in a loving home and had a very happy marriage without financial pressure.

It's impossible to talk about longevity without considering the genetic lottery. Our DNA can protect or betray us no matter what healthy lifestyle choices we make.

Sachdev points out that genetics is an important part of the long-life puzzle, particularly for those who reach extreme old age, 100-plus, in great health. Hitting a century is where genes start to have real impact, and the limits of medical science begin to be felt, he says.

"The genetic factors are polygenic," says Sachdev, meaning that many genes are involved in predisposing someone to a long lifespan. Just how to manipulate these genes to deliver the same genetic advantage to everyone has not been solved.

"You notice that many people who reach 100 or above have been able to avoid illness altogether," he says.

"They have not developed the chronic illnesses that affect most of us, things like hypertension, diabetes or arthritis. Alternatively, if they do develop these problems, then they develop them at a later age, say their 80s or 90s rather than the 60s and 70s."

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When you look at global blue zones on a map two fascinating facts emerge: many are islands, and all lie in regions where the weather is warm and sunny for a good part of the year.

The warm weather may well encourage people to leave their homes and congregate in groups, building the social connections and optimism that are traits of those who age well.

These blue zone communities are also somewhat cut off from the outside islands, or peninsulas or closed religious communities: it is possible that generations of good genes were distilled within these groups and go some way to explaining why residents have such long lives.

In Segal's case it's debatable how much her genetics has influenced how well she has aged. Her father died at 72 and although her mother lived to 92, she was unwell from her late 80s but this would still have been beyond the life expectancy for women at that time.

Jim Hennington's job is to take one of life's biggest mysteries how long we might live and spin it into the kind of mathematical data that is so reliable hes willing to bet literally millions of dollars on it as part of his work in superannuation.

Hennington, a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, says the data on human lifespan is remarkably predictable.

He points to a steady increase in average lifespan over decades and the smooth, comforting curves they produce when graphed mathematically. While the length of an individual life will always be unknown, he says, across a population the patterns are undeniable.

Those patterns hide even more interesting statistics, Herrington says, that influencing superannuation policy.

While the average life expectancy of an Australian woman is now 85, in reality, if an Aussie woman hits 65 in good health and with quality housing and lifestyle, she has as much chance of reaching 100 as dying before 86, Herrington says.

Reuters: Jean-Paul Pelissier

The remarkable lives of people like French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 and was assessed as cognitively sharp at age 121,raise hopes that years of healthy, active life can be further extended.

Sachdev believes that evidence humans can routinely survive to 110, 120 or even 150, is "not really that strong".

But surviving into your 90s, and staying mentally sharp and physically active, and more and more of us hitting the big 1-0-0, is a very real possibility, he says.

And as Patricia Segal knows, that's something to feel optimistic about.

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Australians are living longer but what does it take to reach 100 years old? - ABC News

SAN DIEGO, July 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. (Nadsaq: PSTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing proprietary genetic engineering platform technologies to create cell and gene therapeutics with the capacity to cure, today announced the appointment of biotechnology industry veteran Cynthia Collins to its Board of Directors, effective July 23, 2021.

"We are excited to welcome Cindy to Poseida's Board of Directors," said Eric Ostertag, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Poseida Therapeutics. "As a recognized leader in cell and gene therapies and in growing innovative companies, she brings more than four decades of experience to our Board. Her broad expertise in gene engineering, oncology and hematology will be highly valuable as the Company continues to develop the next wave of cell and gene therapies with the capacity to cure."

Ms. Collins most recently served as the CEO of Editas Medicine, and prior to that served as the CEO of Human Longevity, Inc.; the CEO/GM of the Cell Therapy and Lab Business of General Electric's Healthcare Life Sciences; and the CEO of Clarient Diagnostics, Inc. Her prior leadership roles have included President and CEO of GenVec, Inc., a publicly traded vaccine and gene therapy company, and Group Vice President, Cellular Analysis Business of Beckman Coulter with responsibility for its Hematology, Flow Cytometry, and Hemostasis businesses. Prior to Beckman Coulter, she served as President and CEO of Sequoia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a venture-capital funded company developing antiviral drugs for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Ms. Collins received a B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois, Urbana and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is a member of the boards of directors at DermTech, Inc., Certara, Biocare Medical, LLC, and Triumvira Immunologics, Inc., and previously served on the boards for the ARM Foundation for Cell and Gene Medicine and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine.

