What kind of difficulties are there in achieving 'immortality and longevity'?
Regarding immortality and longevity, which can be said to be the eternal goal of humankind, it is said that '
Milan Cvitkovic
https://milan.cvitkovic.net/writing/longevity/
In considering the feasibility of immortality and longevity, Cvitkovic first sorts out the causes of 'aging' and then considers what challenges there are in researching 'technology to stop aging.'
◆ Aging
According to Mr. Cvitkovic, the causes of aging that are known at the time of writing the article are roughly divided into the following 10 points.
・ Damage to nuclear DNA
・Stem cell depletion
・ Accumulation of aged cells
・ Accumulation of damage to mitochondrial DNA
·inflammation
・Shortening telomeres that protect the ends of chromosomes
・Loss of protein homeostasis
・Extracellular aggregates that are considered to be one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease
-Reduction of insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS) , which is thought to be involved in cell metabolism and aging
・Epigenetic changes (changes that occur without changes in the base sequence of DNA)
◆ Technology to counter aging
Various experiments and researches using mice are being conducted day and night to eliminate the causes of aging as described above. Cvitkovic picked up the main aging studies published at the time of writing, and asked 'Factors that extend lifespan / Mouse lifespan extended by it / Is application to humans realistic?' I summarized it.
· Spontaneous mutation / 68% / unrealistic
- germ-line gene therapy / 46% / unrealistic
- diet / 32% / unrealistic
・Small molecule drug / 27% / realistic
・Somatic gene therapy / 24% / realistic
・Biologics / 16% / realistic
・Cell therapy / 12% / realistic
Cvitkovic categorized 'spontaneous mutations' and 'genital line gene therapy' into unrealistic techniques because it is illegal to experiment in humans. We also position the diet as unrealistic because it is an 'extreme diet story.'
Thus, all technologies that are likely to be used by humans have a relatively short lifespan, and Cvitkovic understands that 'therapies available in humans are less effective. It can be done, or it can be thought of as a result of researchers focusing on what they can do in the laboratory. In any case, it is clear that the technology we can use is inadequate, both in terms of effectiveness and ease of use. I pointed out.
Although many people desire longevity, research on technologies to combat aging has not progressed much because research on these technologies entails enormous difficulties. For example, studies of mice that age slowly due to the effects of endocrine diseases were initially regarded as 'studies related to rapid aging' because they were often mishandled and died prematurely. It was. This case illustrates how difficult animal testing can be on specific diseases that are closely related to longevity, Cvitkovic said.
In addition, the United States Food and Drug Administration by 2009 - 2018 (FDA) has approved, in 2020, which was calculated the research costs and research period of pharmaceutical research in, and Years of 10 years to the development of 'new drugs 1000000000 It is estimated that it will cost a dollar (about 105 billion yen), 'and it is known that research on medical care will be very difficult in terms of cost.
With that in mind, Cvitkovic said, 'Don't overestimate how much you understand aging, and don't underestimate how much you can progress without a complete understanding.' He expressed his hope for the progress of research on longevity in the future, but he said he would avoid making judgments about its feasibility.
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