Sierra Sciences, LLC is a

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

company founded by William H. Andrews, former director of

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

Geron Corporation Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company located in Foster City, California which specializes in developing and commercializing therapeutic products for cancer that inhibit telomerase. Company information Geron, based in Foster City, Cal ...

. Andrews founded Sierra Sciences in 1999 in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, with the goal of preventing and/or reversing

cellular senescence Cellular senescence is a phenomenon characterized by the cessation of cell division. In their experiments during the early 1960s, Leonard Hayflick and Paul Moorhead found that normal human fetal fibroblasts in culture reach a maximum of appro ...

, and ultimately curing diseases associated with human

aging Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming Old age, older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentiall ...

, including the aging process itself.

Background

In humans, aging is strongly correlated with the length of an individual's

telomere A telomere (; ) is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences associated with specialized proteins at the ends of linear chromosomes (see #Sequences, Sequences). Telomeres are a widespread genetic feature most commonly found in eukaryotes. In ...

s, the repetitive

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

at the ends of each

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

. Each time a cell in the body

divides In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer m that may be multiplied by some integer to produce n. In this case, one also says that n is a '' multiple'' of m. An integer n is divisible or evenly divisibl ...

, its telomeres become shorter. Eventually, telomeres shorten to the point where the cell is unable to divide (the " Hayflick limit"). The enzyme

telomerase Telomerase, also called terminal transferase, is a ribonucleoprotein that adds a species-dependent telomere repeat sequence to the 3' end of telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosomes of most euka ...

adds these DNA sequence repeats to the telomere, re-lengthening it. In humans, telomerase is expressed in

embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are Cell potency#Pluripotency, pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-Implantation (human embryo), implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4� ...

and some other cells, but most

somatic Somatic may refer to: * Somatic (biology), referring to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells ** Somatic cell, a non-gametic cell in a multicellular organism * Somatic nervous system, the portion of the vertebrate nervous syst ...

cells do not express it. While working at Geron Corporation, Andrews co-discovered the

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

component of human telomerase ( hTR). For this discovery, Andrews was awarded second place as "National Inventor of the Year" in 1997 by the

Intellectual Property Owners Association {{single source, date=July 2012 The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) is a trade association that is composed of owners of intellectual property, represented mostly by in-house corporate counsel and private practice attorneys practici ...

. Andrews also co-discovered the protein component of human telomerase (

hTERT Telomerase reverse transcriptase (abbreviated to TERT, or hTERT in humans) is a catalytic subunit of the enzyme telomerase, which, together with the telomerase RNA component (TERC), comprises the most important unit of the telomerase complex. T ...

). The hTERT gene is present in all human cells, but is repressed in most. In 1997, Andrews left Geron, and, in 1999, founded Sierra Sciences to pursue the anti-aging implications of these discoveries, intending to find a

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

that would "switch on" this repressed gene.

Company history

At the time of its inception, Sierra Sciences' President was

Dan Fylstra Dan Fylstra is an American pioneer of the software products industry. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1975 he was a founding associate editor of ''Byte'' magazine. In 1978 he co-founded Personal Software, and that yea ...

, founder of

VisiCorp VisiCorp, originally Personal Software, was an early personal computer software publisher. Its most famous products were Microchess, Visi On and VisiCalc. History Personal Software was founded in 1977 by Dan Fylstra. In 1978, it merged with ...

. In 2002, Richard Offerdahl, co-founder of Zycad Corporation and former director of

Digi International Digi International, Inc. is an American Industrial Internet of Things ( IIoT) technology company based in Hopkins, Minnesota. History The company was founded in 1985 and went public as Digi International in 1989. The company initially offered ...

, assumed the position of

Chairman of the Board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of Sierra Sciences. In 2003, Offerdahl was elected

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

and

Pierluigi Zappacosta Pierluigi Zappacosta (born Chieti, Italy, on July 2, 1950) is an Italian businessman, electrical engineer, and investor. He is the chairman of Faro Ventures. He has co-founded, directed, and served on the boards of several prestigious companies, ...

(co-founder of

Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the company has offices throughout Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. It is a component of ...

) was elected President and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. In 2008, Andrews was promoted to President and CEO, and Zappacosta took the roles of Co-Chairman of the Board and Vice President, Business Development. In early 2016, Bill Andrews announced that Sierra Sciences was working with BioViva and will be to starting a new venture BioViva FIJI on

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and they will be the first company to use gene therapy to treat biological aging in humans. However, when contacted for comment, authorities in Fiji denied any such claim.

Discoveries

In 2001, Sierra Sciences discovered a

repressor In molecular genetics, a repressor is a DNA- or RNA-binding protein that inhibits the expression of one or more genes by binding to the operator or associated silencers. A DNA-binding repressor blocks the attachment of RNA polymerase to the ...

binding site (dubbed "Site C") that blocks the expression of

telomerase reverse transcriptase Telomerase reverse transcriptase (abbreviated to TERT, or hTERT in humans) is a catalytic subunit of the enzyme telomerase, which, together with the telomerase RNA component (TERC), comprises the most important unit of the telomerase complex. ...

("TERT"), patented in 2004. Sierra Sciences discovered another repressor bind site, "GC-Box 5," in 2004, patented in 2007. Sierra Sciences discovered methods of

assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity ...

ing TERT promoter modulatory agents, allowing the company to efficiently check a variety of compounds to see if they inhibit repression of hTERT, in 2005. In 2007, the company discovered a small-molecule drug-like compound, "C0057684", that activates telomerase expression in human cells. In 2008, using C0057684 as a positive control, Sierra Sciences developed a

quantitative PCR A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR, or qPCR when used quantitatively) is a laboratory technique of molecular biology based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule duri ...

based

high-throughput screening High-throughput screening (HTS) is a method for scientific discovery especially used in drug discovery and relevant to the fields of biology, materials science and chemistry. Using robotics, data processing/control software, liquid handling device ...

assay to more efficiently screen for compounds that transiently induce the expression of

endogenous Endogeny, in biology, refers to the property of originating or developing from within an organism, tissue, or cell. For example, ''endogenous substances'', and ''endogenous processes'' are those that originate within a living system (e.g. an ...

telomerase in human cells. Sierra Sciences has identified more than fifty such drugs and is characterizing their

mechanism of action In pharmacology, the term mechanism of action (MOA) refers to the specific biochemical Drug interaction, interaction through which a Medication, drug substance produces its pharmacological effect. A mechanism of action usually includes mention o ...

References

External links

Company web site
{{Life extension Biogerontology organizations Biotechnology companies of the United States Companies based in Reno, Nevada Life extension organizations Privately held companies based in Nevada American companies established in 1999

Background

Company history

Discoveries

See also

References

External links