"I am pleased to join the pioneers at Poseida Therapeutics at this exciting time, as the Company continues to leverage its proprietary genetic engineering tools to create next generation cell and gene therapies," said Ms. Collins. "I look forward to working closely with the team at Poseida as they advance the development of therapeutic candidates for patients in need."

About Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.Poseida Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to utilizing our proprietary genetic engineering platform technologies to create next generation cell and gene therapeutics with the capacity to cure. We have discovered and are developing a broad portfolio of product candidates in a variety of indications based on our core proprietary platforms, including our non-viral piggyBac DNA Modification System, Cas-CLOVER site-specific gene editing system and nanoparticle- and AAV-based gene delivery technologies. Our core platform technologies have utility, either alone or in combination, across many cell and gene therapeutic modalities and enable us to engineer our wholly-owned portfolio of product candidates that are designed to overcome the primary limitations of current generation cell and gene therapeutics. To learn more, visit http://www.poseida.comand connect with us on Twitterand LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking StatementsStatements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding the clinical data presented, the potential benefits of Poseida's technology platforms and product candidates and Poseida's plans and strategy with respect to developing its technologies and product candidates. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Poseida's current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with development and regulatory approval of novel product candidates in the biopharmaceutical industry, the fact that future clinical results could be inconsistent with results observed to date and the other risks described in Poseida's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Poseida undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

SOURCE Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.

http://www.poseida.com

Originally posted here:
Poseida Therapeutics Appoints Cynthia Collins to Board of Directors - PRNewswire

Futuristic Technology and Disruptive Technologies Worldwide as Concept

Earlier this summer, the Atlantic Councils GeoTech Center published a new bipartisan report of Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data (www.atlanticcouncil.org/geotechreport). Fourteen months in the making, the bipartisan recommendations highlight that the technological revolution is advancing at such speed and enormity that it is reshaping both societies globally and the geopolitical landscape.

We are now entering a new era of emerging connected technologies that blend engineering, computing algorithms, and culture. Along with connected computing comes new capabilities enabled by machine learning and artificial intelligence. This technology convergence will be immensely impactful. Human/computer interface will extend our human brain capacities, memories, and capabilities, and that the power of computing doubles, on average, every two years. These connected technology tools can be stepping-stones to a new world in diverse areas such as genetic engineering, augmented reality, robotics, renewable energies, big data, digital security, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

If you think about the transformative role that technology is already playing in our lives, it is easy to envision how emerging technologies can proceed in effecting societal change. We are in the early stages of profound technological innovation namely the digital revolution, the Internet of Things, health and medicine, and manufacturing. It is no exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of scientific and technological advancements that will change the human condition. Incredibly, technology continues to evolve at a pace we could not have envisioned even two decades ago, and these advancements can greatly improve our lives if we harness them properly.

The GeoTech Commission Report poignantly states that the world must now start to understand how technology and data interact with society and how to implement solutions that address these challenges and grasp these opportunities. For example, data analytics has the potential to improve healthcare by identifying the best pathways in treatments and administration of patient medicines, as well as predicting the spread of the flu. In commerce and trade, data analytics can predict when and what consumers are buying. The mathematical applications used in analyzing large data sets can be used to predict societal change at almost every level of human interaction.

Collaboration is Key:

A thematic takeaway from the Commission co-chaired by John Goodman and Teresa Carlson was the urgent need for collaboration and that governments, industries and other stakeholders must work together to remain economically competitive, sustain social welfare and public safety, protect human rights and democratic processes, and preserve global peace and stability.

