Fountain of Youth

Scientists in Kazakhstan claim to have developed a drink that they are hailing as an "elixir of life".Kazakhstan"s leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev gave orders to Nazarbayev University asking them to develop the elixir back in 2009. The yoghurt based drink known as "nar" might not sound particularly revolutionary but scientists outside of Kazakhstan have expressed an interest in its development."Definitely, the Kazaksare on to something," said Roger Highfield.

"There is a lot of interest in trying to tweak your microbial culture. The complicated mixture of microbes has big influences on obesity on diabetes, maybe even on heart attacks so we are trying to tweak that with probiotics now." Dr Jennifer Rampling, an expert on elixirs based in Cambridge said: "He is the latest in a long line of rulers and important people who have hired or been approached by scientists andphysicians who claim to have found some kind of elixir capable of prolonging life. "  

View: Full article |  Source: Telegraph  

World-renowned scientist Ray Kurzweil believes that it won"t be long before we can reverse aging.Kurzweil has also predicted that we will soon be able to replace any failing organ in the body with an artificial equivalent, that we will be able to scuba dive underwater for hours at a time and that it will be possible to write entire books within minutes. The basis for these predictions, in addition to his own experiences, isthe exponential rate at which technology is currently advancing."I and many other scientists now believe that in around 20 years we will have the means to reprogramme our bodies" stone-age software so we can halt, then reverse, aging," he said.

"Then nanotechnology will let us live for ever. Ultimately, nanobots will replace blood cells and do their work thousands of times more effectively." Ray Kurzweil, a world-renowned scientist and author of The Singularity isNear, thinks the world as we know it will be unrecognizable in 20 years.  

View: Full article |  Source: San Francisco Chronicle  

A Russian scientist claims to have developed an eternal youth pill that will be available within 2 years.Professor Vladimir Skulachev says that he"s worked on the solution to ageing for 40 years and that the pill works by staving the damaging effects that oxygenhas on the body"s cells.

It may sound like science fiction but researchers believe they have discovered the "Holy Grail" - an anti-ageing pill that will add decades to our lives.  

View: Full article |  Source: DailyMail  

Scientists have reversed the effects of ageing on the skin of mice by blocking the action of a specific protein. In two-year old mice, Californian researchers found that they could rejuvenate skin to look more youthful. Further analysis published in the journal Genes and Development showed the skin had the same genetic profile as the skin of newborn mice. The team said the research would most likely lead to treatments to improve healing in older human patients. They stressed it was unlikely to be a potential "fountain of youth" but could help older people heal as quickly from injury as they did when they were younger. The protein in question -NF-kappa-B - is thought to play a role in numerous aspects of ageing.

It acts as a regulator, causing a wide range of other genes to be more or less active. Lead researcher, Dr Howard Chang, from the Stanford School of Medicine in California, said the findings supported the theory that ageing is the result of specific genetic changes rather than accumulated wear and tear. And that it is possible to reverse those genetic changes later in life. Regulation: Previous studies have identified several genes which play a part in the ageing process. Dr Chang and colleagues spotted that the one thing the genes had in common was that they were regulated by NF-kappa-B, which can either make them more or less active. By blocking the protein in older mice for twoweeks, they found the skin was thicker and more cells appeared to be dividing, much like the skin of a younger mouse. And the same genes were active as in the skin of newborn mice. It is unclear whether the effects are long-lasting and the protein has also been implicated in cancer and regulation of the immune system. "We found a pretty striking reversal to that of the young skin," Dr Chang said. But he added any application in humans was likely to be on a short-term basis because of other effects of blocking the protein.

View: Full Article | Source: BBC News