From the Editor
Eve Herold
Editor-in-Chief
Welcome to the Healthspan Compass, your trusted source for hot-off-the-grill news on the quest to extend the human healthspan! This issue covers a newsflash about an expected update to the ISSCR’s ethical guidance on synthetic embryo models that are challenging current guidelines, and why. Then explore a fascinating conversation with Yuta Lee, CEO of HSAC member Accelerated Biosciences, which has developed a “Nvidia chip” for multiple pluripotent cell lines through a unique source. Follow that with good news about longevity and my favorite beverage, coffee. Then read about the controversy over AI chatbots and mental health, plus news about an AI-driven effort to discover (or design) new molecules that may turn the tide against drug-resistant bacterial infections. Then find out why vaccine adoption rates have taken a nosedive. Hint: It’s not because of the vaccines themselves. If you enjoy this free newsletter, join HSAC’s mission and share it with friends.
Healthspan Action Coalition is a proud member of Research!America and the International Federation on Ageing, demonstrating our commitment to advancing health research and supporting healthy aging worldwide.
Coming Soon: New ISSCR Guidelines for Embryo Models
Scientists have been walking a fine line between distinguishing ethically sourced human pluripotent stem cells from those that are off limits since 1998, the year Jamie Thompson first isolated them. They’ve been searching for ways to obtain the cells without using sperm or an egg in what has become the latest catch word—synthetic embryos. These are embryo models that have been created by coaxing stem cells into organizing into embryo-like structures, but some of them may not pass muster with ethical guidelines now in place. Some synthetic embryos are known to develop a yolk sac and the primitive streak, making them capable of developing into a complete embryo with life potential, an ethical red line according to the International Society of Stem Cell Research. To muddy the waters even more, different countries have different rules as to the limits of research with embryos. A June paper published in the journal Stem Cell Report by Amander Clark at the UCLA Center for Reproductive Science, Health and Education and colleagues, has called for an update to the ISSCR’s ethical guidelines incorporating the new techniques. Clark, who is co-chair of the ISSCR Embryo Models Working Group, is leading the process to update the ethical framework to ensure that, as scientists continue to innovate, the ethics proceed apace. Expect to see new international guidelines soon. Will those guidelines also apply to organoids, another recent trend? Stay tuned for an update from ISSCR.
A “Nvidia Chip for Stem Cells.” A Conversation with Accelerated Biosciences CEO, Yuta Lee
It’s hard to overstate the significance of what HSAC member organization Accelerated Biosciences has accomplished with their sourcing of stem cells derived from trophoblasts. These are pluripotent cells scraped from the outer layer of nonviable embryos removed in surgeries for ectopic pregnancies that, if not removed, would create the placenta. AB seems to have cracked the code for how to obtain stem cells that could bring about affordable, personalized treatments. The trophoblast-sourced cells are ethically derived, scalable, immune-privileged and pluripotent. They offer realistic hope that a multitude of stem cells treatments could be around the corner by reducing the cost of personalized cell therapies, “democratizing” regenerative medicine, according to Yuta Lee, CEO of Accelerated Biosciences. Best of all, the cell lines created from trophoblasts are able to avoid an immune reaction, making them widely scalable, and are already being shared with researchers working on treatments for various diseases. Read more in our fascinating interview with Lee.
Another Reason to Love Coffee
Do we really need another reason to love coffee? Well, here’s one: it could actually make you live longer. Researchers led by Fang Fang Zhang at Tufts University conducted a review of mortality data for 46,000 adults compared to nine consecutive years (1999 – 2018) of records from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. That data was then compared to information from the National Death Index Mortality Data report. They discovered that deaths from all causes, including cancer and cardiovascular disease, were reduced by 16% for those drinking at least one cup of coffee per day and 17% for those who indulge in two to three cups daily. There’s a hitch, though; coffee with more than small amounts of sugar and cream didn’t have the same life-extending effect. Future research needs to identify exactly what properties in coffee provide the life-lengthening effect. Meanwhile, enjoy another cup of java without guilt.
Should You Trust an AI Therapist?
AI therapist chatbots have been in the news lately, and not in a good way. In my latest book, Robots and the People Who Love Them, I wrote about the phenomenon of therapy chatbots designed to assist people with common mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. The chatbots can fill a niche in a world with a shortfall of human therapists, where many people can’t afford the cost of therapy, but they’re not licensed therapists, and I’ve cautioned about the dangers of being too reliant on them. There’s a downside when vulnerable people, such as the young, the elderly, and the lonely over-rely on them, and sometimes the bots go off the rails, infamously advising people to harm themselves, commit violence or even end their lives. A case in point: The parents of a 16-year-old boy, Adam Raine, are suing OpenAI, following the boy’s suicide after allegedly being goaded into taking his life by ChatGPT. In this case, he didn’t seek out one of the trained therapy bots, but developed a toxic relationship with ChatGPT that led him to take his own life. Mental health professionals report that they’re seeing examples of what they call “AI psychosis,” where people go into a downward mental spiral and end up being hospitalized after becoming over-dependent on chatbots. Several states have, or are seeking to, enact laws limiting the use of AI for mental health services and limiting the claims that chatbots can make regarding therapy. But these laws will be hard to enact. How do we ensure people are using the chatbots in an appropriate way when vulnerable individuals, driven by painful emotions, develop intense relationships with them? We can limit mental health claims by AI companies, but the genie is out of the bottle. It could take some time before we learn how to get the best out of this nascent technology while protecting the vulnerable. Meanwhile, mental health is a key ingredient in healthspan, and there’s a huge need for real in-person therapy for conditions like depression, which is the leading cause of disability for people aged 15 – 44.
AI Takes a Shot at Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Even though chatbots can be dangerous if overused, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. One of the most dazzling abilities of AI is its ability to discover new drugs by screening literally millions of molecules in a dramatically shortened timeframe. Researchers led by James Collins at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unleashed a machine learning program in search of new antibiotics that can target treatment-resistant infections like MRSA, tuberculosis and a form of gonorrhea, which elude existing antibiotics. The team was able to design a head-spinning 36 million potential compounds and digitally screen them for microbe-fighting properties. This allowed the scientists to consider never-before-seen compounds and structurally distinct configurations that work in unusual ways to attack microbes. “We wanted to get rid of anything that would look like an existing antibiotic, to help address the antimicrobial resistance crisis in a fundamentally different way,” said MIT postdoc Aarti Krishnan, who is lead author of a paper in Cell describing the discovery. They eventually were able to synthesize six new molecules that killed S. aureus (the culprit behind the deadly MRSA infection) in both a lab dish and in a mouse model by disrupting bacterial cell membranes. Could new or existing molecules that work through more undiscovered mechanisms be waiting to be revealed? The research community thinks so, considering that AI can do in a matter of weeks what traditional research would take years of study and experimentation to do.
“The Problem Isn’t Trust in Vaccines, it’s that People Don’t Know Who to Trust.”
Whoever thought that vaccines, which have saved millions of lives and played a major role in extending the life- and healthspan, would be controversial? According to the health policy research institute KFF, it’s not the actual vaccines people don’t trust; it’s the people recommending them (or not). Vaccines have become a casualty of our deep political divisions and are a barometer of widespread distrust in government health agencies. According to a KFF poll, people are both confused by vaccine misinformation and suffer from not enough information. But 83% of them have confidence in the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and 74% trust the flu shot. However, support falls off a cliff when it comes to the Covid vaccines (56% support them) and mRNA Covid vaccines come in at a dismal 32%. This isn’t because people think mRNA vaccines are unsafe, but because they’re unsure because trusted figures have spread so much misinformation about them, and according to KFF, “uncertainty breeds inaction.” Following public trust in accepting vaccines is enough to give you whiplash, considering that in our current political environment, people regularly change their viewpoint depending on which party is in power. Democrats in the past were more trusting of government guidance than Republicans, but that has shifted to distrust under the current administration. Republicans in general have had much higher levels of distrust of government health agencies. Today, only 14% of Americans say they have a lot of confidence in agencies like the CDC and FDA. Confusion about whom to trust is influencing behaviors and driving down vaccine acceptance, at the peril of the next deadly pandemic as well as the danger of reawakening diseases we thought were more or less abolished. All this suggests that we in the biomedical community need to do a better job of communicating valid health information. Silence will only breed more uncertainty and mistrust. Bernie Siegel, HSAC’s CEO, told the Compass, “This is the 21st century. We support vaccines and hygiene AND astronomy.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
OCTOBER 10, 2025
Healthspan Action Coalition Member
Endorsed Conference
Ageless Evolution
Longevity Summit 2025
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HEALTHSPAN
October 10, 2025
Silicon Valley, California
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025
Healthspan Action Coalition Member
Endorsed Conference
First Annual Symposium
Mitochondrial Health, Healthspan, & Aging
25 September, 2025 (8am – 6pm)
Robertson Auditorium, Mission Bay Conference Center
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
Melissa King of HSAC will be attending
SEPTEMBER 26-28, 2025
Healthspan Action Coalition Member
Endorsed Conference
22nd Annual IFATS 2025 Meeting
International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science
September 26-28, 2025 (8am – 6pm)
At the University of Pittsburgh
OCTOBER 1-2, 2025
Healthspan Action Coalition Member
Endorsed Conference
TransVision Madrid 2025
International Longevity Summit
October 1-2, 2025
In Madrid, Spain
VENUE: The Illustrious Official College of Medical Doctors of Madrid (ICOMEM) C. de Sta. Isabel, 51, Centro, 28012 Madrid, Spain
October 3, 2025
Healthspan Action Coalition Member
Endorsed Conference
FREE WEBINAR
Inspired by the THRIVE Act: Featuring Four Promising Products for Extending Healthspan
October 3, 2025
Virtual Online – Registration is open
october 3-5, 2025
Healthspan Action Coalition Member
Endorsed Conference
Healthspan
Summit
October 3-5, 2025
Sawtelle, CA (Los Angeles)
Discount Code: HEALTHSPANACTION