LongeCity Newsletter
December 2011
As we look back to the beginning of 2011, we started with three important objectives: Firstly, the change of our 'corporate identity' from LongeCity. This was a difficult juggling act, in that we did not want to shed or deny the 'Immortality Institute' brand and heritage. In developing the new brand we were thinking about a 'city' theme, but its fair to say that we need to do more in this regard during 2012. As of this month, we have at least taken the plunge away from the 'temporary' landing page that was with us much of the year.
Secondly, capitalising on the name change to develop our 'science initiative': Again, there are mixed news: I think we could have done more about developing our content and attracting young scientists to the site. On the other hand we ended up closing the most ambitious science funding call with great success unexpectedly exceeding our targets. And just this month, Members are deciding on the next science fundraiser which received some really excellent submissions.
Lastly, the year was a test of running under a new constitution and bylaws which restructured leadership responsibilities. Again, a mixed bag: in many ways the new structure worked very well and brought sorely needed stability to LongeCity. We close the year with the first non-Board members taking on important Lead Officer roles as announced in the last newsletter. However, we could have done with more volunteers this year to take on and drive their own team projects. We are not an 'immortality service' and we do not want to be anything but a grassroots initiative... and that means that the dynamism of the site can never be delegated to the 'professionals' --it calls on YOU to make a difference! So a mixed verdict on our main priorities in 2011. Some great successes but also a lot of room for improve. Quite a mirror of our common dream and mission to conquer the blight of involuntary death. Onwards and upwards!
Caliban
NEWS
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This is the season where everyone asks you for a donation. We won't do that just yet, since, as you are about to read, we are still polling Members on the next fundraiser. But why not join these Members in making that decision? With an 'Immortality Institute' Membership you can confirm your commitment and allegiance to the most important, most ambitious dream of all: to live! Membership has many perks such as improved forum access, discounts and special offers, but most importantly as a Member, you shape the way that this small, amateur, purely volunteer-led but quite effective grass roots organisation can make a real impact. Facing down some protracted technical challenges, we hope to have resolved the software issues with the membership software that were frustrating us earlier this year, so there has never been a better time to join!
>> Join here
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Members: Choose a Research Project until Dec.18th!
Project (1):"Uncovering the mechanisms of cryoprotectant toxicity" - employs large-scale gene expression profiling to identify genes and mechanisms of cryoprotectant toxicity in vascular endothelial cells.
Project (2): "Cryonics Research" by - proposes to study the effect of blood washout and vitrification perfusion in a small animal model.
Members can vote until 18:18 GMT Dec.18th 2011 on one of the proposals. The proposal with the most votes will be supported with up to $8000, subject to a funding agreement and matching donations.
>> Link
to the Referendum (Members only)
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SENS support for students!
While
LongeCity is pursuing some small scale science support,
the much bigger 'brother' SENS foundation is also supporting
life extension projects. We are delighted that SENS academic initiative
coordinator Daniel Kimble has
shared on the Longecity forums a $30.000 programme to support
student projects during 2012. We look forward to working with Daniel
and SENS ever more closely during the coming year in order to support
young researchers in their pursuit of life extension science.
>> http://sens.org/ai/awards/grants
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Science
Feature this
month:
After the caloric restriction feature last month, Sven discusses
whether the drug metformin, mainly used for diabetes, could also
function as a caloric restriction mimetic.
>>
Metformin-
a life extension drug? by Sven Bulterijs
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Vimmortal
As
the days get colder it is a good time to remind
everyone to stock up on what many consider the highest quality, best
formulated multivitamin available today. If you haven't yet tried
VIMMORTAL maybe now is the time. Formulated
by LongeCity contributors and available
to Immortality Institute Members at a significant discount.
This may be the last chance to get your hands on the supplement in the
current setting. Stay tuned for further news regarding
future developments.
>> Vimmortal
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Join
our Folding@home Team!
For a few years
LongeCity members have collaborated in the
'Longevity Meme' team donating their spare computing time to solve some
basic biomedical puzzles that might lead to new insights and treatments.
>> Join
the team
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ABOUT
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