Show notes
According to this episode's guest: Liz Parrish, people should be demanding access to the latest gene therapy treatments. According to Liz, effective gene therapy that treats and heals a plethora of diseases could be in place today if not for the human race's mistakes in prioritizing our funds. Trillions of dollars have been invested in war machines, for example, when we could have used that money to advance humanity into a healthier, more productive, and enjoyable way of life. As you can see, Liz thinks big - but she's not only a dreamer - Liz is a doer. As the Founder and CEO of BioViva, Liz devotes her life to pursuing scientific advancements that extend healthy lifespans in humans using cell technologies. Liz will tell you that aging is a disease caused by cell damage over time. Her company uses BioInformatics to gain knowledge through collecting, storing, and analyzing data from clinical studies. Liz advocates for overhauling the U.S. medical system so that drugs proven successful in animal trials can be offered more rapidly to human patients. Our aging population needs urgent healthcare. As a passionate science evangelist, Liz is a popular speaking guest. She serves as a motivational speaker in the life sciences field and is a strong proponent of advancing regenerative medicine modalities. She enjoys educating laypeople about the promising field of gene therapy and is actively involved in international educational media outreach. Tune in and meet this humanitarian, entrepreneur, innovator, podcaster, and a leading voice for genetic cures. In this podcast, we cover: Liz's story on how she ended up in the bioinformatics and gene therapy business How our current healthcare system slows down anti-aging solutions What gene therapy is and how it can benefit you Why gene therapy isn't affordable or available for most people today How BioViva is giving people at all income levels access to gene therapy How risk aversion is killing us The age Liz thinks she will reach How the media harms scientific progress And more "I went looking for cures for kids and ended up at a conference." Two seminal moments occurred in Liz's life back in 2011 and 2013. Only ten years ago, Liz was a layperson, not working in the longevity and gene therapy field. Her destiny began to change when she volunteered in 2011 for a stem cell project that aimed to educate the world on the regenerative capacity of stem cells. This sparked an obsession with stem cells - what makes them different? Liz began researching and discovered their differences, which she shares. Then, in 2013, her son was diagnosed with type one diabetes. One day, while in the hospital with her son, Liz asked the doctors about the fabulous research she had been studying on stem cells. Was any of this available for her son? NO. The hospital bluntly told her that stem cell therapy was "experimental medicine." They made it sound dirty. The doctors even had the nerve to tell her, "Your son has a treatable disease. Kids dying here. Maybe you should consider yourself lucky?" This rude attack did NOT sit well with Liz. She pondered, "Why does this technology not translate to humans?" So, Liz searched for pediatric cures and ended up at a conference that introduced her to the promising future of gene therapy. The rest, as they say, is history. Liz practices what she preaches Back in 2015, when she launched BioViva, Liz proved she doesn't just talk the talk. She walks the walk. How? By becoming "patient zero" in her own experiment. She willingly injected herself with two gene therapies. Since then, her results look promising. She tells Wade, "I took two gene therapies, and my biomarkers are great. We have a biostatistician working on those now, and we'll be releasing those with a short synopsis." "My telomeres slowly keep getting longer. My triglyceride levels are low. My blood glucose levels are low - this is something that we see in medical tourism as well...Telomeres are not a perfect aging clock, but they are an indicator of a disease state. Having a better length on your telomere is a good thing. So that should mean better overall health." Keep your eye on Liz - she's a walking gene therapy experiment, as well as a bold individual willing to offer her body to the furthering of scientific advancement. Science geeks will enjoy this episode with Liz Parrish. As an entrepreneur, she fosters scientific advancement in gene therapy by employing scientists, raising funds for research, and using her leadership and marketing skills to spread the word on the fascinating works happening inside the labs at BioViva. Check out this episode - you may end up living longer than you currently think possible. Episode Resources: Check out more about Liz Parrish & BioViva BioViva Science on YouTube Liz Parrish on Instagram Liz Parrish on Twitter BioViva Sciences on Facebook