Life Extension: from the elixir of immortality to SkQ
The problem of prolonging life in previous centuries
From the book "Will Evil become Immortal?", published by the Sretensky Monastery Publishing House in 2012.
Published on the Orthodoxy website.Ru
I have made knowledge my craft,
I am familiar with the highest truth and with the lowest evil.
I've untangled all the tight knots in the world,
Except for death tied in a dead knot.
Omar KhayyamThe problems of aging and death have interested mankind since ancient times, while the desire to understand the phenomenon of aging was inseparable from the desire to slow down or eliminate it.
The fear of death and, accordingly, the expectation and anticipation of immortality, attempts to visualize its realization is one of the stable trends of human existence, characteristic of various cultures and religions. The desire for immortality, which is becoming more acute with the growth of personal self–consciousness, and concern for its achievement are already imprinted in the monuments of Ancient Egyptian writing - the texts of the pyramids (2700-2400 BC), the Book of the Dead (1600-1500 BC). One of the most ancient written evidence is a fragment from the epic of the Sumerian king Gilgamesh (ca. 2200 BC). B.C.), in which it is told that Gilgamesh, in search of immortality, found a plant that rejuvenates the body, but failed to use it. As for practical recipes, descriptions of senile changes and recommendations for prolonging life can already be found in the works of ancient Egyptian and ancient Indian authors. However, the first purposeful, systematic attempts to achieve life extension, moreover based on the use of adequate methods to some extent, were reliably recorded in Ancient China by the Taoists.
Taoism is a religious and philosophical trend, one of the main goals of which is to prolong the life of its adherents. This teaching began to form in the 4th-3rd centuries BC in China on the basis of a synthesis of observations of natural phenomena and their various interpretations that existed in the traditional Chinese culture of that period. According to Taoism, the visible world is a manifestation of a single essence (or force) – tao (i.e. the identification of God and nature, the closest analogue in Western philosophy is pantheism). Such a vision of the world implied the unity of all things, the absence of a clear division into spirit and matter, into God and man. The consequence of this was the understanding that a person can transform into a perfect, God-like, immortal being through his own efforts and that comprehensive measures are needed to carry out such a transformation, including including material effects on the human body. The main of these measures were the following: ethical – a calm, measured life (to save vital energy); religious – mainly meditation (to influence the tao); breathing technique – breath retention, etc. (since it was believed that through breathing the connection between man and the deity is carried out, the control of the breathing process meant control over the spirit); diet – it was based on low–calorie products of plant origin (since it was believed that such food contains more air); special gymnastic exercises – were of auxiliary importance for achieving perfection in breathing techniques; sexual technique - was used to increase one's vitality by receiving it from a partner (from which it followed that that there should be many partners and they should not be Taoists). These above-mentioned methods, called internal transformation, were supplemented by external transformation, which included the use of special substances that prolong life, as well as the search for an elixir-a substance capable of turning some substances and beings into others, for example, a mortal person into an immortal. In the II century . Wei Poyan was the first to express the idea of the existence of a "philosopher's stone", which should turn metals into gold and give a person eternal youth.
At about the same time as Taoism in China, in Ancient Greece, gerokomiya (or gerokomika) was born – a direction associated with the possibility of achieving a healthy old age with the help of moderation in everything. As a rule, within the framework of this approach, it was implied that death is inevitable and it is impossible to prolong life beyond a certain limit – you can only help everyone to live his natural life expectancy without serious illnesses. The consequence of the practical basis of herocomy was not only that its recommendations were very useful, but also that some theoretical constructions of ancient scientists explaining aging (of course, in modern interpretation) were not far from the truth.
The most ancient and clear scientific explanation of the causes of aging is contained in Aristotle's work "De juventute et senectute". Aristotle believed that aging is caused by the gradual expenditure of "innate heat", which every living being has since the beginning of individual life. Hippocrates' work De diaeta also traces the idea of the loss of "natural heat". Heat was then synonymous with energy, and, according to modern theories, aging can really be based on the deterioration of the cell's ability to generate energy due to the accumulation of molecular damage. To preserve heat and moisture, a diet, moderate physical exercises, massage, and water treatments were recommended. The traditions of herocomy were significantly developed in Byzantine and Arabic medicine, from where they were borrowed by doctors of medieval Europe.
