SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN FRONTIERS: NEVER SAY DIE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of science documentaries hosted by Alan Alda. This episode focuses on recent medical discoveries about the aging process and theories on increasing the life span of humans. In the first segment, "Eat Less - Live Longer," Alda speaks with Dr. Roy Walford, the team doctor for Biosphere 2 in 1991, about his study on the relationship between food and longevity. Walford believes that a nutrient-rich, low-calorie diet can increase both the maximum human life span and average human life span. Alda then visits one of Walford's former students, Rick Weindruch, who is conducting experiments with mice and rhesus monkeys in order to prove Walford's theories. In the next segment, "The Clock of Life," Alda looks into the possibility of extending life by reducing cell death. He speaks with a number of doctors, including Cal Harley, chief scientist for the Geron Corporation, who explains that cells can only divide about fifty times before they die; Ronald Delpinho, who has discovered the gene that governs the manufacture of telomeres, and believes that short or absent telomeres cause rapid aging; Pediatrician Michael Fossel, who is applying these discoveries to his work on Progeria -- the disease which causes rapid aging in children; and Rita Effros of UCLA, who is working on large-scale cell repair and hopes that her work will lead to immune system treatments that could lead to life expectancies of nearly 120 years.
Segment three, "Wisdom of the Worms," deals with Cynthia Kenyon's discovery that through gene manipulation and blockage of hormone receptors, the life span of nematodes (tiny worms) can be doubled or even quadrupled. Kenyon believes that this process can be used as a basis for expanding human life spans to upwards of 300 years. Then, in "How to Make a Nose," Alda explores the possibilities of bioengineering. First he speaks with Bob Langer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where researchers are learning to make body parts, such as cartilage and heart muscle. Then he visits with Michael West, who is experimenting with using cow eggs to grow human tissue. Alda also checks in with pediatrician Jay Vacanti, who is working on developing the technology that will be required once bioengineering becomes readily available. And in the final segment, "Use It or Lose It," Alda considers the aging of the human mind; he speaks with Marilyn Albert and Bill Greenough about their research on the causes of memory loss in old age, and their theories on how to prevent memory loss. This program begins and ends with a commercial for GTE Communications.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Alan Alda.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:62051
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries; Science/Nature
- SUBJECT HEADING: Aging; Bioengineering; Longevity; Nematoda - Research
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1990-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - GTE Communications
CREDITS
- Graham Chedd … Executive Producer
- John Angier … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- Andrew Liebman … Producer, Director, Writer
- Karin Hoving Mainville … Associate Producer
- Andrew Steger-Wilson … Associate Producer
- Randy Roos … Music by
- Alan Alda … Host, Narrator
- Marilyn Albert
- Ronald Delpinho
- Rita Effros
- Michael Fossel
- Bill Greenough
- Cal Harley
- Cynthia Kenyon
- Bob Langer
- Jay Vacanti
- Roy Walford
- Rick Weindruch
- Michael West