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Mike West - CEO of Age X Therapeutics
MIKE WEST OF AGE X THERAPEUTICS – PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS, TELOMERASE & HUMAN REGENERATION: SIMPLE BIOTECH PODCAST #3
Dr. Michael D. West is the founder and CEO of AgeX Therapeutics, a biotechnology company whose mission is to develop and commercialize therapeutics aimed at treating the biological causes of aging to extend human health and life span. He was also the Founder and CEO of Geron, another biotech company focused on developing pharmaceutical treatments for the biological causes of aging. Dr. West is a leading researcher in the fields of stem cells and cellular aging.
According to Dr. West, why is research in the biotechnology of aging so exciting?
In our world of heightened age expectancy, we all confront the biological symptoms of aging.
West wants to understand what causes us to age and how we can unravel those causes.
Reproduction is the key to understanding aging.
Life doesn’t come from nothing; life comes from life, cells come from cells. All the trillions of cells in your body can be traced back to one cell: the fertilized egg. The components of fertilized eggs, sperm and egg, also known as germ cells, do not age as somatic cells. The question driving West’s age research: why do our somatic cells age and die, whereas reproductive cells do not?
Somatic cells: body cells; skin, bones,
Germ cells: reproductive cells.
The History of Cellular aging research
One of the earliest researchers was Leonard Hayflick, whose work began in the 1960’s
Hayflick discovered that somatic cells have a finite ability to replicate, which became know the as Hayflick limit.
One theory of aging: the shortening of the telomeres in somatic cells cause aging. Telomeres do not shorten in germ cells.
Telomere: End part of the DNA, “caps” like the plastic tip on a shoelace.
Telomerase is an enzyme that makes telomeres.
Telomerase is turned off in somatic cells
West’s hypothesis: lack of telomerase is what leads to cell death.
The Beginning of Mike West’s work in aging research
Cancer cells do not age, they are “immortal” and do not stop dividing.
No Hayflick limit in cancer cells.
Mike and Geron developed a test that could tell if telomerase was turned back on in cells They found that 90% of cancer cells have telomerase gene turned on.
Immortal cells: cells that do not stop dividing and do not age, such as germ cells and cancer cells.
Telomerase itslef does not cause cancer.
Cancer is a multi-step transformation of a somatic cell
This inner cell mass is made of pluripotent stem cells
Pluripotent stem cells: Cells that have the potential to become any of the different kinds of cells in the human body. Different body tissues are made of different kinds of cells. Muscle tissue is made of muscle cells, which have a different structure and function than skin cells. Once a cell becomes muscle or skin, it cannot change to become a different type of cell and will only divide to produce the same type of cell. Pluripotent stem cells can become skin or muscle or any type of body cell.
During the process on in vitro fertilization, during which embryos are created in a lab rather than in the human body, not every embryo created is used. The leftover cells, which are rich in pluripotent stem cells, are used to study pluripotent stem cells in vitro.
What is AgeX working on right now?
PureStem: growing any cells with pluripotent stem cells
Focusing on brown adipose tissues and vascular cells
Currently in pre-clinical trials
Trials reveal evidence that these cells are beneficial.
Brown Adipose Tissue: Fat cells that turn food energy into body heat.
Vascular cells: Cells that form the vascular, or circulatory, system that carries blood and lymph throughout the body.
What is meant by reversing aging in our cells?
Probably not a Benjamin Button scenario
Mechanisms that control the size of the human body are different from those that control aging.
Induce molecular mechanisms that would intrinsically repair the body.
For example, if you have a heart attack, the body would just regrow healthy tissue.
When will technology that AgeX is working on available to the public?
That is still unpredictable because it’s a very new, very powerful intervention.
How drastically do you see AgeX increasing life and health span?
Current maximum achievable lifespan: 120 years.
No intrinsic lifespan.
West thinks that aging will be eliminated in this century
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