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The Best Science Writing Online 2012
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
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Peter Pan stayed forever young in Neverland. In real life, some scientists are looking at telomeres, or regions of repetitive DNA at the ends of our chromosomes, to try to arrive at something like a real version of this story.
Telomeres consist of up to 3,300 repeats of the DNA sequence TTAGGG. They protect chromosome ends from being mistaken for broken pieces of DNA that would otherwise be fixed by cellular repair machinery. But every time our cells divide, the telomeres shrink. When they get short enough, our cells no longer divide and our body stops making those cells. Over time, this leads to aging and death.
New York-based T.A. Sciences claims to be the only company in the world manufacturing a supplement in a pill form that has been lab tested and shown to stop telomeres from shortening, in hopes of halting the aging process. The product, TA-65, comes from extracts of the Chinese herb astragalus, which has been used for medicinal purposes for more than 1,000 years, says Noel Patton, chief executive officer of the company.
TA-65 is produced at very low levels in the astragalus plant, but the company purifies and concentrates the substance, which is thought to "turn on" the enzyme telomerase (hTERT) that acts to maintain or lengthen telomeres. hTERT is usually "off" in adult cells, except in immune, egg and sperm cells, and in malignant cancer-forming cells.
The TA-65 pill requires no approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because it is marketed as a supplement and not a drug. Therefore, T.A. Sciences cannot make claims about the drug's efficacy at curing disease. But Patton and Calvin Harley, the chief scientific officer at Geron—the company that discovered TA-65—go on to note that researchers have found a correlation between telomere length and susceptibility to certain aging-related diseases.
T.A. Sciences did five years of testing on TA-65, beginning in 2002. Results from an anti-aging trial can be found at the company's Web site. Patton says he has been taking the supplement for two years and that everyone at T.A. Sciences over the age of 40 takes the product.
William Andrews has worked on telomere biology for the past 15 years. He is the chief executive officer of Sierra Sciences, LLC, a rival company that is screening for chemicals to activate telomerase, but also a T.A. Sciences client for the past two-and-a-half years. He thinks that "taking a telomerase inducer is safer than driving my car to work" but acknowledges that there are some unknown risks with taking the product.
For example, telomerase is the same enzyme that allows cancer cells to stop aging or to become immortal, so there is a chance that TA-65 could keep alive cancer cells that would otherwise die, notes Andrews.
However, telomerase activation should keep all telomeres longer in the first place, and that actually reduces the chances of cells becoming cancerous, Andrews notes. He also says that the enzyme should keep immune cells, which can fight off most cancerous cells, alive longer.
Another problem facing telomere science is that no suitable model organism is available for testing. Animals do not age through telomere shortening in the same way that humans do, Harley notes, adding that "not even mice or monkeys have the same telomere aging system. The best system to ultimately test is going to be the human."
The potential benefits of the supplement seem to outweigh the risk for patients like Andrews. "People such as myself who elect to take TA-65 and look forward to taking even stronger telomerase inducers in the future must act totally on gut feelings," Andrews notes.
For those who are less adventurous, other researchers have identified lifestyle changes that can help optimize telomerase activity, without the $14,000-per-year price tag of the TA-65 treatment.
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31 Comments
Add Comment"Animals do not age through telomere shortening in the same way that humans do,"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-- so does telomere shortening really has anything to do with human aging?
$14,000 a year for a food supplement? I guess P. T. Barnum was right!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat a bummer, I'll be old shortly, and therefore won't be able to benefit from these advances. So when I see all the young people pushing me around on a day to day basis, I have to wonder. What makes them more deserving?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf that stuff works as advertised, what will you bet that the price gets bid up to $1,000,000 or more per year? I've got to go now.....I have a call in to my broker.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow many people die from disease related to truncated Telomeres rather than dna replication errors? I could be wrong but from what I understood we can live to approx 150 before our Telomeres "run-out". Only cancer cells divide fast enough that their Telemeres run out in such a relatively short time and from what I understand, they have tricks for getting around this. Before I start taking a drug, I'd like to know if itwill or at least has a reasonable potential of helping me. Of course, if you've got $14,000 and want a pill that may keep you from spontaneously combusting, I might be able to whip something up for you...(hint: it contains a substance that is well known for putting out fires!)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'll wait for nano-machines and stem cells, thanks.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnimals don't age the same way as humans? So, why is it that my dog came down with cataracts in both eyes, his hair started turning from brown to white, and his kidneys began to fail, all as a part of Old Age in dogs... just like people? It sure looked just like the Old Age process in people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisits risky and very expensive, and as its not a drug some one may end up having cancer , taking it in excess and dying of cancer earlier!!! Look before you leap!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTwo quotes from their website - says it all, really:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs there a risk of unwanted cell proliferation?
