TA-65

TA-65 is a compound from the Chinese herb astragalus, which has shown potential stop in stopping telomeres from shortening, which could prolong the aging process.

Telomeres, or regions of repetitive DNA at the ends of human chromosomes, consist of up to 3,300 repeats of the DNA sequence TTAGGG.

This repetition protects the chromosome ends from being mistaken for broken pieces of DNA, an error which would lead to the chromosome being fixed by cellular repair.

When the human cells divide, the telomeres shrink. However, because the telomeres are of fixed length, they get shorter over time, to the point when the cells no longer divide and the human body stops making those cells, leading to aging and death.

This is why researchers are looking at the telomere length as one of the biomarkers of aging, and developing methods to keep the telomeres from shortening.

One of the companies doing that research is T.A. Sciences (www.tasciences.com), which has developed the TA-65 compound from the Chinese herb into a pill form.

The way TA-65 works is by activating the enzyme telomerase (hTERT) which has been found to maintain the length or lengthen the telomeres.

The TA-65 compound was originally discovered by a company called Geron (www.geron.com), and has been tested for five years since its discovery by T.A. Sciences, according to the company.

As this is a novel approach to anti aging, and even the telomere theory of aging is novel, there are many unknowns to how these approaches have an effect on the human body as a whole, especially over longer time periods.

The problem with testing the theory of telomere in aging is that animals do not age through telomere shortening like humans do, which makes the humans the only available test subjects for compounds that target the telomeres, according to Geron.

Research on telomeres has identified other ways to target the telomere shortening process, including lifestyle changes that include reducing stress levels.

One of the most comprehensive studies in this regard has been the "Increased telomerase activity and comprehensive lifestyle changes: a pilot study" by D. Ornish et al, published in Lancet Oncol. 2008 Nov;9(11):1048-57. Epub 2008 Sep 15.


TA-65 page to Anti Aging Guide index