Investing in Anti-Aging Medicines

Oct 18th, 2006 | By Penny Sleuth Contributor | Category: Technology

Do you remember the classic science-fiction movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still? In it, extraterrestrial visitor Klaatu uttered a phrase very similar to the above.

In addition to being kindly and wise, Klaatu was exceptionally long-lived. In fact, at age 73 he looked like a vigorous 40-year old. That’s why I’ve chosen the above title.

While Klaatu isn’t visiting us (at least, he hasn’t paid me a visit), we do have the next best thing: Klotho mice. They age as gracefully as Klaatu, and in a moment I’ll tell you why that’s so important to you.

Eventually, nanotechnology will offer perhaps the ultimate way to slow or even stop the aging process. With your permission, microscopic defenders will swarm through your bloodstream, examining every cell in your body for defects.

When a defect (defined as any cellular structure or function that differs from young adult levels) is found, that cell will be reengineered to its ideal molecular structure. Incredible as this sounds, my friends in nanotechnology tell me that this wizardry will start emerging from laboratories in about 20 years.

Meanwhile, we have the Klotho mice…

Klotho is the name of a gene that appears in both mice and men. It significantly affects major decay processes associated with aging, including weakening of bones, arteriosclerosis and muscular degeneration.

As recently reported in Science, Dr. Makoto Kuro-O and his team at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center recently created mice with a Klotho gene that’s unusually active. This single change resulted in an extension of healthy lifespan between 19% and 31%.

If a person’s “normal healthy lifespan” were 80 years, this same change would increase that to somewhere between 95 years and 105 years.

There are at least two major side effects to be addressed. First, Klotho-enhanced mice have fewer offspring. Second, Klotho mice had higher levels of insulin than normal mice, which may indicate higher insulin resistance and greater risk of diabetes.

But as a practical matter, if higher levels of insulin resistance and fewer offspring are found to be only consequences of this life enhancement therapy, many of us might choose to accept it.

After all, Type 2 diabetes is a serious problem, but one that can be managed reasonably well with aggressive early intervention. For some people, fewer offspring may be viewed as a blessing rather a curse.

However, I expect that as the mechanism of the Klotho Gene comes to be better understood, these two side effects will prove controllable. Genes work by expressing proteins that, in turn, cause various biochemical processes to occur.

An analogue protein will probably have the desired properties without the undesired ones. (Analogue proteins would be almost identical to those expressed by the Klotho Gene, but for a few intentionally changed molecules.)

This kind of work is commonly done in the pharmaceutical industry to develop newer and better drugs, and designer proteins are becoming a focus of research.

I’ll be watching for start up companies pursuing this very interesting line of research. Meanwhile, you can take Protandim, made by Transformational Technologies Portfolio holding Lifeline Therapeutics (LFLT.OB: OTC BB) or the generic equivalent Longevita (available on eBay.)

Both these products should significantly increase your body’s intracellular defenses against free radical damage, far more so than any other antioxidant of which I am aware. They are millions of times more powerful than vitamins, and work by rejuvenating the body’s own natural defenses. (Note: Neither Agora nor I have any financial interest in these products.)

To your profitable future,
Jonathan Kolber
October 18, 2006

P.S.: Some exciting developments with practical significance are starting to come out of nanotechnology research labs. Carbon nanotubes, in particular, are an extremely exciting field for research and development. They are incredibly strong and lightweight.

Researchers are developing increasingly efficient ways to string carbon nanotubes together into large-scale structures. Recently, one group announced a technique for spinning them out like cloth at the rate of seven meters per minute. Such a rapid manufacturing technique should create the foundation for building the space elevator, a technology that will open the high frontier as no other before it — but that’s another story.

Penny Sleuth Contributor

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