Success in these cooperative public private partnerships is dependent on information sharing,planning,investment in emerging technologies,and allocation of resources coordinated by both the public and private sectorsinspecial workingpartnerships.

The result of such collaboration will both keep us apprised of new paradigms and contribute to a seismic shift in breakthrough discoveries. Such cooperation could speed up the realization of the next industrial revolution and bring benefits beyond our expectations.

Personal information concept. Group of engineer.

Technologies can impact society across many industry verticals. For example

Health & Medicine

Abstract luminous DNA molecule. Doctor using tablet and check with analysis chromosome DNA genetic ... [+] of human on virtual interface. Medicine. Medical science and biotechnology.

*Health- Implantable devices, (bionic eyes, limbs)

*DNA nanomedicines

*Genomic techniques gene therapy (Gene therapy to enhance strength, endurance and lifespan Gene therapy to enhance human intelligence

*Remote sensing tech (Wearables)

*Medicine for longevity, enhancement

*Real-time biomarker tracking and monitoring

*Artificially grown organ

*Human regeneration Human cells interfaced with nanotech

*Cybernetics

*Exoskeletons for mobility

*Telemedicine

Transportation:

Global business logistics import export background and container cargo freight ship transport ... [+] concept

*Sustainability of infrastructure

* Converged transportation ecosystems and monitoring

*Autonomous and connected cars

*Predictive analytics (parking, traffic patterns)

* Smart Cities

Ecology concept. Hand holding light bulb against nature on green leaf with icons energy sources for ... [+] renewable, sustainable development, save energy.

Energy & Environment:

*New Materials for stronger construction and resilience

*Solar power

*Converting waste to biofuels

*Protecting the Electrical Grid

*Batteries (long lasting)

*Renewables

*Energy efficiency.

*Instrumenting the planet to respond to crises faster

Professional policemen tracing group of bandits in room of video monitoring watching movements on ... [+] city map while other colleagues working

Public Safety:

*Instrumenting the planet to respond to crises faster

*Better situational awareness for emergency management (chemical and bio sensors, cameras, drones)

*License plate readers

*Non-lethal public safety technologies

*Advanced forensics, both physical and digital

*Interoperable and secure communications

future technologies

Please also see: GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks: A Guide to Emerging Technologies Impacting Government in 2021 and Beyond GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks: A Guide for Emerging Technologies Impacting Government in 2021 and Beyond - GovCon WireFour Emerging Technology Areas Impacting Industry 4.0 Advanced Computing, Artificial intelligence, Big Data & Materials Science COGNITIVE WORLD

In the GeoTech Commission report there are several areas of specialized cooperation that get attention, including two of the biggest threats that society faces today, pandemics, and cyber-attacks.

Doctor wearing highly protective suit and holding globe in her hands. Globe link: ... [+] https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/images/2181/the-blue-marble/2182w

Mitigating Pandemics:

As we are now acutely aware of the implications of a global pandemic from Covid19, The Commission suggested that government should launch a global pandemic surveillance and warning system and develop rapid and automated treatments for unknown pathogens. It should also build a digital infrastructure that includes, among other systems, emerging biosensors and autonomous sequencers deployed in water systems, air filtration systems and other public infrastructureto integrate their diverse data for analysis and modeling with protocols for activating rapid analysis of new pathogens, including new strains of extant pathogens to evaluate ongoing vaccine efficacy,

Cyber Security and Digital Data Protection Concept. Icon graphic interface showing secure firewall ... [+] technology for online data access defense against hacker, virus and insecure information for privacy.

Implementing Cybersecurity:

Cybersecurity is a big focus area of the report. Cybersecurity, information assurance, and resilience are the glues that will keep our world of converged sensors and algorithms operational. This has become one of the largest areas of both public and private sector spending and is consistently ranked the top priority among CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs.

The commission urged for strengthening the National Cyber Strategy Implementation Plan, developing a geopolitical cyber deterrence strategy for critical digital assets and hardening the security of commercial space capabilities. To advance security, the government should increase its oversight of supply chain assurance, organize data on critical resources, and with allied partners, evaluate the physical and digital information technology supply chain.