In the Hellenistic period in Egypt, when the chemical knowledge of the Egyptians was reinterpreted within the philosophical (both protoscientific and religious-mystical) ideas of the ancient Greeks, alchemy began to form. Unlike the supporters of herocomie, the alchemists assumed that victory over death was possible. They considered mortality to be a consequence of the imperfection of human nature, and, consequently, the elimination of this imperfection could lead to the achievement of practical immortality. It was supposed to eliminate imperfection by some kind of transformation of a person into an immortal being. This meant either the harmonization of the ratio of its constituent elements, or the search and "cultivation" (by chemical transformations) of a certain immortal component of a person. In any case, a special substance had to serve as a means for this – an elixir, or "philosopher's stone", or "fifth element" (it was believed that the body of man and other earthly beings consists of four types of elements, and the fifth element is divine). The search for this substance was the main goal of alchemists.
Through the Arabs, alchemy was borrowed by scientists of medieval Europe, where it received its further development. In fact, alchemy was the science of that time, and experiments to find the elixir of life were put on a broad basis. This was largely due to the works of the English philosopher and naturalist R. Bacon (1214-94). He believed that a short life is not the norm, but a deviation from it. The main reason for shortening life, in his opinion, was the wrong and unrighteous way of life of people, and this unrighteousness accumulates and is inherited and, consequently, each generation lives less and less. Especially in comparison with the standard of righteousness – the Old Testament patriarchs who lived, according to the Bible, for about a thousand years.
In the 15th - 16th centuries . The era of technical and economic progress began in Europe, which was accompanied by the rapid development of physics, chemistry, mathematics, the formation of a rational scientific worldview and revolutionary transformations in the field of public relations. There was also an increase in biological knowledge, including such sections as anatomy and physiology, which are important for understanding the phenomenon of aging. And although, on the whole, the level of development of science and technology did not allow the implementation of new, scientifically based methods of prolonging life (only the recommendations of the heroology of past eras were in use), however, their development in subsequent historical periods was largely prepared by the philosophical and methodological works of scientists of that time.
The famous European successor of the tradition of Renaissance heroism was the Venetian nobleman L.Cornaro (1467-1565). Cornaro is interesting for his attempt to adapt herocomia to the Christian church. Thus, the argument for maintaining health for as long as possible was that this would contribute to a longer service to God, besides, in old age a person is free from passions and his service to God can be more effective. The method proposed by Cornaro was traditional – moderation, and above all in food.
The problem of life extension at the present stage
The revolutionary transformations that took place in biology in the 19th and 20th centuries, which consisted in the discovery of specific biological laws, could not but affect the development of the biology of aging. The accumulation of data on the aging of living organisms and their generalization on the basis of open biological laws made it possible to formulate scientifically verifiable theories of aging, which became the basis for experimental research, development and practical application of life extension methods.
Currently, there are a large number of theories and hypotheses claiming to explain the mechanisms of aging, which in itself indicates the absence of a single concept yet. This situation is primarily due to the lack of actual knowledge about the molecular processes occurring in cells, primarily at the level of functioning of the genetic apparatus. The appearance of more advanced research methods in the future should solve this problem. In the meantime, there are two traditional points of view on the causes of aging:
1. Aging is a genetically programmed process, the result of the natural development of the program embedded in the genetic apparatus. This program is of primary importance for aging, and during its implementation, the body purposefully makes itself vulnerable to various damaging factors of the external and internal environment, which by themselves, without the action of this program, can have little effect on the rate of aging.
2. Aging is a stochastic (probabilistic), random process caused by the "wear" of the organism (just as everything in nature wears out) as a result of self–poisoning by waste products and damage caused by constantly acting harmful environmental factors. There is no special genetic program of aging, but since the properties of the organism are genetically determined, the incorrect implementation of genetic programs due to damage and accumulation of errors in the genetic apparatus and / or due to the imperfection of these programs leads to the phenomenon of aging.
The most striking representative of the first point of view today can be considered the telomeric theory of aging, or the theory of marginotomy. In biology, until some time it was believed that any cell is potentially capable of proliferation (division) in the presence of appropriate favorable conditions an infinite number of times. This idea collapsed in 1961, when scientists L. Hayflick and P. Moorhead established that normal human fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) taken from an embryo and placed in a nutrient medium divide a limited number of times, approximately 50. The experiment was repeatedly reproduced in other laboratories around the world, but they could not give it an adequate explanation at that time. The phenomenon itself was named after the author – "Hayflick limit".
