Seeking a Way to Break Down Glucosepane
A press release from InnoCentive and the SENS Foundation announces a short-term incentive program "seeking innovative ideas to biologically reverse one of the causes of aging and age-related diseases believed to be attributed to glucosepane, a protein crosslink that reduces elasticity throughout the body. This is a Theoretical Challenge, so Solvers need to submit a detailed and thorough description of their solution. The Challenge runs for 60 days and one Solver will receive $20,000 if their solution is chosen. ... Finding an innovative solution to breaking down glucosepane, or what we call 'public enemy number one,' is our Foundation's top priority in the category of protein crosslinks, as it is the most abundant protein crosslink in aged humans. We believe there are several radical possibilities to solving this Challenge - things we haven't even thought of - and will keep an open mind to solutions we receive. Our goal is to discover solutions that can be implemented and reverse stiffening, therefore restoring youthful health and vigor to the world's population. ... Evidence suggests that glucosepane may play a role in osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, inflammation and diabetes. Scientists have studied the accumulation of glucosepane for 30 years with little success, so SENS Foundation is reaching out to InnoCentive's 200,000+ Solvers for innovative solutions to find a way to break the formation of glucosepane." This seems like a good way to draw attention to aspects of the SENS program that are not greatly studied - very few groups are working seriously on crosslink breakers at the present time.