Health, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Life Extension

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…though telomerase gene therapy:

Mice treated at the age of one lived longer by 24% on average, and those treated at the age of two, by 13%. The therapy, furthermore, produced an appreciable improvement in the animals’ health, delaying the onset of age-­‐related diseases — like osteoporosis and insulin resistance — and achieving improved readings on aging indicators like neuromuscular coordination.

The gene therapy consisted of treating the animals with a DNA-­modified virus, the viral genes having been replaced by those of the telomerase enzyme, with a key role in aging. Telomerase repairs the extreme ends or tips of chromosomes, known as telomeres, and in doing so slows the cell’s and therefore the body’s biological clock. When the animal is infected, the virus acts as a vehicle depositing the telomerase gene in the cells.

This study “shows that it is possible to develop a telomerase-­based anti-­aging gene therapy without increasing the incidence of cancer,” the authors affirm. “Aged organisms accumulate damage in their DNA due to telomere shortening, [this study] finds that a gene therapy based on telomerase production can repair or delay this kind of damage,” they add.

Faster, please.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Obama’s Glory Was Inevitable

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…says Obama.

He is remarkably unself-aware.

[Update a few minutes later]

It really is a personality disorder:

Examination of the symptoms should give pause. I’m not saying he might be the only politician with this problem or that he’d even be diagnosed with NPD. I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV (although I have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express before). However, there are so many examples of similar behavior in his past that it is hard to ignore what is right in front of your eyes. And while he may not personally do everything (this probably being an example) he has a staff which knows their President and does what he would approve. That’s why they’re where they are. They play into the personality and feed it.

They’re riding for a hard fall in November.

Phil Klein says he should get over himself:

Obviously, as president, Obama can use the tools of the White House to advance his goals. But at the same time, all presidents are to some extent guardians of the institution. Sure, a lot of the White House website is naturally going to be used to promote Obama, but there are some areas that should be considered neutral ground — one of them being the history sections. White House presidential biographies are the type of thing that school kids read and they should be able to do so without being bombarded by propaganda for whoever is in power. I’m sure that during the Social Security debate in 2005, if President Bush had updated the biographical page to say that he was trying to preserve FDR’s original vision for Social Security, liberals would have been up in arms. And if Mitt Romney wins in November, I’m sure liberals won’t want him to use the presidential biographies for self-promotion, either.

Obama should get beyond his own narcissism and realize that, win or lose in November, he’s just a temporary part of something that’s bigger than himself.

He can’t. It’s who he is. It’s what he does.

[Update a few minutes later]

Well, this was inevitable: Obama in history.

Business, Economics, Political Commentary

Ten Thousand Commandments

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The latest edition of my CEI colleague Wayne Crews’ project to document the federal regulatory state is out.

Iain Murray summarizes:

  • Estimated regulatory costs, while “off budget,” are equivalent to over 48 percent of the level of federal spending itself.
  • The 2011 Federal Register finished at 81,247 pages, just shy of 2010’s all-time record-high 81,405 pages.
  • Regulatory compliance costs dwarf corporate-income taxes of $198 billion, and exceed individual income taxes and even pre-tax corporate profits.
  • Agencies issued 3,807 final rules in 2011, a 6.5 percent increase over 3,573 in 2010.
  • Of the 4,128 regulations in the works at year-end 2011, 212 were “economically significant,” meaning they generally wield at least $100 million in economic impact.
  • 822 of those 4,128 regulations in the works would affect small businesses.
  • The total number of economically significant rules finalized in 2011 was 79, down slightly from 2010 but up 92.7 percent over five years, and 108 percent over ten years.
  • Recent costly federal agency initiatives include the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule and the Department of Transportation’s Fuel Economy Standards.

We have to rein in Leviathan.

Business, Economics, Education, Political Commentary

Free Internships

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Are they moral?

Actually, what I think is immoral is some third party (e.g., the government) telling someone what they are allowed to earn in a freely negotiated contract (that is, the minimum wage is immoral, and empirically destructive of the lives of minorities, as Sowell has documented). It seems a little strange that you can pay someone nothing, but you can’t pay them four bucks an hour, even if they’re a teenager who needs some spending money and is willing to take that wage.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!