Category Archives: Transhuman News

Modern chewing gums, which often contain polyethylene plastic, could stick around for tens or even hundreds of years, and perhaps much longer in the right conditions. Some of the first chewing gums, made of birch tar and other natural substances, have been preserved for thousands of years, including a 5,700-year-old piece of Stone Age gum unearthed in Denmark.

For archaeologists, the sticky stuffs longevity can help piece together the lives of ancient peoples who masticated on the chewy tar. The ancient birch gum in Scandinavia preserved enough DNA to reconstruct the full human genome of its ancient chewer, identify the microbes that lived in her mouth, and even reveal the menu of a prehistoric meal.

These birch pitch chewing gums are kind of special in terms of how well the DNA is preserved. It surprised us, says co-author Hannes Schroeder, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Its as well-preserved as some of the best petrous [skull] bones that weve analyzed, and they are kind of the holy grail when it comes to ancient DNA preservation.

Birch pitch, made by heating the trees bark, was commonly used across Scandinavia as a prehistoric glue for attaching stone tools to handles. When found, it commonly contains toothmarks. Scientists suspect several reasons why people would have chewed it: to make it malleable once again after it cooled, to ease toothaches because its mildly antiseptic, to clean teeth, to ease hunger pains, or simply because they enjoyed it.

The gums water-resistant properties helped to preserve the DNA within, as did its mild antiseptic properties which helped to prevent microbial decay. But the find was also made possible by the conditions at the site, named Syltholm, on an island in southern Denmark, where thick mud has perfectly preserved a wide range of unique Stone Age artifacts. Excavations began at the site in 2012 in preparation for the construction of a tunnel, affording the Museum Lolland-Falster a unique chance for archaeological field work.

No human remains have yet been found at Syltholmunless you count the tiny strands of DNA preserved in the ancient gum Schroeder and colleagues described today in Nature Communications.

The discarded gum yielded a surprising amount of information about its 5,700-year-old chewer. She was a female, and while her age is unknown, she may have been a child considering similar birch pitch gums of the era often feature the imprints of childrens teeth.

From the DNA, researchers can start to piece together some of the ancient womans physical traits and make some inferences about the world she lived in. We determined that she had this striking combination of dark skin, dark hair, and blue eyes, Schroeder says. Its interesting because its the same combination of physical traits that apparently was very common in Mesolithic Europe. So all these other ancient [European] genomes that we know about, like La Braa in Spain, they all have this combination of physical traits that of course today in Europe is not so common. Indigenous Europeans have lighter skin color now but that was apparently not the case 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.

The gum-chewers family ties may also help to map the movement of peoples as they settled Scandinavia.

The fact that she was more closely related genetically to people from Belgium and Spain than to people from Sweden, which is just a few hundred kilometers farther north, tells us something about how southern Scandinavia was first populated, Schroeder says. And it looks like it was from the continent. This interpretation would support studies suggesting that two different waves of people colonized Scandinavia after the ice sheets retreated 12,000 to 11,000 years ago, via a southern route and a northeastern route along todays Norwegian coast.

The individual was part of a world that was constantly changing as groups migrated across the northern regions of Europe. We may expect this process, especially at this late stage of the Mesolithic, to have been complex with different groups, from south, west or even east, moving at different times and sometimes intermingling while perhaps other times staying isolated, Jan Stor, an osteoarchaeologist at Stockholm University, says via email.

Additional archaeological work has shown that the era was one of transition. Flaked stone tools and T-shaped antler axes gave way to polished flint artifacts, pottery and domesticated plants and animals. Whether the regions turn to farming was a lifestyle change among local hunter-gatherers, or spurred by the arrival of farming migrants, remains a matter of debate.

This is supposed to be a time when farming has already arrived, with changing lifestyles, but we find no trace of farmer ancestry in her genome, which is fairly easy to establish because it originated in the Near East. So even as late as 5,700 years ago, when other parts of Europe like Germany already had farming populations with this other type of ancestry present, she still looked like essentially western hunter-gatherers, like people looked in the thousands of years before then, Schroeder says.

