Star Scientist's Claim of 'Reverse Aging' Draws Hail of Criticism (wsj.com) 88
An anonymous reader shares a report: Harvard geneticist David Sinclair, who has said his "biological age" is roughly a decade younger than his actual one, has put forward his largely unlined face as a spokesman for the longevity movement. The 54-year-old has built his brand on the idea that aging is a treatable disease. The notion has proven so seductive that legions of acolytes follow his online postings about his research and the cocktails of supplements he consumes to stave off the inevitable. His social-media accounts are a platform for assertions that his work is pushing nearer to a fountain of youth. He claimed last year that a gene therapy invented in his Harvard lab and being developed by a company he co-founded, Life Biosciences, had reversed aging and restored vision in monkeys. "Next up: age reversal in humans," he wrote on X and Instagram.
On Feb. 29, in the eyes of many other scientists working to unlock the mysteries of aging, he went too far. Another company he co-founded, Animal Biosciences, quoted him in a press release saying that a supplement it had developed had reversed aging in dogs. Scientists who study aging can't even agree on what it means to "reverse" aging, much less how to measure it. The response was swift and harsh. The Academy for Health and Lifespan Research, a group of about 60 scientists that Sinclair co-founded and led, was hit with a cascade of resignations by members outraged by his claims. One scientist who quit referred to Sinclair on X as a "snake oil salesman." Days later, in a tense video meeting, the academy's five other board members pressed Sinclair to resign as president. He contended that the press release contained an inaccurate quote, according to people who were in the meeting, but he later stepped down.
Sinclair's work is published regularly in top-tier scientific journals and has brought attention to an emerging field vying for credibility and funding. He has parlayed his research into hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in various companies, more than 50 patents and prominence as a longevity influencer. Along the way, his claims -- especially in his social-media posts, interviews and his book -- have drawn criticism from scientists who have accused him of hyping his research and extolling unproven products, including some from companies in which he had a financial interest. "My lab's ideas and findings are typically ahead of the curve, which is why some peers might feel the research is overstated at the time," Sinclair said to The Wall Street Journal in an email. "I stand behind my track record as a trusted scientist in one of the most competitive professions of all." He said he doesn't engage with social-media critics, including those calling him a snake oil salesman, and that many such comments are "nothing more than mischaracterizations."
On Feb. 29, in the eyes of many other scientists working to unlock the mysteries of aging, he went too far. Another company he co-founded, Animal Biosciences, quoted him in a press release saying that a supplement it had developed had reversed aging in dogs. Scientists who study aging can't even agree on what it means to "reverse" aging, much less how to measure it. The response was swift and harsh. The Academy for Health and Lifespan Research, a group of about 60 scientists that Sinclair co-founded and led, was hit with a cascade of resignations by members outraged by his claims. One scientist who quit referred to Sinclair on X as a "snake oil salesman." Days later, in a tense video meeting, the academy's five other board members pressed Sinclair to resign as president. He contended that the press release contained an inaccurate quote, according to people who were in the meeting, but he later stepped down.
Sinclair's work is published regularly in top-tier scientific journals and has brought attention to an emerging field vying for credibility and funding. He has parlayed his research into hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in various companies, more than 50 patents and prominence as a longevity influencer. Along the way, his claims -- especially in his social-media posts, interviews and his book -- have drawn criticism from scientists who have accused him of hyping his research and extolling unproven products, including some from companies in which he had a financial interest. "My lab's ideas and findings are typically ahead of the curve, which is why some peers might feel the research is overstated at the time," Sinclair said to The Wall Street Journal in an email. "I stand behind my track record as a trusted scientist in one of the most competitive professions of all." He said he doesn't engage with social-media critics, including those calling him a snake oil salesman, and that many such comments are "nothing more than mischaracterizations."
Podcast (Score:2)
TL:DR There is some truth to the claims. However, we don't know if that leaves people at an increased risk of cancer.
