The Optispan Podcast with Matt Kaeberlein Optispan

Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@optispan

Related episodes:

Reversing Biological Age: Have we finally found the answer?: https://youtu.be/ivP3QTyQ2d4

Matt recently attended the 52nd annual meeting of the American Aging Association in Madison, Wisconsin and met with several people doing fascinating work in the longevity field.

One of these was Mark McCormick, an Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. At UNM, Mark runs a lab that investigates age-delaying drug targets, develops machine learning tools for studying aging, and identifies conserved aging mechanisms and pathways in model organisms and humans. Mark previously completed a postdoc with Brian Kennedy at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with Cynthia Kenyon at the University of California, San Francisco, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering as well as a B.S. in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

In this episode, Matt and Mark chat about aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, a group of enzymes that play an essential role in protein synthesis. They discuss the promise and risks of tRNA synthetase inhibitors to treat diseases of aging and extend life- and healthspan (spoiler: don't take tRNA synthetase inhibitors yet). They also talk about why Mark's lab has held off on doing mouse experiments thus far, the challenges of proving causality in longevity experiments, interventions about which Mark is optimistic (or not), and more.


Producers: Tara Mei, Nicholas Arapis
Video Editor: Jacob Keliikoa

DISCLAIMER: The information provided on the Optispan podcast is intended solely for general educational purposes and is not meant to be, nor should it be construed as, personalized medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established by your use of this channel. The information and materials presented are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We strongly advise that you consult with a licensed healthcare professional for all matters concerning your health, especially before undertaking any changes based on content provided by this channel. The hosts and guests on this channel are not liable for any direct, indirect, or other damages or adverse effects that may arise from the application of the information discussed. Medical knowledge is constantly evolving; therefore, the information provided should be verified against current medical standards and practices.

More places to find us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispanpodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkaeberlein
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optispan

https://www.optispan.life/

Hi, I'm Matt Kaeberlein. I spent the first few decades of my career doing scientific research into the biology of aging, trying to understand the finer details of how humans age in order to facilitate translational interventions that promote healthspan and improve quality of life. Now I want to take some of that knowledge out of the lab and into the hands of people who can really use it.

On this podcast I talk about all things aging and healthspan, from supplements and nutrition to the latest discoveries in longevity research. My goal is to lift the veil on the geroscience and longevity world and help you apply what we know to your own personal health trajectory. I care about quality science and will always be honest about what I don't know. I hope you'll find these episodes helpful!

Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@optispan

Related episodes:

The Importance of Body Composition & Ways YOU can measure it | 21 - HSM #3: https://youtu.be/gM3aYTMsqNI

We brought George Sutphin back on the podcast to bare his soul—or at least his DEXA scan and VO2 max test results.

A DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan is an advanced imaging procedure for measuring bone density and composition. DEXA scans utilize two different energy levels of low-dose X-ray beams—one absorbed mostly by soft tissue, and the other absorbed mainly by bone—to differentiate between bone, fat, and lean tissue. In so doing, they provide noninvasive and detailed information about bone health, risk of osteoporosis or fractures, and body composition. While medical practioners typically perform DEXA scans on the lower spine and hips, they can also perform DEXA scans on the whole body for the purposes of early detection and intervention.

A VO2 max test measures the maximum volume of oxygen an individual can utilize during high-intensity exercise. At its core, it provides an assessment of a person's cardiovascular fitness and aerobic endurance. During the test, the subject performs a graded exercise protocol, typically on a treadmill or stationary bike, while wearing a mask connected to a metabolic cart. The cart measures the volume and gas concentrations of inhaled and exhaled air. As the exercise intensity increases, the test measures the point at which oxygen consumption plateaus, despite further increases in workload. This point is the VO2 max, indicating the person's aerobic capacity and endurance potential. The results can provide valuable information for athletes to tailor their training programs, for clinicians to assess the efficacy of treatments, and for researchers studying the effects of various interventions on cardiovascular health. VO2 max levels are strongly correlated with all-cause mortality.

In this episode, we chat with George about how he changed his readouts with time, whether his body composition tracks his work deadlines, his experiences with Ozempic, and more.

University of Arizona Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology George Sutphin runs a lab that investigates genetic determinants of longevity, the effects of kynurenine-based interventions on lifespan, and environmental regulators of the aging process. George, who was an aerospace engineer before he discovered the promise of geroscience, completed his PhD at the University of Washington and worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Jackson Laboratory prior to his current faculty position. He currently serves as Chairperson of the American Aging Association.



Producers: Tara Mei, Nicholas Arapis
Video Editor: Jacob Keliikoa

DISCLAIMER: The information provided on the Optispan podcast is intended solely for general educational purposes and is not meant to be, nor should it be construed as, personalized medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established by your use of this channel. The information and materials presented are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We strongly advise that you consult with a licensed healthcare professional for all matters concerning your health, especially before undertaking any changes based on content provided by this channel. The hosts and guests on this channel are not liable for any direct, indirect, or other damages or adverse effects that may arise from the application of the information discussed. Medical knowledge is constantly evolving; therefore, the information provided should be verified against current medical standards and practices.