The lack of Neolithic farmer gene flow, at this date, is very interesting, adds Stor, who wasnt involved in the research. The farming groups would probably have been present in the area, and they would have interacted with the hunter-gatherer groups.

The eras poor oral hygiene has helped add even more evidence to this line of investigation, as genetic bits of foodstuffs were also identifiable in the gum.

Presumably not long before discarding the gum, the woman feasted on hazel nuts and duck, which left their own DNA sequences behind. The dietary evidence, the duck and the hazel nuts, would also support this idea that she was a hunter-gatherer and subsisted on wild resources, Schroeder says, noting that the site is littered with physical remains which show reliance on wild resources like fish, rather than domesticated plants or animals.

It looks like in these parts maybe you have pockets of hunter-gatherers still surviving, or living side-by-side with farmers for hundreds of years, he says.

Scientists also found traces of the countless microbes that lived in the womans mouth. Ancient DNA samples always include microbial genes, but they are typically from the environment. The team compared the taxonomic composition of the well-preserved microbes to those found in modern human mouths and found them very similar.

Satisfied that genetic signatures of ancient oral microbes were preserved in the womans gum, the researchers investigated the specific species of bacteria and other microbes. Most were run-of-the-mill microflora like those still found in most human mouths. Others stood out, including bacterial evidence for gum disease and Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can cause pneumonia today and is responsible for a million or more infant deaths each year.

Epstein-Barr virus, which more than 90 percent of living humans carry, was also present in the womans mouth. Usually benign, the virus can be associated with serious diseases like infectious mononucleosis, Hodgkins lymphoma and multiple sclerosis. Ancient examples of such pathogens could help scientists reconstruct the origins of certain diseases and track their evolution over time, including what factors might conspire to make them more dangerous.

What I really find interesting with this study is the microbial DNA, Anders Gtherstrm, a molecular archaeologist at Stockholm University, says in an email. DNA from ancient pathogens holds great promise, and this type of mastics may be a much better source for such data than ancient bones or teeth.

Natalija Kashuba, an archaeologist at Uppsala University in Sweden, and colleagues have also extracted human DNA from ancient birch gum, from several individuals at a 10,000-year-old site on Swedens west coast. Its really interesting that we can start working on this material, because theres a lot of it scattered around Scandinavia from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, she says, adding that gums may survive wherever birches were prevalentincluding eastward toward Russia, where one wave of Scandinavian migration is thought to have originated.

The fact that the discarded artifact survived to reveal so much information about the past isnt entirely due to luck, Kashuba says. I think we have to thank the archaeologists who not only preserved these gums but suggested maybe we should try to process them, she says. If it hadnt been for them, Im not sure most geneticists would have bothered with this kind of material.

The rest is here:
Human Genome Recovered From 5700-Year-Old Chewing Gum - Smithsonian.com

The elderly patients muscles didnt look right beneath the microscope.

He wasnt just old. He had diabetic myopathy, a complication where muscles degrade faster than normal. The mitochondria die, fibers weaken, and the tissues become so broken up they resemble crackedDust Bowl earth. Like cottage cheese, offers Russ Cox, a Genentech and Jazz Pharma alumn.

But now they looked healthy. Mitochondria were firing. The fibers perked and stretched.

These muscles were really looking as if they were muscles of a person 20 years younger, Sundeep Dugar, the J&J and Bristol-Myers Squibb vet on the other end of the microscope, told Endpoints News.

The patient and others had been injected with a form of flavanol, the metabolites found in grape skins and wine and dark chocolate that lead nutritionists to sometimes recommend those foods for heart health. Its considered an antioxidant. But the results that Dugar and his collaborator George Schreiner saw, along with earlier animal studies, led them to a bold idea: Flavanoid was actually following biological pathways normally used by a yet undiscovered human hormone, the first of its kind discovered in over 50 years.

Its a big deal, Dugar said. I think its a big deal.

