BREAKING NEWS ITEMS for the year 2012

There were
to the News Section of our website, as of the Start Date on May 1, 1999;
[For reference, our Counter had
3,082 hits as of February 20, 2001;
15,202 hits as of June 14, 2002;
40,847 hits as of January 2, 2003;
83,065 hits as of January 1, 2007;
112,538 hits as of June 22, 2007;
139,848 hits as of January 1, 2008;
150,000 hits as of April 11, 2008;
161,000 hits as of August 4, 2008;
187,000 hits as of January 12, 2009;
221,500 hits as of January 5, 2010; and
257,827 hits as of January 5, 2011;

The Hitometer.com website for tracking hits to our website has been out of business starting January 2000.
To fill this void, on June 16, 2005, we switched over to the webbot Site Meter at freestats.com.
Click on the icon above for more details. As there were
29,400 hits as of January 3, 2005, we estimate that we are now receiving ~55,000 hits per year at the current rate].
Actually, there were 53,794 hit for the 12 months ending June 16, 2006
and also 161 members of our World-Wide GRG Discussion Group as of this date.
June 27, 2009; As of this date, there were 222 members.

Hour Glass

Our News Section could just as well been called a blog (short for web log), but this now-popular phrase didn't exist until very recently in the last few years. Our blog is a chronological listing of news items with source references for each one interspersed with editorial remarks as we see fit to give us some perspective on where the field of gerontology is moving, even by scientists who would never refer to themselves as gerontologists.


Click for News from earlier years: 1998; 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011


September 2, 2011; Click for a blog by Dr. Lyle Dennis, M.D. of Columbia University in New York, providing breaking news on longevity research.


Click for a listing of Wire Services reports with virtually all the current worldwide news on the topic of human cloning [now hosted under The Reproductive Cloning Network News Page]. Click for another interesting site at The New Scientist Magazine.
For stem-cell policy news check the home page of the Genetics Policy Institute
4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Suite 47
Coral Gables, FL 33146; USA
Voice: 305-777-0268
FAX: 305-667-5123
URL: www.genpol.org
They have an outstanding Science Advisory Board and are particularly strong in reporting news from the United Nations.


May 18, 2005; Click for a newly-revised Better Humans website which covers many of the news items that we cover below, although they tend to be broader in their interest profile and therefore not as deeply in the specific topic of anti-aging interventions.


July 6, 2005; Click for a humorous website entitled, The Journal of Failed Experiments in Biogerontology that was described by its author, Frank Rummel, as "perhaps a little too much over the top." Click for his personal blog.


Click for The California Stem Cell Report, a blog dedicated to the coverage of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Archives of the Group's report go back to January 2005. This website may be the best way to keep yourself informed other than for CIRM itself. FYI, CIRM has recently moved its office to
Ms. Nicole Pagono
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
210 King Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
Voice: 415-396-9100
FAX: 415-396-9141

Some educational websites of interest for the stem-cell area are as follows:

1. Student Society for Stem-Cell Research and Education

2. International Society for Stem Cell Research (isscr.org/public/ISSCR_Pub_Ed_Brochure.pdf)

3. National Institutes of Health (nih.gov/news/backgrounders/sstemcellbackgrounder.htm)

4. The University of Wisconsin (news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/)

5. clearlyexplained.com/nature/life/cells/stemcells.html

6. The American Society for Cell Biology (org/publicpolicy/issues.html#stem)

7. The Free Encyclopedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#Stem_Cell_types)

8. The Alliance for Stem Cell Research

9. The International Stem Cell Forum based in England

10. Stem Cell Battles Politically- Oriented Website, edited by Donald C. Reed

11. Stem Cell Research News Edited by Data Trends Publications; P.O. Box 4460; Leesburg, VA 20177-8541; Voice: 703-779-0574; FAX: 703-779-2267; This is clearly a highly professional organization that makes imitators like us look like amateurs.

12. The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) (2021 K Street, N.W., Suite 305; Washington, D.C. 20006; Voice: 202-293-2856) is an umbrella organization with all the scientific and charitable disease- focused organizations that track stem-cell research-funding political issues. It includes as one of its members, The Alliance for Aging Research (AAR) of Washington, D.C., which includes SAGE Crossroads as a subunit.

13. StemCellInformation.com in association with Case Western Reserve University; Mr. Stephen Meyer tirelessly assembles hundreds of messages from news sources throughout the world on the topic of stem cells in a "YahooGroups" format. As of June 10th, he was up to Digest No. 455. If you subscribe on a daily basis, you can probably get more information than you can handle, unless you happen to be a journalist working in this area full time. Nevertheless, Internet website "hit" statistics compiled by the National Cancer Institute reveals that this website is now listed as No.161 of all websites monitored for scientific information related to medicine and health care, which is really quite remarkable.

14. Judie Brown maintains a blog for the American Life League (ALL) which is the epitome of nonsense about stem cell research. A related website called STOPP is devoted to the defeat of The Planned Parenthood Association. Gasp! Their banner states "Behold the Lord, Jesus Christ, who tries so hard to get our attention." So, I guess you can figure out their religious orientation.

Click for data on the maximum lifespan of a variety of zoological species at the Human Aging Genomic Resources website (AnAge Database) maintained by João Pedro de Magalhães now with George Church's Lab at the Harvard School of Medicine.


For rejuvenation on an organ-by-organ/system-by-system basis, click on Rejuvepedia.org.


To Our Regular News Section Readers: If you become aware of a news item that you feel should be posted here, please contact us by E-mail ASAP.




"Understanding our Genes: Steps Toward Personalized Medicine"

San Diego, CA
Drs. J. Craig Venter and Alan Trounson
Tuesday, January 17, 2012; Noon; San Diego, CA; Drs. J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. and Catriona Jamieson, M.D., Ph.D. gave a joint keynote address to the CIRM Board of Directors at their all-day business meeting. Click on the photo of Craig Venter and Alan Trounson, President of CIRM, for a full video of the presentation.


Click for News Items from 2011.