EP 151: Understanding cell ageing and its role in disease with Marco Quarta Co-founder and CEO of Rubedo Life Sciences
September 12, 2024
In this episode Patrick is joined by Marco Quarta, Co-founder and CEO of Rubedo Life Sciences, and previously Director of Bioengineering in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University. Since childhood Marco had the dream of ‘curing’ ageing and his work at Rubedo focuses on understanding cell senescence, with the goal of developing novel therapies for age-linked diseases.
Join Marco and Patrick as they discuss his transition from academia to founding multiple companies, why not all senescent cells are equal, and how understanding the processes behind cell ageing could help extend human healthspan.
0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast
01:00 Welcome to Marco
02:00 The areas Marco focused on during his academic career and what motivated him to found his first company
03:18 How our understanding of ageing has changed over the past two decades and some of the current big questions in ageing biology
06:01 How to get a clearer picture of the ageing process within a tissue or cell and if new technologies like single cell genomics can aid this process
11:08 Catalyst or cause? Understanding the role of cellular senescence in disease and how it impacts treatment pathways
12:54 The challenges of building a company that addresses an area of biology which sits at the core of so many diseases and disease types
16:17 Deciding on which therapeutic modality to target when using a platform biology approach
17:57 Identifying the most effective stage at which to intervene in the senescence process and if this changes dependent upon organ system or disease area
24:33 How another company founded by Marco, Turnbio, uses a different approach by focusing on turning back the biological clock rather than understanding the ageing process and intervening
31:08 Addressing if both preventative and intervention approaches are required to comprehensively treat or cure a disease
35:39 Whether there is potential to develop core therapeutics which can have a system-wide effect and address all-cause ageing
40:12 Why ‘biohacking’ therapies can present a risk to the field of ageing biology as a whole, as well as to individuals
41:18 The developing area of science or technology Marco is most excited about and which he believes is going to have a significant impact in the coming years
43:23 Closing remarks
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