That was in 2012. Dugar, Schreiner and Cox are now forming a company called Epirium around that finding and the subsequent work they did confirming the new hormone. Its a rejig of an older, poorly funded group the trio had worked on called Cardero, but now theyve managed to convince a fleet of topflight investors: Longitude, Arch, Vertex and Adams Street have joined in an $85 million Series A.

Theres also an investor called Longevity Fund, a group focused on extending human life, and Arch head Bob Nelsen has made no secret of his desire to live forever. The two hint at an idea the new biotech isnt particularly shy about: That while they will begin with trials in rare neuromuscular disorders, namely a form of muscular dystrophy called Beckers, they have ambitions that are much broader.

They made the investment not just because they think we can do something meaningful in Beckers muscular dystrophy, but primarily because some of these larger diseases could benefit as well, Cox, the CEO, told Endpoints. Theres no question we will evolve.

Epirium isnt yet revealing what their claimed new hormone is. They say the long delay has been in trying to secure the intellectual property and that a scientific paper is coming early next year.

It has to do, though, with mitochondria biogenesis, or the creation of new mitochondria. These organelles are often called the engine of the cells but they break down with age or with certain diseases and bring the muscles down with them. Exercise is one of the only ways to make more.

You and I lose 10% of our mitochondria every decade, so by the time you get to my age, youre underwater as opposed to when youre 18, said Cox, a former track and cross country athlete now approaching 60.

Dugar and Schreiner, who founded Scios before it was bought by J&J for $2.4 billion in 2003, had been enlisted at UC San Diego to investigate why flavanol had biological effects. To emerge from that research claiming to find a new human hormone is bold, particularly without publishing the work. Researchers have long studied flavanol for its cardiovascular impact without arriving at similar conclusions. The hormone would be the first mitochondrial steroid since cortisol was described, they said. That was 1949.

But the pair conducted 11 proof-of-concept trials on 110 patients and say they saw profound results that appeared to work along each of the three well known mitochondrial pathways. They didnt follow up on the diabetic myopathy patient long term, but he walked and stood better and that, combined with his muscle slides, was overwhelming.

This told us that while everyone classifies flavanol as an antioxidant, that couldnt be true, said Dugar.

The two set up the parameters for a human equivalent that must operate along the same metabolic path as flavanoid, and soon found it. Cox said that in early meetings, investors were mystified by Epiriums presentation, but eventually came around.

Of course, they all went to google it, and couldnt find a publication on it and said how can that damn b?' he said.

Epirium will start out with a clinical trial on Beckers muscular dystrophy patients, one of the groups they studied in the early proof-of-concepts. Beckers is akin to a less devastating form of Duchennes. When patients muscles fire, they release toxins that kill mitochondria and deplete overall muscle tissue. Cox said their hormone should be able to slow or even reverse that muscle loss.

Beckers may seem an odd starting point given the gene therapies nearing market for muscular dystrophy, but Cox said that their hormone might be used in combination with the flashier approach. For the company as a whole, though, rare diseases are primarily places they already have data and think they might place a foothold for a much larger project, one that includes neurodegeneration and other age-related disorders.

Mitochondria deplete as we age. Epirium says theyve found a way to make them grow, a chemical exercise.

Im not saying I want to call it anti-aging, said Dugar. But the question is, if you can really have a separation between your biological age and your chronological age, then, hey 80 years olds who have healthy mitochondria, will look like they were 60 years old or act like they were 60 years old. Maybe thats what anti-aging is.

Excerpt from:
ARCH-backed biotech emerges with $85M and a bold claim: A new human hormone can reverse a key effect of aging - Endpoints News

150 financial institutions advancing the Longevity financial industry

There are over 1 billion people currently in retirement. New types of financial institutions are evolving to satisfy the needs of the aging population. Investment banks, pension funds, and insurance companies are developing new business models, and are using AI to improve the quality of the analytics used to formulate them. In the near future, the synergy between innovative AI and wealth management will lead to the creation of a new financial institutions optimized for the aging population and age-friendly Longevity banks will make banking easier and safer for seniors.