More places to find us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispanpodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkaeberlein
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optispan

https://www.optispan.life/

Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@optispan

Related episodes:

These 14 Medications are linked to lower death rates in humans: https://youtu.be/Ju1p_L-2Bq4
DON'T Take Resveratrol Until You Watch This Video: https://youtu.be/MmIBdqsQYfw

How do scientists decide which interventions are worth testing in humans for potential health- and/or lifespan benefits?

One way to start is to examine how interventions perform in model organisms such as mice. The Interventions Testing Program (ITP), a federally-funded initiative that began in 2002, tests drugs that may delay mouse aging, with the hope of eventually identifying new longevity interventions for humans. The program aims to take an unbiased approach to interventions testing as possible and to make all data publicly available.

In this episode, Matt goes over recent ITP tests of a broad range of interventions that includes a vasodilator, a beta-blocker, a drug to reverse cyanide poisoning, and more. The drugs are alpha-ketoglutarate, 2,4-dinitrophenol, hydralazine, nebivolol, 16α-hydroxyestriol, sodium thiosulfate, and canagliflozin. He discusses which of these interventions produces lifespan benefits in mice, gender differences in effects, results from previous studies of the interventions, and the importance of examining the life expectancy of controls when evaluating the results of lifespan experiments.

Matt has served on the ITP steering committee since 2012.



Producers: Tara Mei, Nicholas Arapis
Video Editor: Jacob Keliikoa

DISCLAIMER: The information provided on the Optispan podcast is intended solely for general educational purposes and is not meant to be, nor should it be construed as, personalized medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established by your use of this channel. The information and materials presented are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We strongly advise that you consult with a licensed healthcare professional for all matters concerning your health, especially before undertaking any changes based on content provided by this channel. The hosts and guests on this channel are not liable for any direct, indirect, or other damages or adverse effects that may arise from the application of the information discussed. Medical knowledge is constantly evolving; therefore, the information provided should be verified against current medical standards and practices.

More places to find us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispanpodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkaeberlein
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optispan

https://www.optispan.life/

Hi, I'm Matt Kaeberlein. I spent the first few decades of my career doing scientific research into the biology of aging, trying to understand the finer details of how humans age in order to facilitate translational interventions that promote healthspan and improve quality of life. Now I want to take some of that knowledge out of the lab and into the hands of people who can really use it.

On this podcast I talk about all things aging and healthspan, from supplements and nutrition to the latest discoveries in longevity research. My goal is to lift the veil on the geroscience and longevity world and help you apply what we know to your own personal health trajectory. I care about quality science and will always be honest about what I don't know. I hope you'll find these episodes helpful!

Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@optispan

Check out the Sutphin Lab: https://sutphinlab.org/

Related episodes:

Uncovering New Longevity Research DISCOVERIES: The Power of 3HAA Revealed: https://youtu.be/CFVQUSVJmIk
People are GETTING THIS WRONG about Supplements & My Supplement List: https://youtu.be/_UXk_ynCNUs
DON'T Take Resveratrol Until You Watch This Video: https://youtu.be/MmIBdqsQYfw
Does this Dog Supplement Really Work to REVERSE AGE? (PART 1): https://youtu.be/-ujIfZXGbDA

George Sutphin is back! So many of you enjoyed Matt's interview with him back in March 2024 about 3HAA and NAD+ that we decided to bring him on the podcast once again to chat about the potential effects of oral NMN supplementation.

You may have heard of over-the-counter supplements aimed at boosting nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) levels. Underlying these supplements is the hypothesis that levels of NAD+, a central coenzyme found in all living cells and involved in innumerable biochemical reactions that include DNA repair, glycolysis, stress responses, and more, decrease with age. The decrease may be associated with aging and age-related disease, and restoring NAD+ levels via supplementation is therefore likely to increase health- and/or lifespan.

In this episode, Matt and George examine a recent finding that oral supplementation of NAD+ boosters increases molecular signatures that indicate kidney damage. They discuss the NAD+ signaling pathway, models for how NAD+ might drive kidney damage, how they would expand upon the study for further research, and more.

University of Arizona Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology George Sutphin runs a lab that investigates genetic determinants of longevity, the effects of kynurenine-based interventions on lifespan, and environmental regulators of the aging process. George, who was an aerospace engineer before he discovered the promise of geroscience, completed his PhD at the University of Washington and worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Jackson Laboratory prior to his current faculty position. He currently serves as Chairperson of the American Aging Association.


Producers: Tara Mei, Nicholas Arapis
Video Editor: Jacob Keliikoa

DISCLAIMER: The information provided on the Optispan podcast is intended solely for general educational purposes and is not meant to be, nor should it be construed as, personalized medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established by your use of this channel. The information and materials presented are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We strongly advise that you consult with a licensed healthcare professional for all matters concerning your health, especially before undertaking any changes based on content provided by this channel. The hosts and guests on this channel are not liable for any direct, indirect, or other damages or adverse effects that may arise from the application of the information discussed. Medical knowledge is constantly evolving; therefore, the information provided should be verified against current medical standards and practices.