In 1971, an employee of the Institute of Biochemical Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences A.M.Olovnikov suggested that during cell division, the DNA molecule is not able to reproduce its absolute copy, as it is necessary. DNA strands usually end with special cells – telomeres, which are believed to be responsible for the correct orientation of chromosomes during division, as well as protect and stabilize the chromosome. With each cell division, when chromosomes are doubled, proteins fail to copy telomeres in full and the telomere becomes shorter with each division and finally becomes unsuitable for performing its functions. After that, the cell can no longer divide. A decade later, this assumption was brilliantly confirmed. Researchers have discovered that in children with progeria (a rare genetic disease expressed in premature aging), the telomere length of chromosomes is so small that it is only enough for a very small number of divisions. In 1985, an enzyme called telomerase was discovered in germ cells and tumor cells, capable of completing the shortened telomere of chromosomes, thus providing these cells with the possibility of unlimited division, or immortality. In January 1998, the mass media all over the world literally exploded with reports that a group of American scientists managed, using genetically engineered methods, to introduce a gene for the enzyme telomerase into normal human cells. An enzyme that lengthens telomeres began to be synthesized in cells, and cells acquired the possibility of unlimited division. The scientists who set up this experiment stated that in a few years, a drug based on telomerase can be obtained, which, if it does not solve the problem of aging completely, will be able to significantly prolong life. Subsequently, it turned out that the phenomenon of telomere shortening is not able to explain the whole variety of factors associated with the aging process. Currently, scientists tend to consider it only a small but essential part of a complex and not yet fully understood mechanism of cell aging, in which a large number of genes are involved. This direction is one of the most promising in modern gerontology, putting on the agenda intervention in the genetic program of human development and aging.
Among the concepts of unprogrammed aging, one of the most fruitfully developing fundamental theories in recent years is the free radical theory of aging, put forward almost simultaneously by D. Harman in 1956 and N. Emanuel in 1958. It explains not only the mechanism of aging, but also a wide range of pathological processes associated with it. According to this theory, reactive oxygen species produced mainly in the mitochondria of cells: molecules of superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical and, possibly, singlet oxygen, damage cellular macromolecules (DNA, proteins, lipids). Reactive oxygen species (otherwise free radicals, or oxidants) are necessary for the body in many physiological processes, in particular, their role in immune response reactions is great. But sometimes their production for insufficiently studied reasons becomes excessive and uncontrolled, in such cases aggressive forms of oxygen cause damage to membranes, collagen, chromosomes, chromatin and structural proteins of cells. The complex of such phenomena is united by the concept of oxidative (oxidative) stress. The efforts of many scientists around the world are aimed at searching for antioxidant substances that can neutralize free radicals in cells. Thus, the Russian scientist academician V.P.Skulachev obtained an antioxidant capable of prolonging the life of laboratory animals several times. "Experiments are planned on monkeys, then on humans. Works for many years. But if our hypotheses are confirmed, then there will be a chance to prolong youth much longer, a person will live ten times longer. No, I'm not sure I'm right. This is one of the points of view, but it would be absurd not to use the chance to find the truth" (A person will live for hundreds of years and die from accidents – Izvestia, 11/29/2003).
From the editorial office:
It is not known whether Skulachev said in an interview ten years ago about the tenfold prolongation of life, and even more so that "real immortality is cloning and inducing a person of his consciousness" or (which is very likely) his words were misrepresented. And its antioxidant prolongs the life of animals by no means several times.
It would be more correct to quote his contemporary works or articles in less yellow publications. For example, this:
"SkQ-based preparations protect mitochondria from oxidative stress and increase the lifespan of a variety of organisms, from ascomycete fungi (microscopic relatives of stitches, morels and truffles) to mice. However, not twice or even one and a half, but by 10 percent, and above all – by reducing mortality in middle age. But, although the maximum life expectancy in mice has not increased much, another aspect of the fight against old age is equally important: not only to prolong life, but also to improve its quality and achieve active longevity. In fact, Skulachev set this task for himself and his colleagues by organizing the Mitotech company.
Mice receiving the optimal dose of the drug showed no signs of aging almost until death. They developed senile diseases much later than the control group – the same as in humans: cataracts, retinopathy, glaucoma, baldness and graying, depression, osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction, etc. Infectious diseases very rarely turned out to be the cause of death – the immune system of the subjects worked until old age, as in the young."By the way, Academician Skulachev believes that poisoning the body with free radicals is by no means a random process.
In his opinion, oxidative stress is a key factor in the implementation of the aging program embedded in the neurohumoral structures of the brain.
In general, we can say that today there is still not enough knowledge to make a final choice between two concepts of aging: the accumulation of accidental breakdowns or the inclusion of a program of self-destruction of the body. Perhaps these concepts, usually considered as alternatives, will be complementary if we accept that the accumulation of breakdowns triggers a suicide program long before the breakdowns become incompatible with the life of the organism. In any case, according to most scientists, the intensity and scale of research on the phenomenon of aging in many laboratories around the world, as well as the vast accumulated material on this problem, allow us to predict the appearance in the near future of a significant qualitative result, which will be expressed in the emergence of ways to radically prolong life. Therefore, already now some call the XXI century the "century of immortality".
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru03.07.2012