Furthermore, the report highlighted that Governments, especially democratic governments, must work to build and sustain the trust in the algorithms, infrastructures and systems that could underpin society, the commission noted. The world must now start to understand how technology and data interact with society and how to implement solutions that address these challenges and grasp these opportunities. Maintaining both economic and national security and resiliency requires new ways to develop and deploy critical and emerging technologies, cultivate the needed human capital, build trust in the digital fabric with which our world will be woven and establish norms for international cooperation.

We have entered a new renaissance of accelerated technological development that is exponentially transforming our civilization. Yet with these benefits come risks. The Atlantic Council Commission Report provides a working roadmap on the Geopolitical Impact of emerging technology and the correct paths to follow.

Please see the Report of the Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data atReport of the Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data - Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council Report of the Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data

Dr. David A. Bray has served in a variety of leadership roles in turbulent environments, including bioterrorism preparedness and response from 2000-2005, time on the ground in Afghanistan in 2009, serving as the non-partisan Executive Director for a bipartisan National Commission on R&D, and providing leadership as a non-partisan federal agency Senior Executive. He accepted a leadership role in December 2019 to incubate a new global Center with the Atlantic Council.

David also provides strategy to both Boards and start-ups espousing human-centric principles to technology-enabled decision making in complex environments. Business Insider named him one of the top 24 Americans Who Are Changing the World under 40 and he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for 2016-2021. From 2017 to the start of 2020, David served as Executive Director for the People-Centered Internet coalition Chaired by Internet co-originator Vint Cerf, focused on providing support and expertise for community-focused projects that measurably improve peoples lives using the internet. He also was named a Marshall Memorial Fellow and traveled to Europe in 2018 to discuss Trans-Atlantic issues of common concern including exponential technologies and the global future ahead. Later in 2018, he was invited to work with the U.S. Navy and Marines on improving organizational adaptability and to work with U.S. Special Operation Commands J5 Directorate on the challenges of countering misinformation and disinformation online. He has received both the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award and the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Dr. David Bray LinkedIn Profile:

AC GeoTech Center on Twitter:@ACGeoTech

Chuck Brooks, President of Brooks Consulting International, is a globally recognized thought leader and subject matter expert Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. LinkedIn named Chuck as one of The Top 5 Tech People to Follow on LinkedIn. He was named by Thompson Reuters as a Top 50 Global Influencer in Risk, Compliance, and by IFSEC as the #2 Global Cybersecurity Influencer. He was featured in the 2020 Onalytica "Who's Who in Cybersecurity" as one of the top Influencers for cybersecurity issues. He was also named one of the Top 5 Executives to Follow on Cybersecurity by Executive Mosaic.He is also a Cybersecurity Expert for The Network at the Washington Post, Visiting Editor at Homeland Security Today, Expert for Executive Mosaic/GovCon, and a Contributor to FORBES. He has also been featured author in technology and cybersecurity blogs & events by IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, Cylance, Xerox, Malwarebytes, General Dynamics Mission Systems, and many others.

Chuck is on the Faculty of Georgetown University where he teaches in the Graduate Applied Intelligence and Cybersecurity Risk Programs. In government, Chuck was a plank holder at The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) serving as the first Legislative Director of The Science & Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. He served as a top Advisor to the late Senator Arlen Specter on Capitol Hill coveringsecurity and technology issues on Capitol Hill. He has an M.A from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from DePauw University

Chuck Brooks LinkedIn Profile:

Chuck Brooks on Twitter:@ChuckDBrooks

Read more:
A Roadmap On The Geopolitical Impact Of Emerging Technologies By Chuck Brooks And Dr. David Bray - Forbes

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This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the worlds most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Nisid Hajari: President Joe Biden has announced that U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan at the end of next month, ending NATOs 20-year involvement in the country. The U.S. intelligence community has reportedly predicted that once the U.S. withdraws, the Afghan government may collapse within six months, with the Taliban potentially returning to power. Youve covered and written about Afghanistan for decades. Your 2000 book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, chronicled the rise of the Taliban and became a bestseller in the West after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. You have a unique viewpoint on what the Talibans resurgence means for the countrys future. Are you surprised by how rapidly the Taliban have been making gains since Bidens announcement?

