Monthly Archives: May 2013

Slowing the aging process using only antibiotics! By kurzweilai

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“This research gives us hope not only for increasing longevity, but also for lengthening the period of adult vitality, and doing this with simple drugs such as antibiotics,” concludes Auwerx.

Why is it that within a homogeneous population of the same species, some individuals live three times as long as others?

EPFL researchers investigated this question and found the mechanism responsible for aging hidden deep within mitochondria.

The were able to dramatically slow aging down in worms by administering antibiotics to the young, achieving a lifespan extension of 60 percent.

Mitochondia: biological timekeepers

The aging process identified by EPFL scientists takes place within organelles called mitochondria, known as the cellular powerhouses because they transform nutrients into proteins including adenosine triphosphate (ATP), used by muscles as energy.

Several studies have shown that mitochondria are also involved in aging. The new EPFL research, done in collaboration with partners in the Netherlands and the U.S., pinpoints the exact genes involved and measures the consequences to longevity when the amount of protein they encode for is varied: less protein, longer life.

Natural variations in mice

Laboratory mice in the BXD reference population typically live from 365 to 900 days. This population, which reflects genetic variations that occur naturally within a species, is used by many researchers in an approach known as “real-world genetics.” The benefit of working with this population in particular is that their genome is almost completely decoded.

The team led by professor Auwerx, head of EPFL’s Laboratory of Integrative and Systemic Physiology, analyzed mice genomes as a function of longevity and found a group of three genes situated on chromosome number two that, up to this point, had not been suspected of playing any role in aging. But the numbers didn’t lie: a 50 percent reduction in the expression of these genes — and therefore a reduction in the proteins they code for — increased mouse life span by about 250 days.

Extending life in worms

Next, the team reproduced the protein variations in a species of nematode, Caenorhabidtis elegans. “By reducing the production of these proteins during the worms’ growth phase, we significantly increased their longevity”, says Auwerx.

The average life span of a worm manipulated in this way went from 19 to more than 30 days, an increase of 60 percent. The scientists then conducted tests to isolate the common property and determined that the presence of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins (MRPs) is inversely proportional to longevity.

Click link to read full article;

http://www.kurzweilai.net/slowing-the-aging-process-using-only-antibiotics

Posted By F. Sheikh

U.S. Dirty Wars From Laos to Yemen to Pakistan-Noam Chomsky & Jeremy Scahill

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This video is about 55 minutes long and worth listening. Jeremy Scahill has made a soon to be released documentary about Dirty Wars.One may not agree with the pronouncements of Mr. Chomsky, but investigative reporting of Mr. Scahill is very chilling and shocking. As a citizen, it gives a pause to think what kind of war our government is conducting. Click link below to watch video.

 http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/5/23/video

Posted By F. Sheikh

Al Jazeera America Shifts Focus to U.S. News

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Office & News Studio in Manhattan

Now Al Jazeera America is aiming to have virtually all of its programming originate from the United States, according to staff members and others associated with the channel who were interviewed in recent weeks.

It will look inward, covering domestic affairs more often than foreign affairs. It will, in other words, operate much like CNN (though the employees say they won’t be as sensational) and Fox News (though they say they won’t be opinion-driven).

The programming strategy, more ambitious than previously understood, is partly a bid to gain acceptance and give Americans a reason to tune in. It may help explain why Al Jazeera America’s start date has been delayed once already, to August from July, and why some employees predict it will be delayed again.

Al Jazeera also has yet to hire a president or a slate of vice presidents to run the channel on a day-to-day basis, which has spurred uncomfortable questions about whether earlier controversies involving the pan-Arab news giant are creating difficulties for the new channel.

New employees are being added to the rolls every weekday from places like CNN, “Frontline” and Time magazine. “We expect to have approximately 800 employees when we launch,” said Ehab Al Shihabi, the Al Jazeera executive in charge of international operations, including the American channel. He declined to comment on the delays, but said the channel would start “later this summer.”

Since January, he and his colleagues’ overarching message to lawmakers, mayors, cable operators, and potential viewers has been that Al Jazeera is coming to America to supply old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground news coverage to a country that doesn’t have enough of it.

A series of announcements about new hires like Ed Pound, an experienced investigative reporter, and new bureaus in cities like Detroit have bolstered that message. Public relations and marketing firms retained by Al Jazeera, like Qorvis Communications and Siegel & Gale, have worked to limit opposition to the channel and increase support for its arrival.

Al Jazeera representatives seem aware that they are confronting an enormous marketing challenge. But they benefit from the public perception that they have boundlessly deep pockets, thanks to the oil and gas wealth of Qatar. Al Jazeera America has been portrayed by some as a giant stimulus project for American journalism at a time when other news organizations are suffering cutbacks. “This is the first big journalism hiring binge that anyone’s been on for a long time,” said the business reporter and anchor Ali Velshi when he left CNN in April for a prime time spot on Al Jazeera America.Click Link for full news article;

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/business/media/american-al-jazeera-channel-shifs-focus-to-us-news.html?hp