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Is an 'Immortality Drug' Coming Soon? New scientific studies said the enzyme telomerase might slow the aging process in cells and might also provide the basis for a broad-spectrum cancer cure. By Michael Lindemann Start Date: 1/10/99 Studies published in the January 1, 1999 issue of the journal Nature Genetics say that an enzyme called telomerase, successfully cloned last year by the Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, may extend cell life by triggering cell division in aging cells. The enzyme might also provide a major breakthrough toward a cure for many kinds of cancer. Telomerase has been found in association with most kinds of cancerous cells in humans but not in normal adult cells. For this reason, there was concern that it might actually cause cancer. However, the new studies declare that telomerase does not cause cells to become cancerous in culture and does not cause cancer in mice. What it does do is trigger aging cells to divide as if they were younger. In related research reported on January 6, British scientists said they were zeroing in on a gene that could be the clue to a cancer cure. That gene, located on human chromosome 3, seems to be responsible for shutting down production of the enzyme telomerase in normal human cells. When that happens, normal cells begin to age and eventually die. But for some reason, cancer cells are able to manufacture their own telomerase, conferring upon themselves a kind of immortality that contributes to the spread of the disease. Introducing the anti-telomerase gene into cultures of cancer cells causes those abnormal cells to die, the British scientists found. According to Robert Newbold of Brunel University in West London, who helped lead the study, 85 to 90 percent of different kinds of cancer cells show high levels of telomerase. "This is a major advance in that we have now demonstrated that switching off telomerase actually turns off cancer cells' division potential and stops them dividing in every case," Newbold told Reuters news. While Newbold's team focuses on the cancer angle, Geron scientists believe telomerase might become the basis of a safe and effective "immortality drug." However, they stress that they are not actually trying to create immortality. According to researcher Carmela Morales of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, "The goal of our research is to increase our health span, not necessarily our life span, by finding out how to keep our aging -- but healthy -- cells growing and how to make our cancer cells senescent [grow old and die]." Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security. Built by Frontier on a Macintosh on 6/17/00; 11:54:15 AM. Web Comments - Produced by Larry Lowe Served 2596 times since 1/10/99.

Huge NSA Encryption Scam Claimed The Swiss firm Crypto AG reportedly designed their widely used encryption devices so that the NSA could decode secrets from many countries. Stem Cells: Hope and Controversy on the Bio-Tech Frontier New research on stem cells might lead to cures for diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and to growing replacement organs from a patient's own tissue. Pig Intestine Has Amazing Medical Properties Recent research shows that tissue taken from the small intestine of pigs has remarkable healing and restorative effects in a wide variety of medical applications. How it works is still not understood. Artificial Muscles Are Key to Robots of the Future New artificial muscles made of plastic that bends and contracts somewhat like biological muscle tissue could give future robots enormous dexterity, and also help paralyzed humans regain mobility. Stem Cells May Allow Regrowth of Liver New research on bone marrow stem cells suggests that it may become possible to regenerate the liver and other major organs. Huge Jump in Internet Use by 2000, Experts Say The number of internet uses has approximately doubled every year for the last 11 years and could reach 300 million by the end of 2000, some experts predict. Race to Clone Humans Now Underway in Earnest Dr, Richard Seed, who says he intends to clone his wife, announced at a London conference on March 30, 1999 that he expects the first human clone to be created within two years. New Technique Regrows Man's Lost Thumb Doctors at the University of Massachusetts have succeeded in regrowing the thumb of a man whose original thumb was irreparably crushed in an accident. Cloning Humans to Be Undertaken In Japan Chicago-based physicist Richard Seed says he will participate in a Japan-based project that he hopes will eventually make human cloning possible. Scientists to Grow a Human Heart Scientists from Britain, America, Canada and Switzerland say advances in the past five years have made possible the growth of living human organs in a laboratory, and they are planning to grow the first human heart outside the body.