Ahmed Rashid, author, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia: Yes, definitely. Its been a big surprise to the Afghans, to the Americans and to outside observers. I think all parties in this conflict have made horrendous mistakes. I think the Americans gave away too much to the Taliban. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has not been able to unite his politicians and warlords around him. Theres a very divisive situation in Kabul. The countrys neighbors have all claimed that they want to see peace, but have not been really helpful.

And the Taliban still, after a year and a half of negotiations, have not told the Afghan people what they want. They dont believe in democracy, or do they? We have no idea. There is a younger generation of Taliban who may be more desirous of some kind of representative government. But theres an old guard of commanders and people influenced by al-Qaeda. Some of them have been in Guantanamo. They are very hardline. And they dont believe in what they consider to be Western political ideas.

NH: Are you surprised by how resilient the movement has been? After 20 years, theyve been beaten down, mutated and are now reborn.

AR: The essence of the Talibans longevity is that they had a very secure sanctuary in Pakistan. That was the crux of Americas problem, that the Taliban were able to replenish themselves. Right now, for example, wounded Taliban are in hospitals in Pakistani cities. The Afghan government is not able to provide that kind of facility for its own troops, many of whom who are stuck in faraway areas of Afghanistan. The second problem has been, I think, the lack of a real American strategy [since 2009], when President Obama sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan or even earlier than that after 9/11, when there was an opportunity for the Americans to negotiate with the Taliban. That is what many Taliban wanted, but the Americans rejected the idea.

NH: How different is this Taliban from the one that you wrote about in your first book?

AR: Well, the Taliban I met with initially in 1993, who then swept through Afghanistan, were very innocent, in a sense, very naive. They had very little concept of basically anything except fighting. They had no ideas on rebuilding Afghanistan or how to govern. It was not seen as a particularly practical movement, but they promised an end to the warlordism and the civil war. And that encouraged a lot of people to join them and accept them. After they captured Kabul in 1995-96, then they became one more warlord party, and started trying to invade northern Afghanistan and put down all the other ethnic groups. Their ability to preside over a new kind of government in Afghanistan was absolutely lost because they took several years to capture the rest of the country. And once they did that and started ruling the country, they had no idea how to do it.

As for how theyre different now, I think theyve experienced a great deal. For example, they never allowed media in the 90s. Now they are media-savvy, something they learned from al-Qaeda. But there are still enormous concerns about how they will govern. They dont have an educated elite. A lot of the second- and third-generation Taliban have grown up in Pakistan in refugee camps and are better educated. But whether theyll be allowed to come to the forefront in a Taliban regime is doubtful.

NH: The original movement was very tightly controlled from the top, very centralized and hierarchical. Is it still that way?

AR: Its highly centralized. But the most extraordinary thing, I think, which has surprised many people, is that its very disciplined. There were divisions within the Taliban in the mid-90s and after 9/11. But over the last year or two, the negotiations with the Americans have prompted a rallying around the flag for the Taliban. They have been far more disciplined and united, both in military terms and in political terms, than the government in Kabul. And, of course, their military forces are inspired by the fact that now they are close to conquering Afghanistan once again.

Theyre also very keen to be recognized by the international community. They love traveling around the region, visiting Moscow and Central Asia and Iran. And they consider themselves now as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, who should be acknowledged by the international community. This is something that the Americans and international community can hold over the Taliban; it could be used as part of the negotiating strategy.

NH: All these neighboring countries are now reaching out to the Taliban, in part because theyre worried about the spillover of violence or drugs or refugees and so on. Are the neighbors playing a useful role here?