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Quote:"Writing is believed to have been invented independently in different regions. It first emerged as true alphabetic writing around 2000 BCE for Semitic-speaking workers in the Sinai Peninsula, evolving from earlier systems of proto-writing. Various writing systems, such as Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, gradually evolved between 3400 and 3100 BCE. More info in the Invention section of the History of writing Wikiped
Re:Podcast (Score:4, Funny)
but they had this technology 6-8 thousand years ago and it was simply lost by mainstream society because they weren't all about writing down secrets back then.
any theory that invokes ancient lost technology is a sound one in my book
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thats just forgotten knowledge as you've got proof people knew about it and wrote about it. what has this guy got?
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yeah, im sure we knew a lot more tricks with carpentry than we do now, but cancer cures?
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i think thats just sedentary lifestyle lol
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"some truth" is doing a lot of work here. Almost everything I've read about Sinclair is that his studies and claims about them don't stand up to the body of scientific evidence
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First you're leaping to a conclusion that because body of scientific evidence doesn't support specific conclusion that it implies it's impossible or the scientific community is close minded. It just implies that good quality research is required to separate truth from trash.
Second you're repeating an inverted version of pessimistic meta-induction to support epistemic optimism but that is an inference about science in general, not specific results/outcomes/discoveries. To understand the flaw in this consider
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First you're leaping to a conclusion that because body of scientific evidence doesn't support specific conclusion that it implies it's impossible or the scientific community is close minded.
No, thats not what I said nor what I implied. An observer of our technical prowess when it comes to just about everything else in the domain of our mastery of the physical world would generally assume we have control over our biological processes such that we can maintain life in ourselves, and prevent degenerative aging processes within. Certainly, we should be able to bring someone back to life once they have.. say suffocated to death moments earlier. What precludes us from doing that? We can measure the
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Maybe one day, but manipulating organic structures at nanoscale to function at the scale and complexity of a human being is difficult. So difficult that even our own bodies can't figure out how to be perfect.
When you get to the stage where some nanite material can replicate a human body and all it's functions, I would expect it would be trivial. At this point, all the many, many many different cells in your body all can act differently to different stimuli, and, the way a cell reacts can affect how another
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"Roughly a decade younger" is also doing a lot of work. Day-to-day there are people you encounter that look to be younger than their actual age. That guy def looks to be in his 50's, there's no suprise or mysticism going on.
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Since the claim was made about a dog, I don't think his appearance is the test.
FWIW, I suspect that he actually believes in what he's doing. This doesn't imply that I do, and it doesn't imply he's not doing some fakery in the PR. He's 50, and may be starting to feel (and in denial about) his years.
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he's been at this for decades now and has made many hundreds of millions of dollars
the youtube video "The David Sinclair $720,000,000 Train Wreck!" is a funny take on it. But there's been loads of critical commentary on specifics.
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My GF is Thai. She is 50, looks like somewhere between 28 or 35.
Depending how close you are to her and can see the wrinkles around the eyes.
When she is naked her body looks like 16.
Another girl I know is similar aged and also completely flawless face and body. In general they all stay young long here.
I'm 57, when I shave with a blade, people guess me under 40.
Ironic (Score:1)
Am I the only one that finds it ironic he picks Feb 29 for his presser???
The Original Long Con (Score:5, Funny)
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Indeed. But there are always tons of idiots that believe these claims, so it continues to work as a get-rich-quick scam.
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Ironically, restricting calories has proven to help lab animals live roughly 10% longer. Thus, there is some truth to your joke.
I'm going to just do the old fashioned way... (Score:4, Funny)
I do, however, need to lose weight first, as that I'd prefer NOT to go through eternity as a fat vampire...
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mandela peebles like a cross between billy zane and harvey price
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XKCD Well of uncomfortable truths "They will figure out how to reverse aging, but not before you die".
You'll probably be embraced into the night when you're old enough that your junk stops working and be eternally old.
There's lots of crappy outcomes besides being a fat vampire.
Only a matter of time (Score:5, Interesting)
Living forever is a bunch of crap. However, it's only a matter of time until someone finds a way to get an extra five to ten (good) years of life.
We need to be dealing with this now, or we are going to have to deal with a 105-year-old Mitch McConnell.
Even the US Army is testing an anti-aging drug right now:
https://www.popularmechanics.c... [popularmechanics.com]
Re:Only a matter of time (Score:5, Interesting)
Even if they could extend life for hundreds of years it would be terrible for society. Usually the only relief people get from dictators or business moguls is they eventually have to die. Society would stagnate as people clung to wealth and positions seemingly forever.
