Episode 70: David Sabatini on the discovery of mTOR and its role in disease, longevity & healthspan

STEM-Talk

Dawn Kernagis and Ken Ford

Alternative Health, Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Natural Sciences, Science

4.7 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2018

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Peter Attia, who was our very first guest on STEM-Talk, describes David Sabatini’s discovery of mTOR as one of his two favorite science stories. Today, Dr. David Sabatini joins us and gives us a first-hand account of how his research into rapamycin in 1994 as a graduate student led him to the discovery of mTOR, which we now know is a critical regulator of cellular growth. Our interview with David delves into his continuing research into mTOR, which has led to promising opportunities for the development of new treatments for debilitating diseases such as cancer, diabetes and neurological disorders. He also discusses mTOR’s role in healthspan and lifespan. David is a molecular cell biologist who, according to Reuters News Service, is on the short list for a Nobel Prize. David is on the faculty at MIT and heads up the Sabatini Lab at the Whitehead Institute. In today’s episode, we discuss: Rapamycin, a macrolide antibiotic discovered in the soil of Easter Island David’s discovery of mTOR while a grad student at Johns Hopkins mTOR’s role as one of the major growth pathways in the body mTOR’s role as a nutrient sensor How mTOR inhibiton has become one of the hottest topics in longevity research mTOR’s role in diseases, especially its connection to cancer The role of RAG GTPases as key mTOR mediators Protein intake and downstream mTOR activation Research into ketogenic diets effect on longevity and healthspan Whether David would take rapamycin as a means to enhance his longevity And much, much more

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to STEM Talk.
0:01.1	Stem Talk.
0:02.0	Stem Talk.
0:03.0	Stem Talk.
0:04.0	Stem Talk, where we introduce you to fascinating people who passionately inhabit the scientific and technical frontiers of our society.
0:13.0	Hi, I'm your host, Don Cornagus, and joining me to introduce today's podcast as a man behind the curtain, Dr. Ken Ford,
0:19.0	IHMC's Director and Chairman of the Double Secret Selection Committee that selects all the guests who appear on STEM Talk.
0:23.6	Hi, Don. Great to be here.
0:25.6	Today's interview is with the scientists who, according to Reuters, news service and others, is on a shortlist for a Nobel Prize.
0:31.6	Barry Barish, our guest on episode number 10, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics last year, and it would be great
0:38.6	to have David join him in that august group. He is certainly deserving.
0:43.3	Absolutely. Dr. David Sabatini is one of the world's best known molecular cell biologists
0:48.5	who has spent his career digging into the mechanisms that regulate cell growth. His research
0:52.3	is focused on mTOR, which stands for a mechanistic
0:54.8	target of rapamycin. He identified the EMTOR pathway as a critical regulator of cellular growth,
0:59.6	while still a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University back in the 90s.
1:03.0	Today's interview will delve into this discovery as well as his subsequent research, which has led to promising opportunities for the development of
1:11.7	new treatments for many common and debilitating diseases, diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurological
1:18.5	disorders, and rare genetic diseases. Dr. Sabatini is a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical
1:24.6	Research, a senior associate member of the Broad Institute at MIT
1:28.7	and Harvard, a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, and a professor
1:33.7	of biology at MIT.
	...

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