AR: I think the Americans lost a real opportunity earlier. If they had brought in the United Nations to put together an alliance of neighboring states and then exerted a common pressure on the Taliban, we might have seen a different outcome than what were seeing right now. Instead, what has happened is that, first of all, all the neighboring countries China, Russia, Iran, the Central Asian republics and, of course, Pakistan all started buttering up the Taliban, as it were, as they became more successful. During the peace negotiations, America gave in to many of the Taliban demands, without really taking into account the Afghan government. So what weve seen is a desperate failure of the international community to come together and use their presence as one trigger in order to put pressure on the Taliban. What we need is much greater unity in the international community.

Also read: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation can tame Taliban. If members stop double game in Afghanistan

NH: You dont think its too late for that?

AR: I really am a firm believer that its never too late. The reality of the geopolitics in the region, however, is very much against any kind of major effort by the international community. Many of these countries, countries like Iran and Russia, carry out policies which are to their advantage, not to the advantage of bringing peace to Afghanistan.

China is going to become the major beneficiary of whatever happens in Afghanistan, because Afghanistan is full of minerals. The idea of mineral exploration and exploitation is certainly uppermost in Chinas mind. And its quite logical because Afghanistan cant export important minerals to anywhere else in the world except through the Chinese, who can build a land route through northern Afghanistan into China.

NH: Can the Chinese expect that a Taliban regime would create enough stability that they could profit from development and from mining?

AR: Well, the Taliban have gone out of their way to reassure the Chinese. I think the Taliban would be more than willing to facilitate Chinese exploration and exploitation of Afghanistans minerals.

NH: How much influence does Pakistan still have over this version of the Taliban compared to 20 years ago?

AR: Its a different kind of influence. Twenty years ago, Pakistan was giving money, arms, weapons or ammunition or food it was fully backing and supplying the Taliban in its offensives across Afghanistan. I dont think thats the case now, but there is enormous influence because, simply, the Taliban are situated in Pakistan. Their families, the leadership committees, their incomes are all focused on the leadership sitting in Pakistan. One of the very big mistakes made was the failure of international community to persuade Pakistan to send the Taliban back to Afghanistan, or at least threaten to do so, because the Taliban are very comfortable here. Theyre not threatened in any way by any Pakistani pressure. And, of course, this has become a very big issue for the millions of Afghans in Afghanistan, who are asking, Well, what the hell do you think youre doing? Sorry, you claim to be Afghan, yet youre launching wars against Afghanistan? For many Afghans this is a sellout of Afghan nationalism youre using your foreign base in order to attack your own country and kill your own countrymen.

NH: If the Taliban do gain power in Kabul, what do you think their rule would be like? First of all, would they keep their promises to cut off ties to al-Qaeda?

AR: Well, I cant see how they can do that. Al-Qaeda is both a military and a political force in Afghanistan. The leaders of al-Qaeda, many of them are married into Afghan society, especially the Pashtun population. And theres a very close proximity between the Taliban in the field and some of the al-Qaeda people, who have been helping them develop new weapons, training, etc. The Taliban would have to be extremely ruthless and literally kill off al-Qaeda fighters. I dont see them doing that. Theres a lot of wishful thinking here. Maybe some Taliban in the past would like to have seen al-Qaeda leave Afghanistan, but to do that in a peaceful manner is not going to be easy at all.

Also read: 5 reasons the West lost in Afghanistan

NH: And how do you think they will treat women and minorities again, compared to 20 years ago?

AR: They have promised that they will allow limited girls education. That means girls will be able to go to school up to perhaps fifth or sixth grade, but no more than that. It still has to be seen what policies they will use for human rights groups, civil society, women, teachers. Women form 40-45% of teachers in schools. Women are nurses and doctors. And if the Taliban come in and pull out all these women from the workforce, it will lead to even more catastrophic results for them. I think [Taliban leaders] will attempt to bring some of the younger cadres who are better educated into making policy, but they also have to watch the hardliners, the commanders whove been fighting and dying on the front lines. They will say, We want the old Taliban government back.

