Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine . . .

and why I have somewhat mixed feelings about it. For those of you who don't already know, the prize this year was awarded to researchers who have elucidated the functioning of structures on chromosomes called telomeres. As a crude analogy, they are like those little plastic doodads on the ends of your shoelaces that keep them from unraveling. (I believe I once read somewhere that there is actually a name for them; if anybody knows it, let me know.)

Anyway, whenever your cells reproduce the telomeres have to be rebuilt on the new chromosomes, but there's bad news: they get a little shorter each time and eventually, the chromosomes degrade and the cell line gets old, tired, and useless. This turns out to contribute to the inevitably fatal, incurable disease with which we are all born, which typically gets us sometime after three-score years and ten. So, if we could preserve those telomeres, our shoelaces -- I mean our chromosomes -- would be immortal, and maybe we'd have one more key to curing the disease of aging.

But there's more bad news: evolution gave us this telomere shortening, and there is what appears to be a very good explanation for it. Immortal cell lines are dangerous, because they just might be cancer. Most of our cell lines have to divide only a few times during our reproductive years, so evolution has no reason to preserve those telomeres; indeed, it has a good reason to see them erode, because that is one more hurdle cancer cells have to overcome in order to become malignant. In other words, this component of the aging process protects us against cancer, which otherwise might get us early in life.

So far, our understanding of telomeres has not yielded anything useful, but it might eventually. We might be able to use it to prevent the immortalization of cancer cells, and so cure or prevent cancer; and we might be able to use it to prevent or even reverse elements of the aging process. On the other hand, these two goals might be largely irreconcilable and the knowledge might not turn out to be very useful after all.

But what if all this does lead to more effective cancer treatments, or even the Fountain of Youth? As I wrote earlier about another potential treatment for aging, resveratrol and similar compounds, there could be downsides. But more than that, a vast investment in basic biomedical research -- probably many tens of billions of dollars, at least -- lies ahead in pursuing this particular grail. If it leads anywhere, comparable sums will be spent on turning knowledge into safe and effective treatments, and providing those treatments to those people wealthy enough to afford them, whose benefit will consist of exceeding the natural life span.

Meanwhile, I shouldn't have to tell you but I probably do that today, on planet earth, 20% of all deaths are of children under five years old. Life expectancy at birth right now in Afghanistan is 41 years, and in most of Africa it's under 60 and even under 50 years. We're far from number 1 but we're already up to 78 years. Those tens or hundreds of billions of dollars could wipe out those inequities and save all those kids. Yes they could. But instead we'll invest them in trying to get rich people to live to be 100-120 instead of just 80-100. I dunno about that.

5 comments:

Bix said...

I was going to comment along the lines of your last paragraph, specifically your last sentence, but you beat me to it.

Yes, it would be nice if money spent on life extension research would be directed to the millions around the world who aren't making it past puberty, whose quality of life is nightmarish . We have the technology and the dollars right now to extend these lives, we just lack the will.

I don't begrudge researchers their grants. I'd just like to see more compassion.

roger said...

i believe that the word is aglet.

Anonymous said...

Your service is surely certainly one of the best . General impact of the page is probably dramatic .
Locksmith Pasadena CA
locksmith bridgeport
Locksmith Saratoga CA
Locksmith San Jose CA
Locksmith San Jose
Locksmith San Jose CA
Locksmith San Jose CA
Locksmith San Jose CA
Locksmith Elmhurst
Elmhurst Locksmith
Locksmith Elmhurst
Locksmith Elmhurst
Locksmith Elmhurst
Locksmith Elmhurst
Elmhurst Locksmith
Locksmith Elmhurst IL
Locksmith Elmhurst
Locksmith Elmhurst IL
Elmhurst Locksmith
Locksmith Elmhurst
Locksmith Elmhurst IL
Locksmith Elmhurst
locksmith plano tx
irvine locksmiths
miami beach locksmith
miami beach locksmith
miami beach locksmith
irvine locksmiths
mesquite tx locksmith
locksmith plano tx
miami beach locksmith
hialeah locksmiths
fort worth locksmiths
irvine locksmith
irvine locksmith
locksmith Aventura FL
fort worth locksmiths
fort worth locksmiths

abercrombiefitch said...

Be fast to browse the newest styles and lots of affordable outfits and Nike oxygen Max and women's merchandise is not an daily affair, for that reason that in the stress of modern day time girls ordinarily do not possess a complete great offer time and vitality to go buying by means of countless many style malls, and look at special fees will make you exhausted, so which you can acquire a satisfactory goods, call up for to devote lots of time, the show up of on collection buying significantly minimizing the inconvenience of this, now you not just can every one of the sudden go to to lots of goods Nike Air Max Shoes .ur

Christian Louboutin sale said...

Intrigued by Madame Obama LT predicts which you will be fascinated quickly after reading through Kate Betts's achieved book:"Everyday Icon--Michelle Obama as well as the energy of style."Lively with cherry-picked photographs,it delves into the history of previous first ladies,explores America's puritanical attitude in the direction of the well-dressed and by means of eloquent style custom made selection interviews in inclusion to poignant trips to Chicago spills the beans on Michelle- Queen Bee belonging using the dark elite. A breezy,consuming read,c'est le should for ze cheap louboutin shoes red-soles sisters!"Paris was ours" is pretty different,suiting individuals who treasure the city of light;even nursing possessive feelings about place.Dip in to the thirty-two evocative essays penned from the likes of Diane Johnson,Judith Thurman and Zoe Valdes. Edited by Penelope Roeland, the guide could possibly be the best shock to the soignee et sophisitiquee.Finally,there's "Life" by Keith Richards and James Fox-one of LT's favourite biographies from 2010. Look at the Keef's account of sex and prescriptions dollar the Rolling Stones and take satisfaction in Jame Fox's wit and wisdom with his fabled turn of phrase.