“Treat with the reverence due to age the elders in your own family, so that the elders in the families of others shall be similarly treated.” This quote is from Mencius: King Hui of Liang, Chapter 1.
There is a piece of good news: In a report released by the World Health Organization in 2022, it was pointed out that people’s life expectancy was increasing all over the world. It is estimated that by 2050, the global population aged over 60 will double to 2.1 billion, and the population aged over 80 will reach 426 million.
There is a piece of bad news: The World Health Organization also pointed out that the speed of population aging is far faster than in the past. All countries will face significant challenges and must ensure that their national health and social systems are prepared to adequately address this shift in population structure. Due to differences in economic development among countries, by 2050, two-thirds of the world's population aged 60 and above will live in low- and middle-income countries. The number of Alzheimer’s patients among them is expected to reach 139 million. However, only a quarter of countries worldwide have national policies, strategies, or plans to support people with dementia and their families.
Contrary to what most people imagine, Alzheimer’s patients not only exhibit memory loss and an inability to care for themselves in the early stages but also the middle to late stages. They may also experience hallucinations, and mental mania, and even display aggressive or self-harming behaviors. This has physical, psychological, social, and economic impacts on the caregivers, families, and the entire society of Alzheimer’s patients. According to the World Health Organization, in 2019, the global economic loss of dementia reached $1.3 trillion. Approximately 50% of this cost is related to care provided by informal caregivers (such as family members and close friends), who on average provide 5 hours of care and supervision per day. Among them, women are particularly severely affected by the direct and indirect impacts of dementia. Women experience higher disability-adjusted life years and mortality rates due to dementia, yet they constitute the primary group for caring for Alzheimer’s patients, accounting for 70% of the caregiving population. Even more unfortunately, dementia patients often fail to obtain the basic rights and freedoms enjoyed by others. In many countries, laws and regulations are enacted to uphold people's freedom and right to choose. However, physical and pharmacological restraints are widely used in elderly care homes and acute care institutions.
Despite the efforts made by scientists, doctors, and other professionals and institutions worldwide to find solutions, dementia remains incurable to date.
“The sage does not treat existing illnesses, but prevents them from occurring.”This quote is from The Inner Canon of Huangdi.
Our team has reviewed the literature and exhausted all means to consult with researchers, doctors, caregivers, and family members of patients in relevant fields. Based on the symptoms and principles of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as feedback and suggestions from various stakeholder groups, we have explored the best available solutions within our capabilities.
1. Based on the target protein of Alzheimer’s, a virtual drug screening process was utilized to search for the potential drug molecule: WGX50.
2. Through experiments and computer simulations of the interaction between WGX-50 and the protein, we explored and verified that WGX-50 possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, metabolic pathway protein binding, and anti-Alzheimer’s capabilities.
We hope that the exploration of WGX-50 can contribute a modest force to future in-depth research on Alzheimer’s treatment. As far as the current project is concerned, WGX-50 is still a long way from treating Alzheimer’s. However, this does not prevent us from focusing our attention on reality and looking forward to applying WGX-50 in anti-aging health products similar to vitamins. In conjunction with:
3. Educate and promote the concept of Alzheimer’s and healthy lifestyles for anti-aging. By integrating traditional Chinese medicine theories and sharing basic knowledge about Alzheimer’s with the public, we aim to emphasize the importance of prevention as a precursor to the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Which can minimize the burden that Alzheimer’s brings to the global aging population to the greatest extent possible. At the same time, we also call on the entire society to pay attention to population aging, care for the Alzheimer’s community, be concerned with female Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, and respect and uphold the basic rights and freedoms of the Alzheimer’s patient group.
“A man of broad and open mind aims high; Ten thousand miles would seem to be close by.” This quote is from To Cao Biao，the Prince of Baima.
We are SRE-CHINA, a high school iGEM team. Our team members come from different schools in different cities and countries, but our shared ambition for synthetic biology has brought us together. Distance has not hindered our communication, learning, experiments, activities, or the happiness and growth that iGEM has brought us throughout this process.
Through iGEM, we have gained so much, not just knowledge in the field of synthetic biology, but also the opportunity to explore topics that we rarely considered at our age-- “Aging and Alzheimer’s.” Moreover, we have met like-minded friends in this process, sharing our respective hobbies, experiences, and the cities and cultures we come from. We are grateful to iGEM for bringing us together, and although we will eventually part ways, we know that “A man of broad and open mind aims high; Ten thousand miles would seem to be close by.”