The clock is counting down on the Major Mouse Testing Program (MMTP) fundraiser at Lifespan.io. With just over a week to go, more than 400 donors have given a total of nearly $40,000 so far. These funds will be used to run tests of senolytic drugs to clear senescent cells in aged mice, the first of what will hopefully be a series of useful studies carried out by this group, working to push treatments for the causes of aging closer to the clinic. The initial goal for the fundraiser is $45,000, and a matching fund has been announced to help close the gap in the next few days. Donate, and your donation will be matched dollar for dollar:

Hello dear friends! There are 10 days left before the Senolytics campaign ends, and it is time to make a final dash to the finish line! Some great news from Healthy Life Extension Society (Heales) leader Didier Coeurnelle. He has offered a FUND MATCH! Whatever we will raise from Tuesday, June 14, 11 AM UTC (6 AM EST) to Thursday, June 16, 11 AM UTC (6 AM EST) up to $2500 will be doubled! Didier is Co-chair of Heales, the largest non-profit organization in Continental Europe promoting and advocating scientific research into longevity and biogerontology, and vice-president of the French association AFT-Technoprog, that aims to spread the themes and questions related to technologies that could extend and enhance the lives of individuals and of humankind. If you will contribute during this period, every dollar you donate will become two - and the project will receive a nice push to get us to our goal!

It is generally agreed upon now in the broader research community that senescent cells are a meaningful component of degenerative aging. They accumulate over time in all tissues, and secrete a mix of signals that, among other things, spurs greater inflammation, damages tissue structure, and increases the odds of nearby cells also becoming senescent. Their presence accelerates the development of all of the major age-related diseases - but all of this could be removed given a way to selectively destroy these cells. Fortunately senescent cells are already primed to self-destruction, and all that needs to be done is to nudge them in that direction, something that can be achieved through drugs. A senolytic drug can issue a modest prompt to destruction to all cells, and only senescent cells will be pushed across the line. The Major Mouse Testing Program volunteers have an active YouTube channel, and over the past few weeks have conducted a number of video interviews with members of the research and advocacy community on the value of senescent cell clearance and mouse testing in this field. You'll find a few of these linked below:

MMTP - Major Mouse Testing Program - Interview with Joao Pedro de Magalhaes

As many people were curious about the study design, the MMTP team prepared a short version (PDF) of the study proposal so everyone could learn more about what animal study looks like. To provide you with more details, we invite you to watch a mini-interview with Dr. Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, a leading researcher of geroprotectors at Liverpool University, UK, where he is speaking about the importance of experiments and animal data.

MMTP - Major Mouse Testing Program - Interview with Daria Khaltourina - ILA

We invite you to watch a short interview with Daria Khaltourina, an International Longevity Alliance Board Member, and a famous health care advocate from Russia. Daria is currently part of an international initiative to include aging as a disease into the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2017. This is an important change because it will allow researchers to test and register geroprotective drugs as such, and for doctors to prescribe them to prevent aging in healthy middle age people.

MMTP - Major Mouse Testing Program - Interview with Aubrey de Grey