Biomedical progress rates as the new source of economic growth

The revolution in information technology has irreversibly changed our lives over the past two decades. However, advances in biomedicine stand poised to eclipse the social and economic effects of IT in the near future.

“People are living longer, healthier lives, and this longevity boom is not going to stop any time soon. If we're to get to grips with the implications this will have for national economies, pension funds and society at large, we urgently need economic analysis of this trend. This paper is an insightful step in the right direction.”, - said Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Co.

“Governments, pension funds and individuals that have the adaptive life span and life expectancy expectations based on historic trends are likely to be unprepared for these paradigm shifts. We proposed a set of parameters that may be used in several models of economic growth to account for these scenarios both in the transitionary period and in the long run.”, said Maria Litovchenko, the research associate at the Biogerontology Research Foundation and the graduate student at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Biomedical innovations typically reach the mass market in much slower fashion than those from information technology. They follow a paradigm where neither demand, in the form of the consumer, nor supply, in the form of the innovator, can significantly accelerate the process.

However, in the near-term, unless the governments of the debt-laden developed countries make proactive policy changes, there is a possibility of lengthy economic decline and even collapse.

“John Maynard Keynes once said that in the long run we are all dead. Our model looks at the scenario, where some of us are alive in the long run. It also suggests that to grow the economy we need to make proactive policy changes and accelerate aging research as well as the propagation of biomedical advances from the laboratory into clinical practice.”, said Alex Zhavoronkov, the director of the Biogerontology Research Foundation.

“The contributions to life expectancy gains are blurred by the unhealthy behavior and environmental factors. However, in the near future we may see a revolution in longevity and we can either prepare for and accelerate the change or continue stimulating the economy using the Keynesian, monetarist or traditional neoclassical policies, run deeper into debt and face the dire consequences.”, he added.

The proposed model takes into account progress in the biomedical sciences, which in turn affects the size, growth and productivity of the population. In the model, the rate of biomedical progress is the sum of the rejuvenation rate, the rate at which the functions required to perform useful work that were lost to aging or disease are restored, and non-rejuvenating rate, which increases lifespan, but does not restore lost functions.

Joe Betts-lacroix, the executive director at Health Extension, said about the research: "A common concern about the dissemination of anticipated health-extending technologies worldwide is overpopulation.  However, only countries with low medical security have population growth.  Health-extending technologies will travel with overall medical technologies, and these will only reach countries as their incomes rise and their birth rates fall. In the western world, lower birth rates are automatically working to correct overpopulation. As reproductive lifespans increase (the maximum age at which women can give birth), women will wait longer to have their children, and population will continue to be regulated at a sustainable level."

The effects of population aging on economic growth remains a controversial topic in macroeconomics with conflicting schools of thought. While there are many models and simulations that account for population aging, new parameters introduced in this research may help enrich the models demonstrating both positive and negative effects of aging on the economy and help model scenarios that go beyond extending historic trends in longevity.

Commenting on the announcement Dr Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, researcher  at the University of Liverpool, said: “With the graying of the world's population, and the massive resulting social and economic challenges, this type of work is very timely. A very important message from this work is that economists should take into account technological progress when making forecasts. This work also further emphasizes the absolute need for research on aging and rejuvenation to develop interventions that extends healthy lifespan which would result in unprecedented medical, social and economic gains.”

The "UMA Foundation" introduces a new position

Science Press Secretary: The "UMA Foundation" introduces a new position

The press department of the "UMA Foundation" welcomes anyone who is interested in science, anyone who works in science and anyone who simply wishes to check out our news line!  One of the Fund’s main aims is to promote the work of young Russian scientists around the world. We’re proud to announce the introduction of a new position – the science press secretary, which is held by Tatiana Gneteeva (Gneteeva2013@gmail.com).

“Supporting the publication of research carried out by Russian scientists and publicizing their achievements in the mass media with the aim of raising the standing of Russian scientists abroad and promoting science to young people. I believe the new position of science press secretary will make a valuable contribution to the promotion of Russian science,” said A. Chapman, director of the "UMA Foundation".