Over 150 financial companies are already developing innovative WealthTech and AgeTech products and services and AI is central to the process. AI drives Longevity, Longevity enables AgeTech, AgeTech enables WealthTech, and WealthTech supports interest in Longevity as an industry. This makes the ongoing growth of AgeTech and WealthTech inevitable.Many innovative financial institutions are in development such as Longevity-focused venture funds, Longevity-AgeTech banks, Longevity index funds and hedge funds, and even a specialized stock exchange for Longevity-focused companies and financial products.

The 7th Continent - 1 billion people in retirement globally.

AgeTech

AgeTech refers to technologies and services optimized for people over 60. AgeTech services enable older people to conduct banking with less difficulty and also helps protect them from financial fraud. AgeTech products for seniors include tablets, smartphones, computers, banking interfaces, medical alert systems, and phone amplifiers. AgeTech is not limited to the financial industry. For instance, theres a growing demand for smart homes for older people. Age friendly smart homes provide AI products and services that make it possible for people to stay in their own homes even if they require special care. The AgeTech segments potential is forecasted to reach $2.7 trillion by 2025, showing 21% annual market growth.

WealthTech

WealthTech companies produce products and services that simplify and enhance the creation and maintenance of wealth. WealthTech companies, which offer advice based on AI and big data, are adapting existing products and services to enhance the financial situation of people over 60. These companies are implementing innovations to address the financial challenges that many seniors face. The following are four examples of WealthTech.

Top 150 pension funds, banks, insurance companies, reinsurance companies, and asset management firms ... [+] advancing Longevity, AgeTech, WealthTech

Longevity Stock Exchange

Although there are hundreds of Longevity startups in the UK, EU, US and Asia, 99% of them are not publicly traded. This means that they are limited to seeking funding from angel investors and venture investors, which represents a very small fraction of available global wealth. This situation creates an extreme funding deficit and a major illiquidity problem.Almost all DeepTech sectors are facing this situation, but the negative repercussions are particularly bad for the Longevity industry, as it leads to reduced quality of life and unnecessary suffering for many older people. It also threatens to inflict crippling economic effects on national healthcare systems, pensions, social security systems, and national economies. Furthermore, in many cases investors exploit the gross illiquidity for their own financial advantage, to the detriment of Longevity and DeepTech startups.

In the future a Longevity Stock Exchange will be developed to deal with specialized derivatives. This will be a means by which investors can provide increased liquidity to the Longevity industry, and will lead to a self-sustaining cycle of growth in the Financial Longevity Industry whereby the effect of aging on GDP is repeatedly offset and the wealth created is reinvested into technologically reinvigorated human capital. The increased liquidity will enable greater flexibility and growth for companies listed on the exchange, and will help advance the Longevity industry as a whole. Setting up a Longevity Stock Exchange will require the public listing of at least 100 Longevity focused companies to create enough diversity and potential volume for trading.

Novel Financial Institutions for the Longevity Economy

AgeTech Longevity Banks

The growth of the aging population will be accompanied by a proliferation of other products including new types of savings accounts, specialized retirement plans, and specialized financial advising. As a consequence, new types of financial products, new asset classes, new investment strategies, and longer-dated bonds and securities will be developed. Traditional banks, as opposed to challenger banks, are taking the first steps in AgeTech and adapting their infrastructure for people over 60. For example, HSBC has partnered with the Alzheimers Society to create dementia-friendly products, and Barclays is actively developing software for seniors to make their customer experience more comfortable.

Over the next few years, it is likely that WealthTech and AgeTech will come to be regarded as complementary functions and AgeTech Longevity Banks reconfigured specially for seniors will emerge. Rising life expectancy is creating new opportunities for the financial sector and as the proportion of people in retirement continues to grow, an increasing number of products and services will be offered. New financial institutions optimized for people 60+ will help transform the growing aging population from a global threat into a global opportunity and will spawn a whole new industry the capitalization of which could exceed anything ever conceived of by financial markets.

Click here to preview a new book that I co-authored with my colleague Dmitry Kaminskiy Longevity Industry 1.0 - Defining the Biggest and Most Complex Industry in Human History.

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AI Is Central To The Longevity Financial Industry - Forbes