Could we live to 140? 1,000? Is there a limit? Scientific research into extending the human lifespan is being backed by Silicon Valley giants such as Google and Facebook. In 1900, life expectancy was 35. Now it’s over 83. But more people die than are born. Armed with data, the molecular biologist María Blasco forecasts “a very different” society for the future. “There will be fewer of us than there are now, but we will live much longer,” says the head of the Spanish National Center for Cancer Research, who has spent more than 20 years studying microscopic DNA structures and the molecules known as telomeres.Telomeres protect chromosomes and their length acts as a biomarker – an aging and heal

Current estimates indicate that between 30 and 40 percent of all pet dogs live in a home that contains at least one person who smokes. A recent study suggests that these dogs are at risk of premature aging and inflammation, due to accelerated telomere shortening from smoke exposure. The full article is available here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201709/dogs-who-live-smokers-may-suffer-premature-aging

Scientists from Lund University found in a recent study that city life can be difficult for young birds, but if they survive their first year, they are less susceptible to stress. "It seems that the various stress factors in the city do not affect the survival of adult individuals in the same way as they affect that of young birds," Pablo Salmón, a research student in biology at Lund University, said in a press release. The study identified telomeres, the extremity of the chromosome, as the mechanism that predicts the difference in birds' survival between rural and urban environments. The full article can be found at the following link: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/09/08/Study-finds

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have made a discovery about muscular dystrophy disorders that suggest new possibilities for treatment. In a study published today online in Stem Cell Reports, researchers found that stem cells in the muscles of muscular dystrophy patients may, at an early age, lose their ability to regenerate new muscle, due to shortened telomeres. Telomeres are tail-like chains of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect chromosomes during cell division. In many cell types, telomeres also serve as biological countdown clocks, being shortened with every cell division until their reduced length triggers the death of the cell

Each cell in the average human body contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, with four telomeres on each pair. Telomeres cover the end of the chromosome, protecting it from deterioration or fusion with adjacent chromosomes, much like the plastic tip at the end of a shoelace protects it from unraveling. While there is a length range for classifying a healthy telomere, researchers found, for the first time ever, that people with heart failure have shorter telomeres within the cells that make up the heart muscle (known as cardiomyocytes). More on this topic at the following link: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20170907/Researchers-find-correlation-between-shorter-telomeres-and-presence-of-heart-fai

"Telomere Lengthening: Curing All Diseases Including Aging and Cancer" is Dr. Bill Andrews' follow-up to the 2014 release "Bill Andrews on Telomere Basics: Curing Aging." It reviews the basics of telomere biology before focusing in depth on the promise of telomere lengthening as a cure for disease and its potential for the indefinite extension of healthy lifespan. Now available on Amazon at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Telomere-Lengthening-Curing-Disease-Including/dp/0692830111/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504730927&sr=82&keywords=telomere+lengthening

Aging is a complex topic that has been at the center of attention of many scientists for centuries. That's also what Bill Andrews, Ph.D., has made his challenge to solve. But what is aging? We age because our cells age. Every time our cells divide our telomeres get shorter and shorter until our cells can no longer divide and become senescent. Aging is the cause of many diseases: substantial research suggests that controlling telomere length has the potential to treat most of these debilitating diseases. In this fascinating presentation Dr. Bill explains how his research will lead to cures that will change the way we live our lifes, forever. The full presentation is available at the following

Given how rapidly technology and intelligence have advanced humankind in the past 10 years, one can't help but wonder how different the world may be in another 10 years. National Geographic, however, is thinking big. The six-part docudrama "Year Million" paints a visual story of what it will be like to be a human 1 million years into the future. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, the series features top futurists, scientists, scholars and notable science-fiction writers guiding viewers through the latest advances in technology, ideas and innovations and to an existence where we're living beyond our bodies, beyond our planet and beyond our solar system. Illustrative, imaginative storytelling des

If you have grown up reading The Twits by Roald Dahl, you may have come across this line: ““If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.” Not just Roald Dahl, even our elders have always scolded us for sulking or grimacing when we were children, saying that the face would stay that way. But it looks like they were not bluffing after all, the secret is in the Telomeres. More to read at: http://www.thehealthsite.com/beauty/anti-ageing/negative-thoughts-that-are-making-you-look-older-k0817/