Its a very tricky thing to manage and manipulate. How many concessions will they give on the social front, especially regarding women? How serious is the western threat to refuse to recognize the Taliban government if it comes into power and does not give women equal rights? There are a lot of unanswered questions at the moment.

NH: Of the various possible outcomes the government holds on, or the Taliban take over or theres a messy civil war where do you see things most likely heading?

AR: It is very difficult to say, but I would predict that there will be continued fighting. The Taliban will try and take more and more territory [but] they wont attack the major cities. Theyll expect some kind of surrender, or something like that. I think the international community will become less and less relevant. [Well see] the Afghan government resisting but losing ground. I certainly wouldnt give a dire prediction, as some American commanders have done, by saying the government will collapse in three months or six months. Remember that the CIA predicted that after the Soviets withdrew, the Afghan communist government would collapse in six months; actually, they lasted three years in power. So, I would be very careful about making such predictions.

NH: Youve been covering the story for decades now. Whats your personal feeling about whats transpired in Afghanistan, the tragedy of it?

AR: Ive been incredibly depressed, to tell you the truth. I was there covering the Soviet invasion and the withdrawal, the breakdown of the government, followed by the civil war. And so yeah, this is a repeat of a repeat of a repeat. And in the middle of this, of course, are the Afghan people, the majority of whom do not want the Taliban back and do not want any kind of extreme political system which will restrict their basic freedoms of education and jobs and things like that. It has been very depressing to see Afghanistan fall back like this and the international community making so many mistakes once again.- Bloomberg

Also read: Proud of achievements in democracy, human rights India will tell Blinken on US concerns

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Essence of Talibans longevity is very secure sanctuary they had in Pakistan: Ahmed Rashid - ThePrint

CTAHR extension researchers

When a virus or virus-like agent infects a vegetatively propagated crop, the negative consequences can go far beyond a disappointing yield, appearance, taste and plant longevity. If the difficult-to-find disease goes undetected inside the propagation material, the problem could be passed on to a new farm, establish itself, and spread even further.

With a new grant from the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a group of University of Hawaii at Mnoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) extension agents and researchers on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island have joined a national networks sweet potato research group.

Since 2008, the National Clean Plant Network has brought together growers, scientists and government agencies with the shared goal of safeguarding clean plants and ensuring a sustainable source of disease-free, vegetative propagation materials (such as cuttings, slips, scionwood, etc.).

For their first project, Amjad Ahmad, Rosemary Gutierrez, Roshan Manandhar, Susan Miyasaka, Sharon Motomura-Wages and Jensen Uyeda, along with Jon Suzuki from the USDAs Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo, will focus on Okinawan sweet potato, the purple-fleshed variety that is a primary commercial cultivar in Hawaii.

During the first year, we hope to produce a total of 100 virus-tested Okinawan plantlets in the tissue-culture laboratory of the Komohana Research and Extension Center, then distribute to extension agents across the state, Miyasaka says.

The plan calls for the extension agents to multiply the clean material to produce 500 cuttings, and distribute them to growers. The agents will use either pot or hydroponic cultures under conditions that will minimize any re-introduction of disease, while Suzuki will test for major sweet potato viruses in order to ensure that the propagating materials are clean. If all goes well, by the second year of funding, the agents will be able to ramp up production to distribute 2,500 clean cuttings to growers.

Go to the CTAHR website for more information.

This work is an example of UH Mnoas goal of Excellence in Research: Advancing the Research and Creative Work Enterprise (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 201525 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

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Sweet potato protection! CTAHR team joins nationwide effort | University of Hawaii System News - UH System Current News

TV pioneer Norman Lear has never seen differences in race

Norman Lear looks back at his career and favorite quote: 'Just another version of you.' (Oct. 2)

AP

Norman Lear, the creative powerhouse behind "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons" and many other influential sitcomhits, turns 99 Tuesday.

