Bloomberg title: DNA might help us live to be 150 years old
By: Margaret Sutherlin
Date: 23 February 2023
“It may sound like a vampire movie, but there are studies that suggest the blood of younger humans could play a role in the anti-aging process.
In the premiere episode of her new show for Bloomberg Originals, The Future with Hannah Fry, the UK-based mathematician, author and professor searches for the truth about aging and longevity.
In episode one, Fry heads to the Clock Foundation, a spinoff of the University of California at Los Angeles, where Professor Steve Horvath is studying the science of aging and looking for chemical solutions to reverse it. The team at UCLA developed the “GrimAge” clock that predicts when we’re going to die based on our DNA changes.
A healthy lifestyle is the best way to fight off aging, Horvath tells Fry. But eating right, exercising and limiting our vices can only do so much to extend our lives. If we really want to be younger, we have to look at how DNA breaks down the chemicals and compounds that trigger aging.
Older rats given the plasma of younger ones saw time taken off their GrimAge clock. Adults over age 75 were given doses of blood from umbilical cords in another test and their GrimAge fell, too.
Maybe more importantly, Fry explores what it will mean if we live to 150. Governments are already facing serious pushback over raising the retirement age, but some economists say if our lifespans extend, we’re going to have to accept a little more leisure during our working years and stay in the workforce longer.
Or maybe the secret to living a long life isn’t about retirement age or young blood after all, but how we approach our lives each day.
You can watch this episode — and future ones — about how technology is changing our lives on Wednesdays on Bloomberg Originals streaming at 8:30 p.m. US East Coast time and Bloomberg TV at 10:30 p.m. Check out the full episodes, sponsored by ADP, here. “
Note LO: text copied from email newsletter of 23 February 2023
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-02-23/anti-aging-science-could-extend-human-life-expectancy
and
video: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-02-23/the-future-with-hannah-fry-longevity
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