News
Longevity, biotech, and science-funding news.
2,606 dispatches in the archive1 November 2026
10 dispatchesAI researcher David Dalrymple defends the right to remain in a biological body and wants to live in a computer himself
David Dalrymple argues that any transition to digital existence must preserve an affordable, voluntary right to remain in a biological body.
New neurons appeared after brain injury in a transparent adult fish
A whole-body cell atlas of adult Danionella fish revealed new mature neurons after brain injury and mapped the cellular sequence involved in repair.
Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman proposed postponing mind uploading and self-replicating von Neumann probes for many centuries to prioritize the eight billion people alive today, and recounted Larry Page’s plan to explore galaxies at the helm of such a probe
Mustafa Suleyman argues that humanity should prioritize the welfare of people alive today over mind uploading and self-replicating space probes.
Matt Kaeberlein, chair of Montana’s experimental treatment board, responds to criticism of a law allowing unapproved drugs to be sold after Phase 1 trials: an independent board reviews every treatment protocol
Matt Kaeberlein says Montana’s post-Phase 1 drug access law is not a license to sell because an independent board reviews every treatment protocol.
Authors of a paper on cryonic preservation during pregnancy found no studies and proposed policies for cryonics organizations and two hypotheses for researchers on delivering cryoprotectant solution to the fetus
A paper identifies gaps in cryonics protocols for pregnancy and proposes policies plus two testable hypotheses about fetal cryoprotectant delivery.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expects AI to routinely do things that once seemed impossible by mid-2027 and sees connecting the brain to a computer as a personal choice
Dario Amodei predicts rapid AI advances by mid-2027 and argues that brain-computer integration should remain a personal choice within a pluralistic future.
Rogue causes intestinal cells in aging flies to lose their specialized identity: suppressing it extended median lifespan from 39 to 48 days
Suppressing Rogue preserved intestinal cell identity and barrier function in aging flies, extending median lifespan from 39 to 48 days.
Three AI agents independently chose different gene therapies for mice with seizures and injected them into the brain, while a surgeon opened the skull, says the CEO of startup Exin Therapeutics
Three AI agents chose distinct gene therapies and brain targets for epileptic mice, then controlled stereotaxic injections under veterinary supervision.
Musk says Neuralink will transmit information from the brain far faster than anyone can speak or type within a few years. The company reports that a participant in its speech trial reached 75 words per minute, compared with about 160 in ordinary conversation
Neuralink reports 75 words per minute from its speech implant, while neuroscientists dispute whether brain interfaces can surpass the information rate of thought itself.
OpenAI gives approved organizations access to GPT-Rosalind-6, which shares GPT-6 Astra’s neural network and answers more borderline biology questions
OpenAI’s GPT-Rosalind-6 gives vetted organizations broader access to biology answers, improving performance over Rosalind-5.5 while retaining safeguards for dangerous requests.
31 October 2026
10 dispatchesA vaccine targeting senescent fat cells given to female mice at 75 weeks of age yielded a median lifespan of 113 weeks, compared with 101 weeks in mice given saline
A Gpnmb-targeting nanoparticle vaccine reduced senescent fat cells and extended median lifespan from 101 to 113 weeks in aged female mice.
AI could accelerate science and uncover patterns too complex for humans to understand, economist Noah Smith predicts
Noah Smith predicts that parallel AI agents and vast streams of physical data could accelerate discovery and reveal causal patterns beyond human comprehension.
Heart muscle cells rarely divide: Yuri Deigin asks how a young body “dilutes damage” in an old heart
Heart transplants between young and old mice suggest circulating molecules and cellular repair can shift a heart’s molecular age despite rare cardiomyocyte division.
Drug developers should publish fewer early findings because of AI, says investor Bruce Booth
Investor Bruce Booth argues that AI-enabled copycat drug design will intensify competition, so developers should delay disclosure and limit early publications.
Building a computational model of a cell requires identifying which measurements predict its response to a perturbation, says David Bellamy
Predictive virtual-cell models require measurements that capture cell state and reliably forecast responses to perturbations, supported by longitudinal experimental data.
In-house experiments could offer an edge in drug development as AI becomes widely available, suggests physician-scientist David Shaywitz
As AI models become widely available, proprietary experiments and causal disease data may give drug developers a competitive edge.
Elon Musk responds to an account of loved ones aging and dying: “Longevity is coming”
Elon Musk said “longevity is coming” in response to a personal account of aging, loss, and the hope that life extension could give families more time together.
Mathematicians should receive recognition for formulating problems and explaining AI proofs
As AI automates proofs, mathematics should reward problem formulation, proof explanation and the work that makes results understandable and useful.
Aging support cells weaken beneficial signals to stem cells and sustain inflammation: a model presented in an Aging Cell review
Aging support cells weaken stem-cell niche signals and sustain inflammation, impairing tissue repair and suggesting interventions tailored to niche dysfunction.
AI peer reviews should be judged by the substantive errors they identify and the improvements they lead to, commentator Zvi Mowshowitz argues
AI peer reviews should be judged by the substantive errors they catch and the improvements authors make, not by stylistic preference alone.
30 October 2026
4 dispatchesIn a test using hospital records, reasoning AI identified the primary diagnosis more often on average and included more extra diagnoses than standard model versions
Reasoning AI identified primary diagnoses more often than standard models but also produced more extra diagnoses, which physician review substantially reduced.
Pfizer agrees to integrate the Kosmos AI assistant into drug research and development
Pfizer will integrate the Kosmos AI assistant to connect scientific literature with internal data and help researchers select experiments across drug development programs.
AI audit of 138 economics papers sparks debate over publishing machine-generated criticism without human review
An AI audit of 138 economics papers raised thousands of concerns, igniting debate over publishing machine-generated criticism without human verification.
British Journal of Dermatology editor-in-chief proposes using skin to test treatments for aging
John McGrath proposes using repeat skin samples, wound healing and barrier function to test aging treatments while monitoring reprogramming-related cancer risk.