Source: Science Daily
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081126122203.htm
Title: "Potentially Universal Mechanism Of Aging Identified"
Date: November 27, 2008
Well, this is certainly interesting.
I suppose the question is whether or not this is something we can tamper with. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to be excited. On the one hand, we shouldn't yet celebrate the idea of living forever; to the other, though, can you imagine the population crisis?
This is going to be interesting.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081126122203.htm
Title: "Potentially Universal Mechanism Of Aging Identified"
Date: November 27, 2008
Well, this is certainly interesting.
Researchers have uncovered what may be a universal cause of aging, one that applies to both single cell organisms such as yeast and multicellular organisms, including mammals. This is the first time that such an evolutionarily conserved aging mechanism has been identified between such diverse organisms.
The mechanism probably dates back more than one billion years. The study shows how DNA damage eventually leads to a breakdown in the cell's ability to properly regulate which genes are switched on and off in particular settings.
Like our current financial crisis, the aging process might also be a product excessive deregulation.
Researchers have discovered that DNA damage decreases a cell's ability to regulate which genes are turned on and off in particular settings. This mechanism, which applies both to fungus and to us, might represent a universal culprit for aging.
(Science Daily)
I suppose the question is whether or not this is something we can tamper with. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to be excited. On the one hand, we shouldn't yet celebrate the idea of living forever; to the other, though, can you imagine the population crisis?
"According to this specific mechanism, while DNA damage exacerbates aging, the actual cause is not the DNA damage itself but the lack of gene regulation that results," says Oberdoerffer. "Lots of research has shown that this particular process of regulating gene activity, otherwise known as epigenetics, can be reversed—unlike actual mutations in DNA. We see here, through a proof-of-principal demonstration, that elements of aging can be reversed."
(ibid)
This is going to be interesting.