#93: 🐶 Unleashing Longevity
Our canine companions might be the key to unlocking the secrets of aging
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💬 In this note:
🐶 Unleashing Longevity
📚 Divine Rivals
⚡️ Bark Air
🐶 Unleashing Longevity
In late 2019, scientists began searching for 10,000 Americans willing to enroll their pets in a new study of health and longevity in dogs.
The study planned to track the dogs over the course of their lives, collecting detailed information about their bodies, lifestyles and home environments.
The idea was to uncover insights about aging that could help both dogs and humans lead longer, healthier lives.
Today, the Dog Aging Project has enrolled 47,000 dogs and counting and they are getting data!
The project was designed as a “forever project” with on-going recruitment.
The researchers say they made that decision because “there will always be new questions to ask. We want to always have dogs of all ages participating.”
The Dog Aging Project was born from two observations.
First, people would give almost anything to spend more good years with their dogs.
Second, canine companions could be useful models for human aging.
Dogs are prone to many of the same aging-related conditions humans experience, including cancer and dementia.
Dogs are also exposed to the same environmental factors, such as air pollution and noise.
Because dogs age more quickly, studies of dog aging can yield results in shorter time frames than studying human lifespan.
Goals of the Dog Aging Project
Dog owners in the project were asked to fill out an annual10-part health and life experience survey and are also encouraged to share the animals’ medical records. The dogs and their owners are invited to participate in an array of other surveys and activities throughout the study.
The researchers aim to map the DNA of 10,000 dogs and collect biological samples (like blood, urine, feces and hair) from 1,000 of these animals every year.
For project leader Kate Creevy, a veterinarian at Texas A&M University and the chief veterinary officer of the Dog Aging Project, it’s all about quality years, not just adding more time.
As part of the project, they’re conducting a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of rapamycin, an age-fighting drug, to see if it helps dogs live longer and healthier lives.
Read more about rapamycin in Nina’s Notes Age-Fighting Drugs Guidebook.
Early Results
The research team has sequenced the genomes of more than 7,000 dogs and deposited 14,000 samples in the project’s biobank.
They’ve added more than 36.5 million data points to their public database and have started to share results.
Turns out that lazy dogs are more prone to doggy dementia (officially called canine cognitive dysfunction) and dogs fed just once a day have fewer health problems.
Despite all of the interesting findings, the Dog Aging Project is at risk of losing its funding.
Keeping the Dog Aging Project Alive
The National Institute of Aging announced that they will no longer provide funding after June of this year even though the institute has provided more than $28 million in funds since 2018 for the project.
Getting funding for long studies like these is tough because the results take forever (think multiple decades!), while grants are usually awarded on a short-term basis (4-5 year terms).
In response to the imminent end of their funding, the founders of the Dog Aging Project have created a nonprofit called the Dog Aging Institute to raise money themselves for their research.
This way, they can continue to fund the Dog Aging Project and fund other scientists who are exploring similar subjects.
Loyal: The First Company to launch a Dog Anti-aging Drug
In the private sector, startups have taken a different approach.
San Francisco-based biotech company, Loyal, announced in 2023 that its anti-aging drug for dogs cleared the first of several hurdles needed for FDA approval.
While the drug still must undergo clinical trials, this marks the first time the FDA has indicated a willingness to endorse longevity drugs - writes Hilary Brueck for Business Insider.
Scientists have performed research on C. elegans (the roundworm) by editing two cell pathways to extend lifespans by 500%.
Earlier this year, scientists reported reversing the signs of aging in mice.
Read more about it in Nina’s Notes #20.
However aging in longer-lived organisms, such as humans, is much more difficult to understand and to hack.
One of the biggest problems is that clinical trials would need to span decades before researchers could collect and analyze data, which is expensive and time-consuming.
And as you just read above – the funding agencies are not keen on funding this type of work – even if it is showing promising results.
Therefore, Loyal’s CEO Celine Halioua, turned to dogs for their anti-aging compounds and research. She believed that dogs, which face similar age-related ailments with roughly the same timeline as humans do, might be a good model for human longevity.
Halioua tells Aleks Krotoski of the BBC series “Intrigue: The Immortals.”
“The rate of aging is so high that you can tell if a drug is impacting that in about 6 to 12
months. In 6 to 12 months, you’re not going to see anything in a person.”
Loyal’s drug is called LOY-001, it is an injection-based treatment that targets IGF-1, a growth and metabolism hormone.
IGF-1 appears to be size-related in dogs.
Larger dogs have higher levels of IGF-1.
Smaller dogs have lower levels of IGF-1.
Research shows that inhibiting IGF-1 in flies, worms and rodents can increase their lifespans.
LOY-001 is designed for healthy dogs over the age of seven and above 40 pounds.
It would be administered every three to six months by a veterinarian.
Loyal is also working on a daily pill form of the drug called LOY-003.
Celine Halioua says that they are not making the dogs immortal, but slow the rate of aging, meaning the pet will be in a healthier state for longer.
The company plans to begin a large clinical trial for LOY-001 with about 1,000 large and giant dogs in either 2024 or 2025, with the goal of having a product on the market by 2026, reports Wired.
📚 Book of the Week
Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross
Rating: ★★★★★
Two rival journalists are linked together by magic typewriters.
The typewriters were created by three friends many years ago when one fell ill and the friends couldn’t see each other.
The three would write letters and slip them under the wardrobe doors where they then arrive to the others.
One typewriter is now in a museum.
The two other typewriters were passed down from the original owners to their grandchildren.
Missing her brother who is MIA on the front lines of a magical war, Winnow starts to write letters to her brother on her typewriter and send them under the wardrobe.
Where the letters end up, she has no idea.
Nor does she know who is writing back.
In a mix of fantasy, magic, love and secrets, this book keeps a good pace while being a fun and easy read.
I already have Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment Book 2) loaded on my kindle ready to read on my next holiday.
⚡️ Check This Out
Bark Air, the new dog-first luxury airline’s first flight took off in early May.
The inaugural NYC-LA flight was sold out.
But be aware, it’s limited capacity and pricey.
Bark Air only sells 10 tickets per flight at $6k-$8k each.
Carriers, crates and leases are not required.
However, dogs must remain on leash while the plane is taxiing, taking off, landing, or if any turbulence is expected.
To be sure your dog is comfortable with the other canine passengers, a dog’s preferences on being near large or small dogs can be logged in their intake form with a BARK Air Concierge so they can best arrange the seating plan.
While dogs are the priority, don’t worry the dogs aren’t flying alone.
Each ticket for Bark Air comes along with a pass for one human.
Edited by Wright Time Publishing