इस एपिसोड के बारे में
Why do old cells refuse to die, and should we get rid of them?
Professor Lynne Cox, a biochemist and biogerontologist who spent nearly three decades at Oxford studying where aging begins inside the cell, joins Pierre Jacob and Meronn Jacob on Transcribed. We recorded this conversation in person at a longevity conference in Dublin.
Lynne explains cellular senescence from the ground up: why cells stop dividing, how these "zombie cells" pile up with age, and how their inflammatory signals (the SASP) can push neighbouring cells into senescence too. She also shares the finding that surprised her most: senescence is essential to building the placenta. In her words, "We are only mammals because of cell senescence."
Then we get practical. When does it make sense to clear senescent cells? What did senolytics do in mice and in early human studies? Why might quieting senescent cells be smarter than killing them all? And why is it so hard to run a clinical trial for something that isn't officially a disease?
We also cover what Werner syndrome, a rare premature aging disorder, reveals about normal aging, whether epigenetic clocks are ready to serve as trial endpoints, the part of aging Lynne thinks is badly under-researched (the extracellular matrix), and her view on AI leaders' predictions about doubling human lifespan.
In this conversation:
◼️ What cellular senescence is, and why cells stop dividing
◼️ Zombie cells and the SASP
◼️ The placenta, and why senescence made us mammals
◼️ Senolytics vs. senomorphics: kill or quiet?
◼️ From mice to people: COVID and pulmonary fibrosis
◼️ Why "aging is natural" isn't an argument against treating it
◼️ What rejuvenation really means
◼️ Lessons from Werner syndrome
◼️ Epigenetic clocks: useful, but only part of the story
◼️ Sense of safety and cognitive resilience
◼️ The overlooked extracellular matrix
◼️ AI and the "double lifespan in five years" claim
◼️ Advice for people in their 20s entering the field
Transcribed Podcast: in-person interviews with scientists, founders, and industry experts shaping the future of biotech and pharma.
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#TranscribedPodcast #Longevity #Senescence #AgingResearch
00:00 Introducing Professor Lynne Cox
00:31 What is cellular senescence?
02:27 Zombie cells and the SASP
04:12 Why senescence made us mammals
06:46 When should we clear senescent cells?
08:37 Kill or quiet? Senolytics vs. senomorphics
09:03 Senolytics in mice and in people
11:16 Aging isn't a disease: the regulatory problem
12:13 "Aging is natural" and the cancer argument
13:50 Whack-a-mole medicine
14:20 What rejuvenation really means
15:31 What Werner syndrome teaches about normal aging
17:42 Do epigenetic clocks capture what's happening?
20:18 Can clocks be clinical trial endpoints?
22:42 Sense of safety and cognitive resilience
23:45 Hype vs. truth: reprogramming and the extracellular matrix
26:53 AI and "doubling lifespan in five years"
29:48 Advice for people in their 20s
