Aubrey de Grey in the Chinese Media
Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Research Foundation recently spoke on the future of rejuvenation biotechnology at a technology conference in Beijing. The Chinese language press have the text of his presentation - you'll need to use a tool such as Google Translate, though note that Chinese is one of those languages with a way to go yet in the quality of the automated translation.
This is the second time I came to Beijing, the first time I came to Beijing a decade ago, and I want to tell you the last time I came here, I was very disappointed, because few people heard my message. For I represent academia, and as a scholar I want to let many people know what I am talking about. Today we are here at the future forums, and earlier we have heard a lot of wonderful speech. Venture capitalists talked about a lot of big companies and big capital. Now we are in a good position to talk about control of aging, which is what we mean by rejuvenation biotechnology. Our technology in constant development and innovation in rejuvenation can help us achieve this vision, so that maybe in the future we can develop the ability to control the emergence of age-related human diseases, and and as a consequence improve the people's quality of life and well-being. As all human beings suffer the problems of aging, the problem may be the most serious in China, in the world, too, and so I believe that the issue of aging is a very difficult problem, is a very important issue, and is the human face put on a very grim reality. So today I want to discuss a topic of rejuvenation biotechnology, using biotechnology to achieve rejuvenation.I do believe it will happen soon, and I will give you two reasons to make you believe as well. First and foremost we have to accept that the scientific community has accepted our view on rejuvenation biotechnology: we have published scientific papers and articles in top journals, and thus scientists have accepted that these researchers are leading scientists. Many researchers in different scientific fields have collaborated on this project. I can also point to our leading scientific advisers, who provide us with support and endorsement. Another way to make everyone believe that this is the fact, that I am not blindly optimistic, is that I can show you the work in progress. This image under the microscope is the number one killer in the world, the foam cells and damaged lipids that gather to block our blood vessels. With the continuous accumulation of damage and waste in blood vessels, macrophages continue to arrive and turn into more foam cells to make the problem worse. We have found a way to prevent this from happening, using bacterial enzymes that naturally consume these waste compounds, we modify them so that they can be effective in therapy. We have shown that using these bacteria, through genetic modification, it is possible to reduce the body's sterol content, which will improve healthy longevity.
We do not know how rapidly any of the advanced science needed will arrive, but it is likely that we can achieve the goals of rejuvenation biotechnology in 20-25 years to achieve, which would give us enough time to benefit. With time left in my last moment, I would like to talk entrepreneurial spirit: I have created this organization, the SENS Research Foundation, and I now have ten to twelve years of history working towards these goals in non-profits rather than the private sector so as to obtain the support of the scientific community. The science has made great progress, and now investors are interested - so you can get involved in this, and make a lot of profit. I think it is not the case that therapies will appear in twenty years, but rather that the first medical technology will be implemented in the next few years. People will realize that we can end aging as the technology appears, and will get involved. As things stand now worldwide, especially in China, the world's worst aging problem at the moment is that people have not yet begun to be involved.
Link: http://tech.sina.com.cn/d/f/2016-01-17/doc-ifxnqriz9765311.shtml
It's a smart idea of Aubrey to make inroads in PRC, and I believe he should steer SENS towards having a permanent presence over there, for PRC seems to be the most open country (it feels weird to write this) regarding human biology matters - genetics, rejuvenation, etc. It also hosts an important number of billionaires.
It probably doesn't have the most advanced technologies in this field yet, but it has the will, the money, and the upcoming competences to propel the whole field forward.
Who knows, maybe SENS making alliances with PRC academia and industry could happen. I recall reading that the government has grand plans and private actors are starting to compete amongst themselves.
I hope you're right Nico. But it's still more of the same hoping for a donation from high net worth individuals... And they seem to have a different cultural view towards the elderly than we do in the west.
Ham, I believe there is neither "North" vs "South" nor "West" vs "East" in this domain. We're all in the same boat, for we're all human.
Nobody in this world, no matter which culture they stem from, enjoys the pains associated with ageing, and the death of the elderly. Loss, loss of health and loss of family, is universal. And it is universally painful.
Yes, there are cultural differences, and various cultural excuses for death across the world, but underneath there's the same uneasiness which people experience. The same bitter taste brought by infirmity and death.
Plus, you shouldn't underestimate how fast PRC is evolving - not only materially, but also psychologically. The old Eurocentric views about Orient are getting less relevant by the year; and that's a good thing.
I agree regarding the hopes for donation, though; here also, there's little difference with the hopes held towards high net worth individuals from other parts of the world.
Yeah, like I said. I hope you're right. All it takes is one billionaire to be interested. Also, China certainly has a willingness to proceed with things that other nations are hesitant to embrace, and I hope this is one of them. Like you mentioned, a permanent SRF presence over there would be great though.
Here is my write up on Future Forum 2016. It was awesome to meet Dr de Grey. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hardcore-technologies-norm-beijings-future-forum-jeremiah-bilas
One big issue in China is how its family planning policies have resulted in a population that's disproportionately old. This will only get worse in the future. China also has a very problematic pension system that will be further taxed by the aging population. If they could be convinced to see SENS as a fix for addressing these issues (by making old workers productive longer) they might be willing to fund it.
Also, China is a nation mostly of atheists, which should mean it's more amenable to life extension. We can hope.
China has the Asian Brown Cloud. Their policy makers should be amenable to the argument that humans can be repaired and protected against aerosol damage.
For example:
1. CeO2 added to exhaust smoke protects mouse lungs from COPD.
2. Chelating iron from lungs protects against COPD.
3. Skq1, nanocurcumin etc. may well protect against aerosol damage.
These are not true SENS treatments but they could be used to pry open the door in a place like China.
Developing further repair and protection treatments would be far cheaper than leaving all that lovely coal in it's seams.
@Jeremiah: Thanks for the link. Did you interview Dr. de Grey?