Biomarkers of Aging Consortium to devote a full session to replacing cells, tissues, organs, and functions

Biomarkers of Aging Consortium to devote a full session to replacing cells, tissues, organs, and functions

The Biomarkers of Aging Consortium has announced the program for Replacement in Aging, which will take place on October 5 in Boston. The session will cover cell and tissue replacement, organ engineering, transplantation, immune system renewal, and neuroregeneration.

On the session page, the organizers ask whether an aging organism can be sustained by replacing failing parts with young, lab-grown, or synthetic components. They have set aside the entire day for the discussion, from 9:00 to 18:00. The program includes Vadim Gladyshev, Anthony Atala, Linda Griffith, and Hugh Herr.

Transplantation, tissue engineering, immune system renewal, and neuroregeneration address different parts of the aging organism. The session brings these fields together around one question: which part of the body can be replaced to restore a required function?

An individual procedure is usually assessed by whether the target organ or tissue begins to function. An anti-aging strategy requires longer follow-up to determine what happens over time at the levels of the cell, tissue, organ, and whole person. In their May roadmap for replacement-based interventions, Gladyshev, Atala, and colleagues propose evaluating replacement at each of these levels. The Aging Cell perspective underlying the roadmap distinguishes the immediate outcome of a procedure from the long-term restoration of function.

Replacement can be evaluated as a strategy when measurements show whether function has returned and whether it is maintained. This is why a conference on biomarkers places the replacement of cells, tissues, organs, and functions alongside the measurement of aging and the evaluation of interventions.