Increasingly, people are seeing living forever as possible. Dr. Bill Andrews is one among those in the quest for immortality and intriguingly the more we know about him, the more curious will we be.
Andrews is the Founder of Sierra Science, a research company in Reno, Nevada and possess a Ph.D in Molecular and Population Genetics. In his fruitful 28 years in the field of biotechnology he has since 1992 to 1997 worked as the Director of Molecular Biology for the Geron Corporation. He was among those who first discovered human telomerase, which is an enzyme that encourages telomeres to grow, usually referred to as our “biological clock”. In the late 1977, Andrews came out second in the National Inventor of the Year, and he is currently entitled with 35 U.S issued patents associated with telomerase.
Dr. Andrews should be attributed upmost importance. He has given us valuable insight into telomeres. In the past, telomeres were simply considered as straps at the end of the chromosomes in our body. Now we know that chromosomes are subject to multiple cell divisions but limited due to shortening telomere.
What happens? As our DNA replicates itself a portion of the telomere is cut off. The telomeres are present to safeguard DNA in a chromosome. Advancement in medical technology has made it possible to measure the age of a cell by analyzing the length of telomeres. Young cells have longer telomeres than adult cells. The break-down comes when telomeres becomes too short to further replicate and divide. The outcome can be twofold either turns into a senescence state (paralyzed state) or the cell goes through apoptosis (commits suicide) and eventually dies.
In summary, telomeres are metaphorically a biological clock of aging. If we take it, cell division and telomeres shortening puts our maximum life span at 125 years. This limit is hard to influence, irrespective of what we do, eat or how good our genes are.
In our history, a French woman holds the title for the longest “confirmed” human lifespan, she is named Jeanne Clement and deceased at the age of 122 years and 164 days in 4th of August 1997.
Is Personality The Key For Longevity?
However, there are some gerontologists and biologists just like Bill Andrews, who want to add a different perspective. They have noticed that reproductive cells do actually not experience this shortening of telomeres. This is important, if they would, then we would have embryos as old as we are. This would mean that babies would be born older than their parents. Luckily, reproductive cells are immortal and have telomeres that remain long forever.
The explanation behind the immortality of reproductive cells is that they constantly generate telomeres enzymes to increase the length of telomeres if ever they are decreased in length. In other words, we could say that as the telomere clock tick once, there is someone present to turn the one tick back, helping reproductive cells to defy time and space as well as to become immortal.
What recent research has shown is that all human cells have this ability to generate telomerase. The problem is that our genetic code is not allowing this to occur. In other words, if we would be able to active these genes subsequently we could surpass the age of 125 years and in absolute term become younger.
Dr. Andrews started his research company, Sierra Science, more than a decade ago and the aim of the institution is to develop drugs or chemicals that would be able to activate telomeres genes. He is in search of telomerase inducers. Based on facts, the company has already gone through 240,000 substances and 813 of them are potential telomerase inducers. Unfortunately, none of these compounds are able to reverse aging. However, it should be noted that Sierra Science is actually going through 4,000 substances per week. So the chance of finding a booster or a performing telomerase inducer is high.
Andrews is realistically certain that it is possible to live much longer. His goal is to end the aging process and turn the clock back. Yet, he is unsure when reversing aging will breakthrough – he expects it to happen within one to five decades – . So being optimistic about living forever, Andrews is doing his best to stay fit and healthy – including special diets, meditation, exercise and supplements -.
Interview with Dr. Andrews
Dr. Andrews was inspired to enter the realm of curing aging due to the inspiration given by his father. His father was always subtle concerning why no one had ever found a potential cure for aging. Bill did since the age of 10 considered that aging was not a natural phenomena but rather a disease.
However, it was only after finishing education and entering into anti-aging research that he found out that aging as a disease is not a generally accepted concept. Most people consider aging as natural.
Is telomeres really the key to aging, many biologists agree that they are biomarkers of aging but maybe not the precursors of aging?
Andrews believes in telomerase research as a potential cure for aging. He knows that environmental factor effects aging, but he questions is to what extent and why do people age at radically different speeds in different environments. In order words, the clock is inside our body and more precisely in our cells. It is certainly only the internal clock in our body that can explain why dogs, cats and humans have a different maximum lifespan.
Dr. Andrews as an engaging biologist was interested in finding cures for aging. So he attended several anti-aging conferences. It was some 15 years ago when he listened to Calvin Harley, the Chief Scientific Officer of Geron Corporation at a conference in Tahoe city in the Granlibakken Resort. He did lucidly explain the relation between telomeres and the potential lifespan of a person.
At that time, it was the first time that Andrews heard someone clearly explaining how to solve aging. However, other individuals were already researching on the topic like the Nobel Prize winner Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn.
Dr. Andrew after the conference made an effort to meet Calvin, and he presented his enthusiasm to work on this research and only after two weeks, Andrew found himself working on that mission for Geron Corporation.
After that time, several researches have been conducted on lengthened telomeres. It has even proven that lengthening telomeres can make one younger.
Does Telomeres Length Influence the Risk of Cancer?
There are many who are doubtful about the effect of inducing telomerase. Some people believe that it will raise the risk for cancer but Dr. Andrews believe that it will reduce the menace to cancer. Probably increasing the length of telomeres will safeguard one from perilous health hazards.
It is know that for a cell to become cancerous it needs to have around 8 to 10 mutations. These mutations are believed to occur when telomeres are short.
Moreover, telomerase inducer will help to boost the immune system. Therefore, as immune cells are enforced the body’s ability to fight cancerous cell will increase.
Currently, our immune system is quite strong in combating cancer. This explains why cancer is more prevalent in elder people; they have shorter telomeres, thus weaker immune cells.
Read More on Andrews’s Aim is to Be Immortal : Part 2
Main Source: Wellness Coach
Sat, Jul 31, 2010
Anti Aging, Immortality, Stem cells