The new post was created in response to the growing demand for effective communication between scientists, serious scientific journals and the popular mass media. The science press secretary will act as a link between scientific magazines by working closely with editors, scientists and popular science journalists in Russia and beyond to promote and popularize the research and discoveries of young Russian scientists around the world. The responsibilities of the science press secretary include:

Ø  Interacting with the press secretaries of popular as well as specialist scientific magazines in Russia and abroad, supporting young scientists and researchers in  scientific institutes and helping to get scientific works  published in the scientific media, and raising the prestige of Russian science in the process;

Ø  Quality control of scientific publications, correction of articles in accordance with the magazine’s house style,  consultative work;

Ø  Cross-light of articles in the press and mailing to relevant scientists to raise the amount of citations for Russian scientists.

“In Russia there is a severe shortage of young scientists with a biomedical education who are able to turn the material published in the complex scientific articles into material that may be interesting and comprehensible for the general public. There are even fewer people, who can interact professionally with the editors of reputable scientific journals, popular press and mass media, in Russia and abroad, and also to interact with laboratories and clinical scientists. Many respectable science journals are concerned about the newsworthiness and popularity of the papers they publish.  The articles they publish should not only adhere to the highest standards, they should also appeal to a wide readership and provoke debate in other scientific publications and the popular mass media. Many American and European universities have professional press departments tasked with popularizing research and boosting their ratings. Tatiana Gneteeva, the newly appointed the "UMA Foundation" science press secretary, has a medical education as well as experience with science projects and promoting scientific articles, which she gained during the two years she spent on our courses for young scientists," says Alexander Zhavoronkov, the adjunct professor of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and head of the laboratory of regenerative medicine at the D. Rogachev Centre of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology.

Contact to Gneteeva Tatiana by email: Gneteeva2013@gmail.com

About “UMA” Foundation (www.funduma.ru)

The “UMA” Foundation is one of the leading non-profit organizations in Russia that supports young scientists and promotes scientific research. It was set up to revitalize Russian science and to encourage renewed enthusiasm and passion for science and innovation – values that are sometimes lacking in the younger generation. The foundation is governed by leading academics, heads of universities and prominent business people. Among its many other activities, the organization supports the “First Open Institute for Regenerative Medicine for Young Scientists”, a rapidly growing volunteer initiative that was set up by expatriate scientists as a means of providing hundreds of young scientists with weekly lectures by leading international thinkers as well as promoting goal-oriented scientific collaboration.

Can mineralization connective tissue kill you ?

About FOIRMYS

The First Open Institute for Regenerative Medicine for Young Scientists (FOIRMYS) is a non-profit volunteer initiative bringing together over a thousand enthusiast young scientists and physicians interested in regenerative medicine. It was first organized by Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD in collaboration with Sergey Yakovenko, PhD, Sergey Roumiantsev, PhD and Oleg Korzinov in Moscow with support from Anna Chapman.

FOIRMYS provides regular weekly lectures by the top academic and industry thought leaders, investors and regulators. The list of presenters includes Paolo Macchiarini (Karolinska Institute), Alexey Aravin (Caltech), Charles Cantor (Boston U, ex-director of the Human Genome Project), Augustinus Bader (Leipzig University), top managers from Beijing Genomics Institute, Malaysian Genome Resource Center, Indigo Capital Partners and many others. As part of the curriculum students participate in practicums at “Altravita IVF, FRCCPH, FORCC, Quantum Pharmaceuticals, Biopharmcluster “Northern” and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Members work in small teams comprised of scientists and physicians on ambitious outlier projects in aging and regenerative medicine with topics ranging from mineralization of connective tissue, HGPS and regulation of endometriosis to industry overviews and healthcare economics. The projects are coordinated in a crowdsourced environment and rely heavily on popular tools like Facebook, Dropbox and Google Apps. FOIRMYS developed a concept called “Personalized Medicine”, where projects are centered around the problems of a single patient, who provides samples and helps coordinate the project. Members also learn how to promote their work, create personal science blogs (including Women in Science initiative) and engage in industry outreach.

Participation in practical group projects resulted in success stories including young scientists’ publications in peer-reviewed journals, fellowships, participation in international conferences, gainful employment of young scientists and international collaborations.

