Health & Science

Slowing the aging process; Dinosaurs on the march; Why diets usually fail; Learning a trick from pythons

Slowing the aging process

Could there be a cure for getting old? Scientists have discovered that if they remove a special kind of cell that promotes aging, mice are freed of many age-related conditions. As cells age and lose the ability to divide, they become what scientists call senescent cells. These cells, which build up in aging tissue, pump out inflammatory toxins. They “act like demon seed and kill everything around them,” James Kirkland, a physiologist at the Mayo Clinic, tells Science News. When researchers used drugs to eliminate senescent cells in genetically engineered mice, the mice stayed far more youthful: They didn’t develop cataracts, their skin didn’t wrinkle, and they maintained high levels of energy. This breakthrough “suggests therapies that might work in real patients,” says Norman E. Sharpless, an aging expert at the University of North Carolina. Previously, scientists weren’t sure if killing off senescent cells would have negative side effects, but the mice in the study were healthier without them. If the same holds true in people, purging these cells could ward off a host of age-related diseases, from cancer to dementia, and keep us healthier longer.

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