Lear, who began writing and producing TV shows and movies in the 1950s, has remainedbusy in his late 90s, serving as an executive producer of "One Day at a Time," a recent reimagining of his 1970s sitcom; the Epix documentary series "America Divided"and Jimmy Kimmel's Emmy-winning, all-star recreations of his classic comedyscripts for ABC.

Lear, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors(2017) and the Golden Globes' Carol Burnett Award,changed television and American culture by introducing real-lifeissues that had been taboo, including race, sex, war and even flushing toilets to a comedy genre previously rooted in silliness and escapism. The volatile mix of deadly serious topics and humor drew howls of opposition and of laughter, along with a bounty of awards and ratings.

More: Norman Lear's hits gain new relevance in era of TV remakes

Lear, whose other gems include "Maude," "Good Times," "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" and the movie "Cold Turkey,"linked work to longevity when the Paley Center for Media honored a group of comedy legendsin 2019.

"There's nothing I believe more than this, that laughter adds time to one's life," he said, figuratively tipping his trademark porkpie hat to fellow honorees Burnett, Bob Newhart, Carl Reiner and Lily Tomlin."Had I not laughed with them and at them and for them and about them, I may have been too deceased to pick up this award tonight."

To celebrate the New Haven, Connecticut, native and World War II veteran's 99th birthday, we have a birthday gift, but it's from him to all of us: A collection of wit and wisdom the maestro shared with USA TODAY over the years. Happy birthday, Norman!

More: TV legend Norman Lear isn't resting on laurels

"I would get mail by the tens of thousands. Whether they agreed with Archie or disagreed with Archie, what they all said was, 'My father ... my mother ... my sister ... my family ... we argued about this, that and the other thing,' " Lear said in 2009. "I think conversation about those issues is what our democracy is all about."

"I was interested in family, and we were dealing with what families deal with," Lear said in 2009. "I don't think I consciously thought that anything we were doing was controversial."

More: 'Those were the days': Celebrating Norman Lear's TV classic 'All in the Family' at 50

"If 2,000 years of the Judeo-Christian ethic hasn't seemed to help, I would be some kind of fool if I thought my little half-hour sitcom was having that kind of effect," Lear said in 2009. "What I do know is people talked. That's always good."

The characters and circumstances in the "One Day" remake (2017-20) were substantially different from the original (1975-84): Thenewer version centered on three generations of a Cuban-American family in Los Angeles.Lear welcomesdemographic and location differences, butfocuses on universality.

"I emphasize the common humanity. To laugh at them and live with them for a half-hour is to share in their humanity," he said in 2017. Issues change over the decades, too, but humor remains a shared response,even in difficult situations, "because the foolishness of the human condition is a constant. It doesn't go away."

More: Famous cast sticks live-TV landing in Norman Lear's 'All in the Family,' 'The Jeffersons'

In2017, Lear announced he would boycott the traditional White House reception that accompanies the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony because of then-President Trump's policies relating to the arts. Dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade also planned to boycott before the reception was canceled.

Lear, an outspoken critic of the former president, explained his decision. "Because he's made me feel it's not my White House," he said in 2017. "But I've gotten over that. It is my White House. It oughtn't to be his."

"As I sift through in my mind the problems we dealt with, nothing's gone away. The (problems are)still there," he said in 2009.

He offered a more condensed assessment in 2016:"Very little changes in human nature."

"There is nothing like a live audience and actors who live off the reaction to the last thing they said," he said in 2019. "It's a chemistry that one can't find any other way."

After so many career highlights, Lear experienced a new one at 94: Hosting his own podcast, "All of the Above." It"allows me to gab. I like talking, I like listening, I like interactions," he said in 2017.

New assignments challenge him: "I like going to bed with something on my mind for the next day. I like waking up to that."

"I'm having more fun because it's now," he said in 2016, when asked which version of "One Day at a Time" he most enjoyed. "Then is a memory. Today is the moment."

Contributing: Jefferson Graham

Read more:
Norman Lear turns 99: The legendary 'All in the Family' producer's best quotes over the years - USA TODAY