{
    "title": "Geroprotectors Database and Plant Extracts for Lifespan Extension",
    "inventor_name": null,
    "publication_year": 2015,
    "device_name": "Geroprotectors Database",
    "goal": "Extend healthy lifespan and reduce age-related damage by identifying and cataloguing geroprotective compounds.",
    "problem_addressed": "Lack of a curated, searchable resource that links chemical compounds to experimentally demonstrated anti-aging effects.",
    "concept_summary": "A publicly accessible database (Geroprotectors.org) aggregates >250 experiments on >200 compounds that extend lifespan in model organisms. Parallel research screened >10,000 plant extracts, identifying six extracts (including willow bark) that dramatically increase yeast chronological lifespan, likely via hormetic stress responses and modulation of mitochondrial function, ROS, and cellular repair pathways.",
    "detailed_description": null,
    "category": "Medical & Dental Technologies",
    "principles": [
        "Hormetic stress response",
        "Mitochondrial respiration enhancement",
        "Modulation of reactive oxygen species",
        "Reduction of oxidative damage to proteins, lipids and DNA",
        "Enhanced cellular stress resistance"
    ],
    "scientific_domains": [
        "Biology",
        "Gerontology",
        "Pharmacology",
        "Molecular Biology"
    ],
    "mechanisms_of_action": [
        "Increased mitochondrial membrane potential",
        "Altered ROS concentrations",
        "Accelerated lipid droplet degradation",
        "Activation of cellular repair pathways"
    ],
    "materials": [
        "Salicin (white willow bark)",
        "Cimicifuga racemosa extract",
        "Valeriana officinalis extract",
        "Passiflora incarnata extract",
        "Ginkgo biloba extract",
        "Apium graveolens extract",
        "Allantoin"
    ],
    "energy_sources": [],
    "inputs": [
        "Plant material (bark, roots, leaves)",
        "Yeast cultures (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)",
        "Extraction solvents (water, ethanol, sub-critical water)"
    ],
    "outputs": [
        "Extended chronological lifespan of yeast",
        "Database entries linking compounds to lifespan effects"
    ],
    "claimed_performance": "Willow bark extract increased average yeast chronological lifespan by 475 % and maximum lifespan by 369 % - the strongest longevity-extending effect reported to date.",
    "experimental_evidence": "Screening of >10,000 plant-extract trials in yeast; lifespan assays showed >400 % increase for willow bark extract; other five extracts also produced significant lifespan extensions.",
    "replication_status": "Results have not yet been replicated in animal models beyond yeast.",
    "keywords": [
        "geroprotectors",
        "lifespan extension",
        "plant extracts",
        "hormesis",
        "yeast chronological aging",
        "calorie restriction mimetic"
    ],
    "related_technologies": [
        "Calorie restriction mimetics",
        "Longevity drugs (rapamycin, metformin)",
        "High-throughput screening of bioactive compounds"
    ],
    "controversy_level": "low",
    "confidence_score": 0.8,
    "practicability_score": 0.6,
    "fringe_score": 0.2,
    "evidence_strength": 0.7,
    "risk_score": 0.2,
    "trl_estimate": 4,
    "source_urls": [
        "http://geroprotectors.org/",
        "http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26342919",
        "http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-isolated-6-natural-compounds-that-could-help-us-slow-down-ageing",
        "http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path[]=7665&author-preview=5wx",
        "http://www.sciencealert.com/a-common-face-cream-ingredient-might-help-us-live-longer-study-finds"
    ],
    "organizations": [
        "Concordia University",
        "Idunn Technologies",
        "Geroprotectors.org"
    ],
    "applications": [
        "Anti-aging therapeutics",
        "Prevention of age-related diseases",
        "Research tools for gerontology"
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "Efficacy demonstrated only in yeast; unknown in mammals or humans",
        "Mechanistic pathways not fully elucidated",
        "Potential variability in plant extract composition"
    ],
    "open_questions": [
        "Do the identified extracts extend lifespan in animal models?",
        "What are the precise molecular targets in higher organisms?",
        "Are there safety or toxicity concerns for long-term human use?"
    ],
    "red_flags": [],
    "evidence_quotes": [
        "In testing, the willow bark extract increased the average chronological lifespan of yeast by 475 percent and the maximum chronological lifespan by 369 percent.",
        "Each of the six plant extracts is a geroprotector which delays the onset and decreases the rate of yeast chronological aging by eliciting a hormetic stress response.",
        "Allantoin increased the lifespan of certain worms by more than 20 percent, comparable to calorie-restriction effects."
    ]
}