Is aging and the loss of vitality an unchangeable law written into our biology, or is it a process that can be managed at the cellular level? I speak with Dr. Łukasz Sobkowiak, a molecular biologist, respected expert in healthy aging, and ELEVATE speaker, about the secrets of longevity, telomere rivers, and the revolution taking place in longevity medicine.
During the conversation, he explains why modern science allows us to view aging as a disease process, how the latest research is redefining the concept of biological age, and why precision medicine has made aging biologically modifiable.
Michał Wieczorek: Łukasz, we both want to educate people about how to live to 100 in excellent health. Everyone talks about diet and exercise, but you go deeper. What does a molecular biologist actually do?
Dr. Łukasz Sobkowiak: I am a molecular biologist with a PhD in biological sciences. I gained experience in the Human Gene Therapy Program at Stanford School of Medicine in California, among other places, and for the past three years I have been running a blog about the biology of aging on my website, bioportal.info, as well as the “Time for Longevity” podcast. A molecular biologist studies life at the molecular level by analyzing DNA, RNA, and proteins. In the context of longevity, we are looking for answers to the question of which specific processes inside cells cause our tissues to lose firmness and the body to gradually lose function.
We are used to thinking that gray hair and wrinkles are simply a natural part of life. From a scientific perspective, is aging inevitable?
Science currently identifies 12 major pillars of aging, known as the hallmarks of aging. These include genomic instability, telomere shortening, epigenetic changes, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The body has remarkable repair systems, such as the NMD pathway, which destroys defective RNA molecules so they do not serve as templates for the production of toxic proteins during translation. The problem is that this internal quality control begins to fail with age, genetic errors start to accumulate, and DNA repair systems also become less effective.
The most widely discussed of these pillars are telomeres, often described as our biological clock. What have the latest studies taught us about them?
Telomeres are repeatedly copied protective sequences, TTAGGG, located at the ends of chromosomes. New data challenges the myth that they shorten in a linear way throughout life. Their erosion is most intense during youth, when the body is developing rapidly. The breakthrough, however, is the discovery of so called “telomere rivers.” It has been demonstrated that cells can transfer telomeres directly between one another. In studies involving mice, a systemic therapy based on this mechanism extended the animals’ lives by nearly 17 months.
Does this mean we are close to developing a drug for immortality? Does everyone age at the same rate?
It is far too early for excessive optimism in humans. The biology of aging is highly individual. Maria Branyas Morera, for example, lived to the age of 117 despite having very short telomeres, while her epigenetic profile was 20 years younger than her chronological age. We also know people such as Antonio Rao, as well as Ironman athletes such as Hiromu Inada, who remain active in their 90s. Aging is not a binary process.
This raises a key question that strongly divides the scientific community: should aging be classified as a disease, and can it be treated pharmacologically?
It can certainly be viewed as a disease process in which the body’s homeostasis begins to break down. Officially, there is no medication approved specifically “for longevity,” but we have remarkable findings involving substances already used in other therapies. Diabetes and obesity medications, such as GLP 1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors, clearly slow the progression of frailty in people over the age of 65. In the EMPA REG OUTCOME study, empagliflozin reduced the relative risk of premature death from all causes by 32% among patients with type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, a combination of rapamycin and trametinib extended the lives of mice by 35%. Aging is biologically modifiable.
From the perspective of molecular biology, when do we begin to age? Where is the boundary?
Epigenetically, we begin aging from the moment our cells start to differentiate. However, when we look at medical statistics, age 40 is a key threshold. This is when the risk of death from various causes begins to rise exponentially, doubling every 8 years. Muscle mass and strength also begin to decline dramatically. Research published in 2024 by Michael Snyder of Stanford identified two rapid cellular turning points in aging, the first at around age 44 and the second around age 60.
I turn exactly 40 this year, so that sounds quite serious to me…
There is no need to panic. I am 42 myself. In longevity medicine, it is essential to distinguish between two concepts: lifespan, meaning the total length of life, and healthspan, meaning the number of years lived in good health. Statistics show that modern people spend the final 10 years of life living with illness and disability. A conscious lifestyle, appropriate training, and working with your own biology can reduce this period as much as possible. This is exactly what I discuss during my corporate and business workshops, “Longevity in Practice.”
That is the perfect conclusion. We will see you soon at ELEVATE, where you will explore this topic in greater depth. Thank you very much for the conversation.
Thank you very much, Michał. See you at ELEVATE!