More places to find us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispanpodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkaeberlein
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optispan

https://www.optispan.life/

Help keep the Dog Aging Project alive (prizes available!): https://donor-list.org/go/QGkYGQcLFL
More about the Dog Aging Project: https://dogagingproject.org/
Enroll your dog in the Dog Aging Project: https://redcap.dogagingproject.org/su...
The Dog Aging Institute: dogaginginstitute.org

Save the Dog Aging Project!

In 2014, Matt co-founded the Dog Aging Project, an ambitious, large-scale study of canine health and longevity aimed at understanding how dogs—and, eventually, humans—age. The project has two broad goals: to help us understand the biology of aging, and to enable us to do something about it. A third goal that often goes unmentioned, but is (to some) no less important, is to give us more time with furry friends who often become part of the family.

Dogs are some of the best animals we can use to study longevity. While many of the model organisms such as yeast, worms, mice, and rats that we commonly use to study aging have certainly helped us unearth interesting insights, they typically live in highly controlled laboratory conditions that do not replicate the diverse environmental factors that humans experience. Researchers also often use inbred strains of these animals due to their genetic uniformity, a practice that offers experimental advantages but also introduces issues such as limited generalizability and undetected gene-environment interactions. Meanwhile, dogs share our environments in every way, develop the same age-related diseases as do humans, exhibit high genetic diversity, and age rapidly enough that we do not have to wait decades to observe the effects of interventions on dog life- and healthspan.

The Dog Aging Project has grown to become the world's largest study of aging. Over 50,000 dogs are currently enrolled in the project, enabling researchers to create an immense dataset comprising over 36 million data points and a biobank containing more than 10,000 samples that will be invaluable to helping us answer key questions about the biology of aging. Data from the project has contributed to the publication of over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers. As this is a citizen science project that harnesses the collective power of volunteers to contribute to scientific research, the Dog Aging Project will make all data publicly available free of charge to academics and nonprofit institutions to facilitate the blooming of as much useful research as possible.

The Dog Aging Project needs your help. Federal funding to the project has recently been withdrawn, and the project needs financial backing to support its veterinary and computational infrastructure as well as to complete a clinical trial of rapamycin in dogs. The project hopes to decrease its reliance on federal funding and thus hopes to encourage philanthropic funding as far possible. Top donors stand to receive a full Optispan Trailblazer concierge clinic experience and lunch with Matt, and other donors may receive Optispan swag.

Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference. We hope you will consider donating!

Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@optispan

Related episodes:

The Surprising Way Body Size Relates to Lifespan: https://youtu.be/Fjh6WbkZkvw
Comparing Bryan Johnson's RAPAMYCIN DATA: INTERESTING RESULTS: https://youtu.be/1-ZKzfQDQYk
Reversing Biological Age: Have we finally found the answer?: https://youtu.be/ivP3QTyQ2d4

We've hit 6,000 subscribers!

To celebrate this milestone and to thank you for your support, we've created an Ask Matt Anything (AMA) episode out of questions that you left on our previous podcast episodes. You guys ask great questions—we really enjoy thinking about the points you raise and gaining a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of a given topic ourselves.

So here it is: an AMA buffet of longevity-related topics, from the effects of metformin and calorie restriction to methods for self-experimentation to what is special about long-lived species and much more.

We'll be releasing another special episode when we get to 10,000 subscribers, so stay tuned (and get your friends to subscribe).



Producers: Tara Mei, Nicholas Arapis
Video Editor: Jacob Keliikoa

DISCLAIMER: The information provided on the Optispan podcast is intended solely for general educational purposes and is not meant to be, nor should it be construed as, personalized medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established by your use of this channel. The information and materials presented are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We strongly advise that you consult with a licensed healthcare professional for all matters concerning your health, especially before undertaking any changes based on content provided by this channel. The hosts and guests on this channel are not liable for any direct, indirect, or other damages or adverse effects that may arise from the application of the information discussed. Medical knowledge is constantly evolving; therefore, the information provided should be verified against current medical standards and practices.

More places to find us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispanpodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/optispan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkaeberlein
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optispan

https://www.optispan.life/

Hi, I'm Matt Kaeberlein. I spent the first few decades of my career doing scientific research into the biology of aging, trying to understand the finer details of how humans age in order to facilitate translational interventions that promote healthspan and improve quality of life. Now I want to take some of that knowledge out of the lab and into the hands of people who can really use it.

On this podcast I talk about all things aging and healthspan, from supplements and nutrition to the latest discoveries in longevity research. My goal is to lift the veil on the geroscience and longevity world and help you apply what we know to your own personal health trajectory. I care about quality science and will always be honest about what I don't know. I hope you'll find these episodes helpful!