More on episode 2: The secrets of aging
6.4 mb mp3 (13:24) | Subscribe through iTunes
David Sinclair is getting under the hood of the molecular machinery that drives longevity
Harvard Medical School associate professor of pathology David Sinclair has spent his career exploring the mysteries of aging, making headlines with the discovery that resveratrol, a red wine derivative, increases longevity in mice. In 2004, he co-founded the Cambridge, MA–based biotech company, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, to further investigate the potential of resveratrol and similar compounds to counter aging and age-related diseases.
 |
| David Sinclair |
Dr. Sinclair’s early successes include the discovery of the mechanism by which two enzymes—SIRT3 and SIRT4—reinvigorate mitochondria and extend cell life when caloric intake is decreased. He is currently investigating how resveratrol and other compounds may combat aging-related diseases.
More research on aging
Sinclair lab website
RSS feed on aging
Harvard Medical School prepares future doctors for an aging population
 |
| Anne Fabiny |
With the first Baby Boomers turning 65 in 2012, assistant professor of medicine Anne Fabiny believes it’s important to prepare future doctors for an aging population. Chief of geriatrics at HMS-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance, Fabiny has spearheaded the effort to integrate gerontology and geriatrics into Harvard Medical School’s curriculum. Now, HMS students are learning about aging both in the classroom and the clinic. They’re studying the biological, psychological, and sociological aspects of aging and getting hands-on experience with elderly patients.
Anne Fabiny’s bio page
Elder Service Plan of Cambridge Health Alliance
Homeless cells find temporary lodging—and meet their demise
When certain human cells wander in suspension, free of their normal attachments, they launch invasions into their neighbors. These “homeless” cells bore into other cells and hang out inside, where they either die or exit, apparently unscathed.
Discovered in HMS professor of cell biology Joan Brugge’s lab last fall, this bizarre process, termed entosis, appears to underlie a phenomenon involving tumor cells inhabiting other tumor cells that pathologists have observed for decades. This may be relevant to cancer if entosis inhibits tumor progression by killing homeless cells before they colonize distant sites.
