The conquest of immortality is a pseudo-scientific fad that ironically is becoming a theoretical reality that will soon will emigrate to the concrete and sensible world. Ray Kurzweil´s "Singularity" and his approach with megadoses of antioxidants seem to miss the point, considering the intricacy of the mechanisms involved in aging and the relationships between celullar organelles and different tissues.
Have a look at mTOR signaling pathway and many thing will start becoming clear:
http://www.cellsignal.com/reference/pathway/pdfs/mTor.pdf
Dear Farzam:
Thank you very much! This is what I was looking for!
You have an exquisite medical background and thanks for sharing it with me.
Kind regards,
Carlos Sosa
THANK YOU also, Farzam. These excelllcent Pathway Diagrams have provided new info re mTOR and growth factors +cytokines akt and mitochondrial function/apotosis. Particularly interested in how IGF -1 and inflammatory cytokines might influence mito function. Good to now look at roleof mTOR signalling.
I'm really glad I could help you fellow colleagues. :)
Actually, I have always been considering the existence of a core system in every cell, dictating the general laws of evolution upon every eukaryotic organism. mTOR pathway perfectly fits what I've been looking for all the time:
Mother nature provides every species with a certain amount of energy & facilities, which are programmed to be consumed by the species during its lifetime. Each species designs a strategy to consume it, whether for bearing few children over a long period of time (like us) or a horde of offsprings over a short period (like mosquitos, for instance); this is called Life History.
Now, there HAS TO BE a molecular pathway in every cell that accounts for such observation. The pathway should shorten life in case of abundance of facilities & energy, and prolong life in case of famine (e.g. Caloric Restriction) to save the energy for a better day. This is exactly what mTOR pathway does. And to make it more interesting, TOR is not only kept intact from yeast to man, but also it exists in plants! Darwin should be proud. :)
Oh, and by the way, Ray Kurzweil is a giant inventor and futurist, but he's not good at gerontology. The growth hormone supplements he takes everyday are going to kill him in his 70s. ;)
Like your archetypal thoughts on the concept of "A CoreSystem" in every cell for survival. Always reflecting back to Darwinian evolutionary theories brings perspective to why the mitochondria, so ancient and universal to modern living species survives ! mTOR pathway and triggers to its expression must clearly play a role in ? chronic diseases and ageing.
I think it would be better if we choose another way for Immortality, sth like brain switch.
I think even if we prevent aging, we will work on mind uploading after all, because its probably the ultimate solution, if you want to know why check this out
http://ctfn.webs.com/
that's why I moved to neuroscience !
Well dear Abolfazl you're definitely right about the "Ultimate" solution, but as I mentioned before, we have to live long enough to have enough time for developing more complex technologies like that. Say, let's see mTOR research as as short term program & consider Mind Uploading for the long run.