GeneSmith

I'm a software developer by training with an interest in genetics. I am currently doing independent research on gene therapy with an emphasis on intelligence enhancement.

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@towards_keeperhood yes this is correct. Most research seems to show ~80% of effects are additive.

Genes are actually simpler than most people tend to think

You’re ignoring several facts:

  1. A significant fraction of cells turn over frequently in adults so the number of divisions for those cell types is far, far higher than 45 divisions. Those cell divisions CAN cause cancer, it a single extra cell division is going to have negligible impact on risk.
  2. There’s an enzyme called telomerase which can extend telomeres. It’s active in embryos. So this isn’t really a concern.

I'm hosting laser tag again at 8:30 PM after the reading group. All are welcome!

I’m hosting laser tag tomorrow at 8:30 after the reading group. Everyone is welcome!

I appreciate the offer. It’s going to be a long time before we start human trials. At least five years, probably longer.

GeneSmith4618

Billionaires read LessWrong. I have personally had two reach out to me after a viral blog post I made back in December of last year.

The way this works is almost always that someone the billionaire knows will send them an interesting post and they will read it.

Several of the people I've mentioned this to seemed surprised by it, so I thought it might be valuable information for others.

Can you link to a source about the increased cancer risk? Every source I've seen on this subject indicates retinoids DECREASE cancer risk, though I agree with you that this doesn't make much intuitive sense.

According to Claude they were first studied for cancer but the first actual FDA approval was for acne.

GeneSmith6-7

I’ve read the article and notice that all the negative side-effects listed are due to issues with oral Retinoids rather than topical Retinoids.

Several of the articles I’ve read indicate that topical retinoids actually DECREASE the risk of cancer, though I agree this is confusing since they supposedly increase cell turnover rates, which should theoretically cause more mitosis-induced mutations to occur. But Retinoids are actually frequently used as anti-cancer drugs.

Google’s AI summarizer says you the mechanism of action is promotion of cell differentiation and inhibiting the progression of pre-malignant cells to malignant cells.

It also reduces "keratinocyte differentiation and decrease keratin deposition" which makes skin more fragile, and it increases sensitivity to UV light.

This is correct of course and why I specifically recommend in the post that people wear sunscreen when using retinoids.

Hard to say. Retinols are recommended as a preventative. Though incidentally I have noticed acne fading much faster after using them. I suspect this is because they speed up the healing process of the skin.

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