TA-65 is a single molecule found in the Astragalus plant. Astragalus extracts have been safely consumed by humans for over a thousand years and are available in any vitamin shop.
Why not simply buy Astragalus extracts in a health food store?
Astragalus extracts can be found in most health food stores, but such products contain little or no TA-65.
It's been on the market for years, price dropped from $25,000 per year; failed cancer drug; can't give it away. Hawkeye you are spot on!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAstragalus has been linked with kidney tumors so don't assume because it has been used for over a thousand years it is safe!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI actually have a product that reverses the aging process. I don't think it is telomeres that are being regenerated, because the age regression is too fast. I apparently am getting younger by 1 year per week. Check out the time lapse video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjFkdYOChh0
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTA 65 may or may not prolong life, but trying to get an extra $14000 per annum for all members of your family is certainly going to shorten life.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm relieved to see most responders up to this point have a reasoned skeptical perspective. So I will only add that no scientifically valid and replicated study has ever shown TA-65 to improve the health, function or lifespan of ANY cell, tissue, organ or animal. Indeed, if TA-65 had the even the remote promise of making any of those claims, the scientifically credible Geron biotech firm certainly would not have abandoned it's research on TA-65 -- let alone give it away for a song and dance to Noel Patton or his "TA Sciences" company. Indeed, notice the Geron scientist mentioned in this article claims NO affiliation with Noel Patton or his intimated elixir. Finally, substantive credible research confirms that chronic inflammation shortens telomeres and increases the risk of cancer in humans, and older adults who routinely exercise have longer telomeres than those who don't. In short (no pun intended), our best bet for preserving our species specific healthy telomere length and minimizing the risk of cancer is to maintain healthy lean body mass.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI will cough up the 14 grand for the extract when I meet the 1000 year old Chinese selling it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne other thing, Tinkerbell lived in Never Never land. If the aging process were stopped, the Immortals would require an environment to match. Our resources are quite finite and not conducive to supplying a non-aging population. As for procreation and the attendant social structures to support it, what would be the point?
I believe we have already invented a scenario to cover this nirvana; it is called religion. It will probably have to do.
This is all well and good but none of this illudes to where you can get the pill or treatment
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll this is all well and good but not one time are we told where this treatment can be received or where the pills can be purchased since they dont have to be FDA approve. It also doesnt speak to the effectiveness of pill therapy as apposed to the original method of treatment which I understant is expensive and non-FDA approved.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAsAalltheway, LOL I agree with you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe price will go down, not up. 7 billion customers. Others
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe price will go down, not up. 7 billion customers. Other companies already have alternatives that are cheap. Its the new space race.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCertain conditions speed up the Telomeres shortening. We call these gerontological diseases.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"How many people die from disease related to truncated Telomeres rather than dna replication errors?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisShorter telomeres actually leads to duplication errors and epigenetic irregularities. Studies have already proven that people with shorter telomeres are at a much greater risk of heart disease and infectious diseases. I am sure further studies will link shortened telomeres to other diseases of aging as well.
http://www.physorg.com/news205330782.html
"I could be wrong but from what I understood we can live to approx 150 before our Telomeres "run-out"."
You are wrong. Cells can divide about 75 to 85 times before telomere loss and eventual cell senesence (death). This happens millions of times in a normal human lifespan. Diseases like cancer and HIV causes rapid immune system cell turnover and therefore accelerated immune system aging due to telomere loss. Even chronic inflammation causes this, but at a much slower pace.
