Ending Aging

An overview of the book "Ending Aging" by Aubrey de Grey

Overview

Cover of "Ending Aging"

"Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime" is a book authored by Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist, and Michael Rae. Published in 2007, the book presents a comprehensive argument for the feasibility of life extension and the potential to significantly delay or even reverse the aging process.

Main Concepts

The book introduces the concept of Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), a collection of proposed regenerative medical therapies aimed at repairing the damage that accumulates in the body over time. De Grey argues that by addressing the root causes of aging, it is possible to extend the healthy lifespan of humans.

Seven Types of Damage

De Grey categorizes the damage that contributes to aging into seven types:

1. Cell loss and atrophy: The loss of cells that cannot be replaced naturally.
2. Cancerous cells: Uncontrolled cell division leading to cancer.
3. Mitochondrial mutations: Damage to the mitochondria that impairs cellular energy production.
4. Cell senescence: Cells that stop dividing and accumulate, causing tissue dysfunction.
5. Extracellular matrix stiffening: Changes in the proteins outside cells that affect tissue elasticity.
6. Extracellular aggregates: Accumulation of proteins outside cells, such as amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease.
7. Intracellular aggregates: Accumulation of proteins inside cells, such as lipofuscin.

Proposed Therapies

For each type of damage, de Grey proposes specific therapies:

• Stem cell therapy for cell loss.
• Cancer immunotherapy and other strategies to eliminate cancerous cells.
• Gene therapy to repair mitochondrial mutations.
• Senolytic drugs to remove senescent cells.
• Cross-linking breakers to restore tissue elasticity.
• Immunotherapy to clear extracellular aggregates.
• Enzyme therapy to degrade intracellular aggregates.

Impact and Criticism

The ideas presented in "Ending Aging" have sparked significant debate within the scientific community. While some researchers support the potential of SENS and similar approaches, others criticize the feasibility and current scientific basis of these strategies.

Related pages

• Aubrey de Grey
• Life extension
• Gerontology
• Biogerontology
• Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence