#257 Slowing Aging with Sirtuins, NAD and Others - Dr Vera Gorbunova

Vera Gorbunova (0:00)

Animals that are very long-lived, they actually stay fit to the very end. And the human centenarians, people who live to their 100s and beyond, they also have an extended period of healthy lifespan, so that's really what we are working for.

Siim Land (0:16)

Welcome to the Siim Land Podcast, I'm your host Siim Land, and today our guest is Dr. Vera Gorbunova. Vera is a professor of biology at the University of Rochester and a co-director of the Rochester Aging Research Center. She has published over 100 publications about longevity, sirtuins and aging.

This episode is brought to you by donotage.org. DoNotAge offers different kind of molecules as supplements that have been seen to have a longevity benefit, such as NMN, trimethylglycine, apigenin and hyaluronic acid.

Dr. Vera is one of the advisors of DoNotAge, and I'm also taking their products. You can get a small 5% discount at donotage.org if you use the code SIIM. Dr. Vera, welcome to the show.

Vera Gorbunova (0:59)

Thank you.

Siim Land (1:01)

Yes, I'm glad to speak with you. And this longevity field is very exciting, and there's always this new discoveries being made.

But maybe let's start with how did you become a longevity scientist? What made you interested in it?

Vera Gorbunova (1:17)

Well, I think extending human lifespan and health span is just a very, very exciting topic.

You know, if you are a scientist, biologist, then many topics seem exciting. But then the question is, do they seem equally exciting to many other people besides you? And there are some topics that only make very few people excited.

But with aging and longevity, it's just relevant to everyone. And this is what was very attractive to me that first, it's a very fundamental biological problem because every living thing ages and finding out how that happens and how this can be prevented. It's just very important scientifically without even thinking about application of it. But then, from a human standpoint, extending health and life, this is so relevant to everything that's going on now in society. That just seemed like really a worthwhile problem to study.

Siim Land (2:22)

It is like one of the biggest problems mankind and humans have been thinking about since the dawn of our species all the time.

What is death, etc. and how do we solve aging? I agree with that.

Vera Gorbunova (2:35)

People were looking for the fountain of youth. You can see it in all the novels and fairy tales.

Siim Land (2:45)

Exactly. From a practical standpoint, it is also very useful because aging wastes a lot of resources.

In the sense that you have these comorbidities, they take a lot of resources and if we were to solve, let's say, this deterioration of the human body and that happens with aging, then we would also have just more productive years and more, just more, I don't know, just a more functioning society as a whole.

Vera Gorbunova (3:14)

Yeah, you are exactly right. A lot of resources being spent towards the end of life.

When people become frail and it's also a lot of human suffering.

So when we talk about extending lifespan, we are not talking about extending frailty years. We are talking about healthy lifespan. And it is very clear that from model organisms that we study, that animals that are very long lived, they actually stay fit to the very end. And the human centenarians, people who live to their 100s and beyond, they also have an extended period of healthy lifespan. So that's really what we are working for, to achieve it for everyone, so that everyone could live to 100 and keep active.

Siim Land (4:07)

Yeah, that's one of the big misconceptions about... Even extending lifespan doesn't necessarily equal immortality. You can still die, it's just that you're extending this functional health, the functional health span, that you can stay biologically younger for longer. That is actually what is meant by the solving aging. It doesn't mean immortality.

It's the idea behind solving all these comorbidities that happen with aging, like cancer and diabetes and newer degeneration and those things.

Vera Gorbunova (4:38)

Yeah, that's extremely important because so far medicine was approaching every disease separately.

But now in developed nations, aging is really the underlying cause of all those diseases, diabetes, cancer, heart disease. If we slow down aging, then we take care of every such disease.

Siim Land (5:01)

What do you think or what has your research led to? What is causing aging and what is making us age?

Vera Gorbunova (5:09)

Well, it's a very complicated scientific problem. So it's unlikely that there is just one single cause. And people talk about multiple organ systems and molecular system deteriorating over time.