Broadcast 3028 Dr. David Sinclair

  • space settlement progress

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • helix-space the space show sponsor

The Space Foundation Conference

Feedback: What did you think of this show?: 

Guest:  Dr. David Sinclair;  Topics:  NASA iTech w/anti-aging & cosmic radiation mitigation, NMN life extension, DNA repair, microgravity mitigation, animals, social costs of living long & more.  Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.com.  Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm

We welcomed Dr. David Sinclair to the program for this one hour one segment discussion about his anti-aging work and how it related to NASA, space travel, iTech, and cosmic radiation mitigation.  For starters and more information on Dr. Sinclair's work, visit the website for the Paul Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at  please visit http://medapps.med.harvard.edu/agingresearch/index.php/about/staff/sinclair.  In addition, I suggest you visit the following website, "Unraveling the Mysteries of Aging at https://hms.harvard.edu/news/unraveling-mysteries-agin.  If you do a global search on the document for NASA or iTech, you will find a description of his winning NASA iTech project in this paper.  Also, check out the Sinclair Lab at Harvard;  https://genetics.med.harvard.edu/sinclair

The discussion started with my asking Dr. Sinclair about his interest in anti-aging and how it applied to spaceflight and space exploration/development.  Dr. Sinclair provided us with a brief history of his interest in the anti-aging field going back to the 1990s, remarking that in recent years the field has enjoyed a revolution in advancing and extending life span with genes and other anti-aging tools.  Part of this process makes use of DNA repair and that was the connection to cosmic radiation mitigation that won him a NASA iTech prize.  Dr. Sinclair spent a good portion of our hour together talking about radiation, DNA repair, the anti-aging took kit that was being developed and refined all the time with new products, plus the mice tests that have been done here on earth and the methods being used to attempt cosmic ray simulation studies here on Earth.  Rather than my attempting to provide you with a detailed summary of this discussion, which at times was technical, listen carefully to Dr. Sinclair.  If you have follow up questions, please post them on our blog.  I will send the blog questions to Dr. Sinclair from time to time and ask that he respond as best he can.

Later in the discussion, Dr. Sinclair focused one of the tools being developed and used for anti-aging, NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide). He had much to say about NMN, why it does not  likely need FDA approval, its development and the results from various studies including the mice studies.  He said that products would likely be on the market next year but Adrian sent in a note telling us that Amazon was already selling NMN supplements.  I asked David about this.  He talked in general about supplements today not being the same as what they were using in the labs.  He also talked about initial pricing of lab quality controlled NMN products with caller Kim.  He told us that he was using NMN and so were some of his family members plus their older dog.  When I heard the dog was getting it, well, frequent Space Show listeners know I could not resist that one so we had quite the discussion of what this might do for our four legged friends.  We even fielded a listener question wondering if NMN would extend the commercial life and thus the dollar value of champion race horses, prize stud bulls, and other top quality commercial animals.  Listen to what Dr. Sinclair said about this. 

A listener asked Dr. Sinclair about NMN and other anti-aging tools working in the microgravity environment.  Our guest had much to say about this but in summary, he suggested the use of might greatly reduce the time spent exercising by astronauts on orbit or in space.  Don't miss this full discussion.  When asked if ISS astronauts were now or planning to experiment with this product on station, he indicated such studies were "pending."

Our guest was asked about side effects and product safety.  He said it was safe, even for animals.  He then talked about vet's getting it for animals without needing FDA approval.  He explained the process to us.  I was unfamiliar with this but found it interesting.  I plan on asking Pepper's vets about NMN.  I can already predict what the response will be but I will share it with you on an upcoming OL show once I have the chance to ask a vet about it.

Sally sent in a question asking Dr. Sinclair about the social costs to society for living longer.  This was a very interesting question and Dr. Sinclair's response was also most interesting.  David said he had given lots of thought to this question and the issues.  Don't miss what he had to say, and how he thought life extension for the aging would make the social cost much better, not worse.  This was a most important question with a very interesting and informative response from our guest. 

Kim called to ask about the cost of the product when it became available through his lab or other "approved" sources.  Our guest thought the price might be high at first but would come down. He also thought it would be an over the counter product. He said he would make sure that it was available and affordable in poor countries around the world.  Don't miss this conversation because it too was an important one. 

Adrian sent in a note about simulating cosmic radiation here on Earth.  His email question was about "using Cobalt 60 irradiation that is strictly gamma rays and is not really equivalent with cosmic radiation being proton or heavy nuclei radiation that can exhibit different radiation effects. Finally have mice engineered with additional p53  genes and that are longer lived and much more cancer resistant been tested with NMN to see if it still boosts their lifetime."  Dr. Sinclair responded in detail to Adrian's question and concerns to don't miss the reply.  We took a question from BJohn, then Becky asked our guest about space settlement and how this anti-aging tool might facilitate space settlement by ordinary people.  Again, don't miss the reply.  Listener John asked about using NMN on a theoretical hibernation interstellar spaceship for the sleeping astronauts.  Our guest said yes and noted that were he on such a ship, he would want an NMN IV drip while in that state.  Don't miss all of what he said on this subject. 

Toward the end of the program, I asked our guest for his timeline for product development and general marketing.  Our guest concluded the program by suggesting that incredible advances were ahead for us all in the field of anti-aging.  Who knows, maybe I will be able to do TSS for 29 more years until I turn 100!  Let's see, the NMN really needs to work and TSS funding needs to kick into extremely high gear.  If I am still the host at age 100, I hope all of you got some NMN too and are still listening.  We can run a contest with a cool price for the oldest living and longest listening Space Show listener going back to 2001.  I'll take suggestions and plan for it when I turn 98.

Please post your comments/Questions on TSS blog.  You can reach Dr. Sinclair through me or his website and Harvard lab.

Tags: 

Guest: 

Tagline: 

Genetics, aging & cosmic radiation resistance, NASA iTech

WARNING: Using Disqus Comments on the Space Show:

To ensure your comments do NOT get caught in the Disqus automatic spam filter systemplease login to your Disqus account or create a verified/approved Disqus account.

Posting multiple URL links WILL TRIGGER the Disqus automatic spam filter system.

04 Dec 2017 Dr. David Sinclair
Your Amazon Purchases Helps Support TSS/OGLF (see www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm)

The Space Show Toll Free Number is only available on live broadcast programs. Please call 1-866-687-7223

Sponsor Banner

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • helix-space the space show sponsor

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • space settlement progress