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So? Travel more.
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Well, I'll be happy to let you and other people altruistic enough to volunteer for early death, do just that.
Moi?
I'm wanting to live a long as I possibly can (in comfort and enjoying life the way I do now)....and would be willing to do just about anything to do so.
I don't get why to some people their own lives don't seem to be that important, but to me...MY life is the #1 priority to me.
I only get 1 life as far as I
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I don't get why to some people their own lives don't seem to be that important, but to me...MY life is the #1 priority to me.
It's all a matter of perspective. A lot of people are working just to get by in the world. If they're just giving everyone 10 more years, I'm probably in. If I have to trade 10 more years of work, to pay for 10 more year of life, it's not as enticing. I'm not outright declining, but it very much becomes a cost/benefit question for a large portion of society.
Besides that, to go back to their point, people often have principles. Why does any person risk their life to save others? You could consider it a log
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Given the 10yr extra option...I'd take the years!!
So what? (Score:2)
it would be terrible for society
That may be true, but it is no reason to reject research into anti-aging technology. Longer life is still a good thing from the individual's perspective, and individuals matter. These problems you are talking about aren't unsolvable. Longer life would not arise in a vacuum. Humans will adapt to the new landscape and alter their behavior accordingly, and find ways of addressing the problems you are talking about.
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A longer life is especially good for researchers and thinkers.
Unless they block positions in universities of course.
But if our societies become more sane, we perhaps simply set up more colleges and universities, or simply expand them.
Imagine a medical doctor with 60 or 100 years experience ... Or a martial artist, or a musician!
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Even if they could extend life for hundreds of years it would be terrible for society. Usually the only relief people get from dictators or business moguls is they eventually have to die. Society would stagnate as people clung to wealth and positions seemingly forever.
While I don't disagree with your premise here, I would also add that living hundreds of years would be terrible for the individual if we have to sign on to live in this same backwardass society the entire fucking time. Until we get over our greed = god bullshit, I have zero desire to live forever. As much as I'd like to see where we go, you get this current crop of brain-busting shit-heads to live forever? You'll see forever be filled with the same shit.
Maybe if I lived in a society that actually took care
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"How would you ever get rid of a poor leader? I mean, what if ants lived *thousands* of days? We'd be stuck with a bad queen seemingly forever!"
My point is that "seemingly forever" is very subjective, and I have no confidence that the lifes
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Stick them in a Truman Show tank, giving them plenty of distractions and fake admiration to keep them out of our hair.
We already have a solution for that. (Score:2)
It involves rapid oxidation of some sort of fuel propelling objects at great speed linearly.
It's why no one's been able to do a proper feudalism anymore.
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But in wealthy countries, the birth rate is trending toward a shrinking population. Extending (quality) life may help reverse the trend.
Economic benefits of healthspan, not lifespan (Score:2)
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That's already happened a few times. Shakespeare thought he had one foot in the grave in his 30's. So far the extreme limit seems to be around 125. (IIRC, in tests the very elderly were found to have strongly reduced T Cell variation. So basically lack of immunity to any new disease.)
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Living forever is a bunch of crap. However, it's only a matter of time until someone finds a way to get an extra five to ten (good) years of life.
What? We already know:
- Don't skimp on sleep
- Don't smoke
- Don't drink alcohol, or max 2 drinks a week
- Don't eat too much highly processed food
- Eat more veggies
- Limit your sugar intake
- move your ass, walk more
- train muscle, reduce body fat
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It's literally not. We already know of creatures that effectively live forever, such as the immortal jellyfish: https://www.science.org.au/cur... [science.org.au]
Whether or not those mechanisms can be imported into humans via some kind of gene splicing or whatnot is less a matter of "if" and more a matter of "when". That "when" could be 1000 years from now, but calling it a "bunch of crap" is inaccurate. The possibility of biological processes that dodge senescence are very well docum
Sinclair is quite credible IMHO. (Score:3)
Pfizer tried to discredit him two decades back or so. He set up his own lab with his own money and a small team of scientists went on to research how exactly the mechanisms of aging take place in cells. They discovered that, brought falsifiable insight and discovered specific vitamin Bs that reverse that aging in cells. To a degree. I've checked out some of the people following his (and others) advice and it seems quite credible to me.
