Home > Articles

This chapter is from the book

Living Forever: The Research of Dr. Aubrey de Grey

One of the people who is all for the therapies being developed in the previous pages by scientists such as David Sinclair is longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey. He is a theoretician of gerontology and chief officer of the SENS Foundation which was founded in 2009. It actively studies how to preventing age-related physical and cognitive decline.

“The work that David is doing and the approach we are doing at the SENS Foundation should be pursued full-tilt,” he said.

The two approaches are complementary. On one hand the “simple” therapies will keep you alive long enough to benefit from the more-complicated approaches studied by the SENS Foundation.

The two work hand in hand. “David (Sinclair) is looking at magic bullets, single interventions that have global impacts on the whole of aging. The SENS Foundation is looking at a divide and conquer approach to solving the problem of aging,” said de Grey.

The aging process is a series of degradations, so solving one issue won’t solve the entire problem. de Grey said, “The SENS approach is the sweet spot between stopping damage that occurs in the first place versus fixing the diseases and disabilities that result from old age.”

“There are seven problems targeted by the SENS Foundation research,” said de Grey. Here are the causes of aging and their proposed solutions:

  1. Cell atrophy—Cell death that occurs naturally in the heart and the brain as the body ages. Suggested solution: Stem cells can be added to the body to replenish parts of the system.

  2. Unwanted cells—The body contains unwanted cells, like fat cells that “poison” the body overtime. Suggested solution: A procedure called “suicide gene therapy” could be tried. Suicide gene therapy involves the injection of a viral or bacterial gene into the body causing unwanted cells to destroy themselves.

  3. Protein cross links—The loss of elasticity that occurs when protein links—components that hold together cells—are overproduced. Suggested solution: Drugs that counteract this process could be created.

  4. Internal cellular garbage—Cells are in a constant state of action, breaking down proteins and molecules that do not serve the body. Molecules that can’t be digested become “junk” inside the cells. Suggested solution: Enzymes that break down this “junk” could be developed.

  5. External cellular garbage—“Junk” accumulates on the outside of cells. Suggested solution: Development of enzymes to break down this “junk.”

  6. Mitochondrial damage—Damage over time to the power supplier in cells slows energy production. Suggested solution: Gene therapies could repair and prevent this damage.

  7. Chromosomal mutations—Mutations to DNA components cause diseases like cancer. Suggested solution: The regular replenishment of cells via stem cell therapy could help.

De Grey proposes that in 25 to 30 years we will have the technology to solve aging. “However,” he cautioned, “one big unknown in terms of time prediction is not just science, but feedback from the public.” The process to approve new therapies involves the development of the technology and then the social, legal, or political policy to allow the technology to be used.

The second issue that could slow progress is the lack of funding. De Grey said, “The world’s best people working on these projects are hot to trot but they are working much more slowly than they could due to limitations on funds. As far as I am concerned, if we had the money, we would be done. When I say ‘the money’ I am talking a ridiculously small amount of money. At the moment the key work that needs to be prioritized the most is the work at the earliest stage of development. That is, at the stage of cell culture and experiments with mice as opposed to clinical trials. That means, much cheaper.”

“Right now SENS has a budget of about $4 to $5 million per year,” said De Grey, adding that there is another $10 million being spent by other similar organizations studying the same things.

“That is unbelievably tiny. We probably only have to multiply that by ten and we would pretty much be able to do all we wanted to do in the short term,” he said.

“In the longer term, 8–10 years from now, we will want to be doing more clinical trials, which will be more expensive. But, that kind of doesn’t bother me because it seems to me that the achievement of specific results in the lab with mice to motivate clinical trials from a scientific perspective was going to be ample to also motivate the funding of those trials,” he concluded.

Once this is demonstrated, he believes that acquiring the funding will be trivial because the work and results will garner the interest and enthusiasm of the public and policy makers.

Incidentally, de Grey believes he will live forever, but just in case he doesn’t, as a precaution, he has personally invested in a specific type of cryonic preservation known as neuropreservation. During this procedure the head is removed from a deceased person and frozen to protect the face and brain. When the specimen is revived years later it is attached to a new body.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020