Scientists have partially reversed age-related degeneration in mice, an achievement that suggests a new approach for tackling similar disorders in people.

By tweaking a gene, the researchers reversed brain disease and restored the sense of smell and fertility in prematurely aged mice. Previous experiments with calorie restriction and other methods have shown that aspects of aging can be slowed. This appears to be the first time that some age-related problems in animals have actually been reversed.

The study was published online Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

"These mice were equivalent to 80-year-old humans and were about to pass away," says Ronald DePinho, co-author of the paper and a scientist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. After the experiment, "they were the physiological equivalent of young adults."

Although the finding is compelling, it remains to be seen whether the approach can slow the signs and symptoms of aging in people. The latest results were obtained with mice that were specifically altered to age prematurely. And while the animals showed no signs of tumors, there is a risk that the technique could trigger cancer.

The experiment focused on telomerase, an enzyme that makes small units of DNA that seal the tips of chromosomes. These DNA units, known as telomeres, act like the plastic caps at the ends of a shoelace, preventing the chromosomes from fraying and the genes inside them from unraveling. In 2009, three U.S. scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine for illuminating the mysteries of telomerase.

For more information, read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/11/29/eternal-life-scientists-reverse-aging-mice/#ixzz16tPF6qe9

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This is really big news. Telomere shortening is the basics of aging and reversing it has been the holy grail of medicine. As a mammal, the hop between a mouse and a human may not be that great. The experiment turned the equivalent of 80 year old mice into 25 year old mice.

I want some!

Mmm I do not see where they reverse
physical appearance.
Would you want to look 80, but feel 20?

Sure! Why not?

Don't you think it would be funny to be 80, yet go toe to toe with a 20 year old.

There would be some rowdy nights at the old folk's homes!

the report i saw said it would be years before any possibility of human testing ... but it looked promising.

and its now just feeling younger ... it actually allowed cells to regenerate the way they did when the mice were younger. So you would start to look younger as your sking got back its youthfulness.

It doesn't seem to extend life expectancy but makes for a better quality for old age and most likely a much less expensive old age since they figure it will decrease a lot of age related medical problems and let things heal much better.


I say bravo.

Mmmm.
Well, psychologically, one would have the
benefit of feeling young and vibrant, but
also knowing you were 80 and could keel
over at any moment, I dunno, sounds fraught
with foreboding.

Actually, the telomere shortening is the limiting factor in lifespan. Once the cell divides a set number of times (I think it is usually around fifty for a human) it cannot repair itself anymore and dies. This discovery may lead to eternal life and vitality.

As was discussed above, once the skin was "renewed" it would slowly replace itself with younger appearing flesh and you would look 25, as well as feel it.

There are many moral and social implications to this discovery. We already have overpopulation. Who gets to benefit? Do we end up with millions of 25 year old (in vitality and appearance) social security recipients?

Ah ... but like all great medical / pharma. discoveries.

it will be very expensive treatment .

So only the rich or lottery winners will get it. For some potential problems of living forever .... I recommend watching an old Sean Connery movie ....

Zardoz ....

And I recommend reading The Methuselah Enzyme :-)

Thanks to Zardoz, this image is forever stuck in my head

Now all we need is some flying heads.

<-----------iz getting the Nature article now!!!

I read an article a few years back that said if you are under 40 and live an average life span than the medical technology would exist to clone your own body, age it to the desired age, and transfer your brain.

What do they do with the clone's brain?

And why don't people consider clones to be individual people in their own right?

A clone truly wouldn't be any different from an identical twin. Sure, their may be some technical differences in how they were conceived, but the clone would be every bit as human as a naturally born human.

It's truly horrible that we give a process a name like "cloning" and then treat the result of that process as though it doesn't count as "life" or as a "living individual".

It scary how easily people can dehumanize what is basically just another human being.

They basically already have the technology in place to create a complete copy of your body using your DNA sequence. They don't even need any actual material from your body (other than to discover what you DNA sequence is). But once they have your DNA sequence they can just type that into a computer, create that DNA and inject it into a suitable "egg". That egg would then develop into a human being that has precisely your physical characteristic and traits (save for whatever traits are gained the actual embryonic development process).

In any case, when that "baby" is finally born, is it YOU?

I don't think so.

Nor is it a "clone" even though some may technically call it such.

What it actually is, is a completely independent and unique individual human being. Perhaps as close to a 'twin' to you as it can be, but a unique individual in its own right just the same.

Unless they could somehow grow a "clone body" that has no brain, how could they put your brain in a "clone body" without first removing its brain? And thus killing that individual human being?

Once the techniques of repairing telomeres with a telomere repairing enzyme, cloning would no longer be necessary. The difference between a 25 year old human cell and an 80 year old human cell is the number of "knots" remaining on the end of the cell (telomeres). Every time a cell divides, a knot is lost. Once all the knots are gone, the cell dies.

Feeding a cell causes it to divide which is why a low calorie diet and staying thin actually increases lifespan in humans. Repairing the telomeres puts the cell back to "good as new" condition and therefore is effectively the same as a young cell.

Some of the problems that have arisen have to do with cancer, which are cells that reproduce wildly forever. The repair of a cancer cell could cause a cancer to explode in growth and kill the host.

Various human parts are not that susceptible to repair by this technique, like teeth and hair follicles. However, stem cell research is addressing these areas for regeneration. Stem cell research may allow various body parts to be regrown from scratch from the host's own tissue. Hearts are already being grown this way but are not ready for transplant.

Here is a vid of the fascinating heart regrowth procedure.

http://singularityhub.com/2009/06/23/stem-cells-used-to-grow-hearts-cool-new-pics-and-vid/

Nice, they are good and warm now aren't they!!