Intermitten fasting, NMN (said vitamin B), red-light therapy, regular daily excersize, paleo diet and a few other things combined appear to do wonders in age reversal and restoration of cognitive ability, eye-sight and even hair-color.
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Dr. Aubrey De Grey has been pursuing a "cure" for aging for decades. First through SENS Institute, and now with LEV Foundation. He believes that the key to rejuvenation is the repair of seven distinct kinds of damage that represent aging: cell loss, cell senescence, extracellular protein cross-linking, nuclear DNA mutations, mitochondrial DNA mutations, and the accumulation of “garbage” inside as well as outside cells.
In 2022 he stated that there was a 50% chance that we'll make advances that in
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As for everything else, only daily exercise has been shown to have any true effect. No, Vitamin B does not reverse aging in cells. Red light therapy only treats skin conditions. It does nothing for reversing aging. The paleo diet has been shown to be wrong. Early humans did not eat lots of meat [cnn.com] simply for the fact they didn't get that much. Most of what early humans ate were bugs (protein) and veggies.
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Paleo is not about meat.
And not having much meat, is clearly wrong when look at the archeologic "feasting sites". There are places in the Ural region with literally millions of horses slaughtered and eaten and 60,000 burials of humans. Of course that is an extreme example.
However it is believed that early humans followed the moving herds of what ever they hunted.
So obviously they had plenty of meat.
I agree with the rest of your post though.
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Intermitten fasting, NMN (said vitamin B), red-light therapy, regular daily excersize, paleo diet and a few other things combined appear to do wonders in age reversal and restoration of cognitive ability, eye-sight and even hair-color.
what kind of wonders exactly? not dying would be a wonder, anything else murrr not sure
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Just shows you are not credible and that your opinion is of low quality.
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Intermittent fasting improves some measures and damages others. I think I read recently that it lead to increased heart attacks. Paleo diet is not well defined. (Different groups ate different things.) But avoiding complex sugars and foods high in carbohydrates is probably good. (OTOH some paleo groups at reasonable quantities of honey.) B-vitamin complex is something to ensure, because you can't store most of them internally. (I think you can with B12, but there's also the problem with digestive ab
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Intermitten fasting, NMN (said vitamin B), red-light therapy, regular daily excersize, paleo diet and a few other things combined appear to do wonders in age reversal and restoration of cognitive ability, eye-sight and even hair-color.
Intermittent fasting:
Having food in your gut all the time means your body is in permanent digestion mode which limits your abilities to exercise and give 100% effort. Let your stomach empty sometimes. It feels great. You will not starve to death.
NMN (said vitamin B):
I have no idea what NMN is, but Vitamin B makes a difference in cognitive abilities. (don't use me as an example!)
red-light therapy:
No idea what this is. Red light is easier on the eyes at night. *shrug*
regular daily excersize:
Why does exercise
Harvard and bad science (Score:5, Insightful)
Harvard's record with unscientific and bogus claim making staff isn't looking good. First they have Avi Loeb who is one step away from the "Alien did it" big hair guy, now they have this guy. Seems Harvard will let you do or say anything as long as it makes them money or gets them attention.
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Seems Harvard will let you do or say anything as long as it makes them money or gets them attention
id point a finger at the low IQ of the american population. they think Dr Phil is a real doctor, and Judge Judy is a real judge. They also think timber framed houses in a first world country is absolutely fine, and they cannot comprehend theyre worse off than some of the shittest countries in europe
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What exactly is wrong with them....?
Are you saying everyone needs to build their homes 100% out of cinderblocks, no matter where they are in the world?
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and they cannot comprehend theyre worse off than some of the shittest countries in europe
no, just realise its a con, and act accordingly
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Cinder blocks and bricks are a bad choice in earthquake country. I don't know what's wrong with timber-framed houses, but I do believe that a good foundation is more important than that choice...and I've seen some houses being built with extremely poor foundations. (They also weren't handling the materials in line with the manufacturers instructions.) This, of course, is extremely difficult to check on unless you watch the house while it's being built.