"Mineralization of connective tissue with age is one of the many aspects of aging that are examples of "accumulation of eventually pathogenic extracellular material", an issue that attracts too little attention within the academic community. The accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and of mineral deposits both result in increased stiffness of connective tissue, impair homeostasis and contribute to a broad range of age-related diseases. Through comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of the many molecular processes involved in mineralization, Zhavoronkov's team have identified possible molecular interventions. Additionally they propose that mineralization and AGEs work in concert and should be addressed concurrently. Anastasia Shyndyapina, the lead author on the paper, recently presented this work at the SENS6 conference in Cambridge.", commented Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation and International Adjunct Professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).

A team of Russian scientists drills into the problem of age-related mineralization of the connective tissue

When you open a 70-year old patient on the operating table and touch the aorta, the feeling may resemble touching an eggshell or sand paper. It is stiffer than the heart of a young person and the key reasons for this are the abundant calcium deposits in the connective tissue that accumulate with age. Calcification is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality because it is associated with atherosclerosis, chronic kidney disease and osteoporosis. 

The many factors leading to mineralization of the connective tissue include genetic and acquired diseases, inflammation, reactive oxygen species, but the major problem is that it occurs spontaneously during aging as calcium-containing molecules are trapped in the extracellular matrix and develop into apatite over time.

Despite its relative significance, compared to the many other areas of aging research, mineralization of the connective tissue is rarely mentioned in scientific publications and few teams are working on preventing or clearing out the extracellular aggregates.  There are currently no drugs to treat vascular calcification.

To address the problem, a multidisciplinary team of physicians, bioinformatitians, biochemists and physicists performed a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of the many factors involved in mineralization, identified key molecular targets and proposed a list of possible drugs to address the issue. The next steps are clinical and experimental research that are supposed to make a great contribution to the design of new treatments for vascular calcification and the regenerative medicine.

The results of the study were accepted for publication by a high-impact journal in biogerontology “Rejuvenation Research” and will be published shortly and can be cited as “Mineralization of the connective tissue: a complex molecular process leading to age-related loss of function”, Anastasia Shindyapina, Garik V Mkrtchyan, Tatiana Gneteeva, Sveatoslav Buiucli, M Kulka, B Tancowny, Alexander Aliper, Alexander Zhavoronkov, Rejuvenation Research, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/rej.2013.1475, http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/rej.2013.1475 , PMID 23902273

“Aging inevitably leads to the loss of function on many levels. Mineralization of the connective tissue is one of the causes and consequences of aging and is a complex multifactorial process. Metabolic activity, diseases and external stress factors may cause calcification, but most importantly, it occurs spontaneously. Our goal is to identify least toxic ways to both prevent calcification and to repair the accumulated  aggregates.”, said Anastasia Shindyapina, ASUS Fellow for Bioinformatics and Medical Information Technology, PhD-candidate at the Moscow State University and researcher at FOIRMYS.

For more info dear reader can see thats :  http://regmed2012.wix.com/ineralizationsociety   and http://www.pinterest.com/regenmed2012/

Petroleum– a renewable resource?

All of us got used to hear that petroleum it not a renewable resource of the nature.

But why this resource shouldn't be renewable? The majority of the scientific many countries is looked for long ago by alternative energy sources but while these researches didn't crown serious success. But still around the world petroleum - one of the main used energy resources. No, I not against alternative sources but why we forget about petroleum. After all receiving opening in the nature of petroleum would bring enormous money and to inventors and the country. As there is for example a photosynthesis process we know from school but as petroleum is formed isn't present! Interestingly and whether it is possible to transform photosynthesis to process of receiving petroleum chemically or other ways. Or to transform solar energy to hydrocarbons? After all as consider, 10% of solar energy – feed all live on our planet. The truth is much and questions: for example: what if to increase use of solar energy (we will tell not 10%, and 30%) how it will be reflected in the mass of a planet, in its trajectory of movement? or on the contrary: whether will give active burning of petroleum in a huge number to loss of weight of a planet?

Interestingly, also that if the problem of gravitation of the earth would be solved, petroleum consumption probably was reduced many times over. Moreover, the problem of transport traumatism would be solved probably too.

 To what all this? To that if actively to study receiving petroleum in the nature, the firm the inventor would be fantastically rich. These means for certain would suffice on development of such science as gerontology which at the corresponding financing could reach a victory over aging of the person.

Certainly, probably it would be easier to take simply physical force resources at petrol kings and to allocate financial funds for researches in gerontology, regenerative medicine, a cryonics. From it would win all and petrol kings also.