Biosynthage: What can we do about healthy ageing?

So what is biosynthage going to do about this? Currently, treatments for the elderly focus on treating each age-related disease. Biosynthage are working on therapies that prevent the onset of all these diseases. We have created a suite of solutions that are specific to organs that we feel are vital to human health and believe that targeting healthy ageing via many routes is the best way to maximise our ability to increase the healthy human lifespan. The health challenges currently posed by ageing are many and complex so we propose a suite of synthetic biology solutions, to tackle the challenges shown below. Click on the links to find out more:

Lungs: As you get older, the ability of your major organs to work at their maximal capacity is lost. One of these important organs is the lungs. These changes contribute to an older person's reduced ability to do vigorous exercise, especially intense aerobic exercise. We propose a gene therapy that over-expresses antioxidant Superoxide Dismutase 3, as a way to reduce oxidative damage that causes cells to age.

Gut: Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative damage to cells in the gut is one of the main causes of the ageing of gut cells. We are developing a bacterial oxidative stress sensitive probiotic that releases lycopene antioxidant in the presence of oxidative stress in the gut.

Teeth: Healthy teeth, healthy ageing. The health of your teeth can directly impact the health of your body. Studies suggest that accumulation of dental plaque leads to periodontal disease as well as hypertension. We are building plaque removing devices that minimise this risk.

Heart: Bacteria in your mouth can directly influence the health of your heart. We are building engineered oral bacteria that lower blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attacks.

Catheter lubricant: Elderly people and those with a permanent injury or severe illness may need to use urinary catheters for long periods of time. This increases the chance of developing a urinary tract infection (UTI) as a result. We have created a cathater lubricant that detects and kills UTI-causing bacteria.

Pest control: Decreasing the healthy lifespan of pests can be another alternative way to kill pests, such as Whitefly. We have used RNAi to remove the Vitellogenin receptor that would cause Whitefly to die as a result of accumulated oxidative stress.