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They also think timber framed houses in a first world country is absolutely fine
The standard North American timber framed hollow insulated wall (aka "warm wall") construction is the best available construction method in areas that need heating or air conditioning. Back in the early 1990s I read an article in the British science magazine The New Scientist about a new advanced method of housing construction that was now sweeping Britain - it was the same timber framed construction method used in every American house I have seen built since 1960. It was new in Britain because it was repla
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It is most certainly not the best.
Perhaps a good compromise between insulation and cost of construction.
And that is it.
The long term bill you later pay in energy.
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Back in the early 1990s I read an article in the British science magazine The New Scientist about a new advanced method of housing construction that was now sweeping Britain
the shittiest houses on the shittiest estates in the country can at least say theyre made entirely from brick.
its purely about price
The use of wood is superior to steel framing as wood itself is an insulator so that it is easier to build well-insulated walls
ive heard this a few times.... how much heat escapes from the internal frame of the house in the first place? another straw man similar to "its cheaper to rebuild when its inevitably blown away in a tornado"
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They are essentially burning their reputation for quick cash. They are not the only ones. When the MBAs take over, this tends to happen.
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Harvard claims it's part of academic freedom, and to let the scientific process correct bad ideas, not university administration. True or not, it seems an honest stance. But it may become a practical problem if too many attention-seeking nuts sink the U's reputation.
Hubris (Score:2)
It takes a special kind of person to believe they have found the cure for aging, who then goes on to promote themselves in the public eye, while being fully aware of the hundreds of years of history of quack doctors making the exact same claim.
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Hubris? No. Anybody being a "star scientist" has fully embraced the scam as their main occupation and has left honor, integrity and decency behind.
Keep the brain in sync (Score:2)
Hey, give him some credit. (Score:4, Insightful)
He monetized the baby face. Well done.
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Indeed. I look 10-15 years younger than my true age, but is only a physical (presumably genetic) quirk. I do not claim to have slowed down my aging, nor do I have any anti-aging secrets.
Still don't see the appeal (Score:5, Funny)
I haven't learned to enjoy life in 40 years. I don't expect chances of it happening to increase whether I live another 20 or 80 years.
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I haven't learned to enjoy life in 40 years. I don't expect chances of it happening to increase whether I live another 20 or 80 years.
The key is to really lean into what you enjoy.
For me, reading slashdot regularly has helped me to fully embrace misanthropy.
Good business plan (Score:2)
2) Make yourself famous
3) Profit
This has got to be (Score:2)
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The last 999 were frauds, so this one *must* be the real thing.
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Whoosh.
He is the messiah! (Score:2)
I must know, I have followed a few!
In other news, most people remain gullible, stupid and unable to fact-check, yet mistakenly think they are pretty smart.
Fraudsters (Score:2)
Sinclair and Aubrey De Grey have been running a con for years. Dr. Charles M Brenner(https://twitter.com/charlesmbrenner) has been calling them out on their bullshit for years.
Sinclair started the whole resveratrol hype train which has proven to be less than useless in longevity.
Unfortunately the SiValley crowd has hyped up these fraudsters in the desperate quest for some kind of trans-human existence.
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FWIW, there was reasonable evidence that resveratrol might work. Nothing approaching the level of proof, but reasonable evidence. And other evidence that it was at least harmless. (I used that as an excuse [to myself] to have several glasses of red wine over the years.)
FWIW, I'm willing to believe that he believes in what he's doing. There probably is evidence for most of what he's pushing. It's just that most theories about how biology works, even those by experts, are false.
I wasn't interested enoug
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The only practical measure of age we have currently is still impractical - actuarial tables.
Aubrey's obviously a nut, but the underlying premise is sound. We're biological machines, and if we learn how the machinery breaks we can learn how to repair it.
The specific claims made that have spawned from that premise have been more or less delusions and wishful thinking.
I for one welcome our guinea-pig Lab-Lords! (Score:2)
Thank You David Sinclair for being humanity's guinea pig! Even if it doesn't turn out to work right, I applaud you for testing. Failure is scientific data also. Someday some brave soul like yours may actually stumble on the right formula.
I personally suspect it won't work until nano-bots can trek around our body and fix age-related cell DNA mutations. I'd guestimate that's at least 20 years away for the wealthy (done overseas to avoid regs), and longer for us plebes.
But it is true and he proves it. (Score:1)