"Only cancer cells divide fast enough that their Telemeres run out in such a relatively short time and from what I understand"
Sperm cells fit this description as well and they also express telomerase to keep dividing throughout life and yet a healthy adult can escape cancer despite this. Current thinking is that telomerase does not cause cancer even though it is expressed in cancer cells. http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v21/n4/full/1205076a.html
akamaiehu:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere are 3 important questions to answer. Does Astragalus extract actually lengthen telomeres or protect against critically short telomeres? Apparently so. Are longer telomeres associated with protection from diseases of aging? Yes. Finally, is telomerase oncogenic, meaning does increasing telomerase activity increase cancer risk? Current theory points to no.
The animal telomere models do have similarities to the human model, for example, bird species that have long telomeres age more slowly than birds with short telomeres.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisScientists want simple models to test drugs, but telomere maintenance in mice appears to involve other factors that are complicating the drug tests. For example, a human that is deficient in telomerase(maintains telomeres) develops diseases in their lifetime, but in mice, the mice have to breed several generations before the deficiencies have the same effects as in humans. It appears the mice telomerase are mutating in each generation.
This does not mean we are not similar to mice in almost all respects. Aging is just more complicated than we would have hoped.
If I had 14K a year to blow, I'd take TA65. And I think the price will go down, not up as someone else mentioned. By the time I'm dead I'll be able to afford it. :)
I can see a problem with living for hundreds of years; learned facts fade unless they are frequently used, a decade will see unused technical knowledge become misty. As a result we may have to impose a time limit on academic qualifications, unless there is an obsessive fascination with a particular subject then I am sure that it would be a "natural" thing to want to diversify. Sometimes people may wander from being very scientific and technical to being artistic and unpredictable, and back again. Maybe a degree would last for 25 years before requiring a resit?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Why not simply buy Astragalus extracts in a health food store?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBecause the potency is so low in the supplements that it has no effect. Don't bother taking it.
And the company really didn't answer the question.. as consuming low doses of a substance can be completely different from consuming high doses.
Mice and humans age differently is only stated by the TA-65 people because they have had zero success lengthening the telomeres of mice. Another thing is that the website contains not one bit of proof that their product actually lengthens telomeres. All is takes is a simple blood test sent to a lab like spectracell.com to prove this. If their product really lengthens telomeres then why not just do the tests to prove it. They have had five plus years to do so. BTW I totally believe in telomere lengthening as a way to stop ageing and age related disease. I just do not think that TA sciences has what it takes to get it done. Otherwise proving it is easy. Why haven't they? And why has Geron given up on it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have heard about TA-65. Wow. The price tag really is out of range for the most of us. I have been doing some research on my own and found a few products claiming to support Telomeres are available at a drastically reduced rate. What is the chance of checking them out and writing about them? I realize I can't put a link here but there is a "telomeresandaging" dot info site you could check out and let us know more after reading about it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI found some more information about telomere testing at a site called spectra cell. The recommendation if you are using a telomere support product or nutritional diet to support telomere length, you might want to get your telomeres checked first, than every year afterwards.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt might be a good idea to get the check just to know what your biological age is.
Get more info at http://www.healthandfitnessknowhow.com
Why is <a href="http://www.ta65doctor.com" title="TA-65">TA-65</a> supplement so unique? As we age our telomeres shorten. Scientific studies have shown that short telomeres are associated with age related decline and dysfunction. Evidence clearly shows that people with long telomeres age healthier and live longer. The only way to lengthen telomeres is through the activation of an enzyme called telomerase. Currently the only way to activate telomerase is to take <a href="http://www.ta65doctor.com/blog/" title="TA-65 Supplement">TA-65 supplement</a>.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy is TA-65 supplement so unique? As we age our telomeres shorten. Scientific studies have shown that short telomeres are associated with age related decline and dysfunction. Evidence clearly shows that people with long telomeres age healthier and live longer. The only way to lengthen telomeres is through the activation of an enzyme called telomerase. Currently the only way to <a href="http://www.ta65doctor.com">activate telomerase</a> is to take <a href="http://www.ta65doctor.com">TA-65 supplement</a>.
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