Solving the "Lack" of Anti-aging Discovery & Ranking Current Interventions | 42 - Mark McCormick

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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.

0:00 Trailer
0:51 Introduction
3:15 What Mark's lab is up to
5:09 A primer on tRNA synthetase + protein synthesis and their relevance to longevity
22:11 Why Mark's lab hasn't done mouse experiments yet
29:13 Mark grades longevity interventions
37:42 Why aren't we finding better longevity interventions?
45:03 Other inventions Mark is excited about
48:23 Wrapping up

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

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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!