A team of scientists from the University of California at San Diego, USA, has found a way to ‘rebuild’ the biological clock. This study could be a breakthrough in the fight against aging.
The Human life expectancy is related to the aging of individual cells, that function as mini-factories, carrying out the processes necessary for life. But chemical reactions create toxic waste that accumulates over time and can damage DNA and other cellular components. Therefore, the body destroys old cells before they cause harm.
Three years ago, a group of researchers from the University of California identified the two directions that cells follow during aging and genetically manipulated these processes to extend its useful life.
Now, that same team has expanded on this research by designing a solution that prevents cells from reaching their normal levels of deterioration associated with aging. Yeast, plant, animal and human cells contain gene regulatory circuits that are responsible for many physiological functions, including aging, according to a study. university statement.
“These genetic circuits can function like our household electrical circuits that control devices such as household appliances and cars,” said Professor Nan Hao of the Department of Molecular Biology in the College of Biological Sciences, the study’s lead author.
Scientists have discovered that, under control of the central genetic regulation circuitry, cells do not necessarily age at the same time. For example, as it happens with a car that wears out the engine or the transmission mechanism, but not both parts at the same time.
In this study, the researchers have genetically rearranged the circuitry that controls cellular aging. Thus, they created a negative feedback loop to reverse this process. The rebuilt network works like a clock-like device. This is the so-called gene oscillator, through which the cell periodically changes between two states of aging, avoiding prolonged stay in one of them and slowing down the degeneration of the cell itself.
The method applied to the cells of a small unicellular yeast prevented them from aging at a normal rate. As a result of the experiment, the cells lived 82% longer than they should under normal circumstances.
The scientists argue that the new technique can be applied to human cells, such as stem cells and neurons. In theory, this would allow a person, if not to achieve immortality, then at least to live much longer, according to Science.
The entrance Geneticists manage to slow down aging through cell engineering was first published on newspaper TODAY.
