UK Scientists discover the secret of Ageing??
They claim that this won’t immediately lead to the “elixir of life” in the foreseeable future. We’ll have to wait for that. But I bet this becomes a source of inspiration for a ton of sci-fi and Hollywood material. After all, who more enamored with becoming ageless than Hollywood.
One of the biggest puzzles in biology – how and why living cells age – has been solved by an international team based at Newcastle University, in north-east England.
The research, published by the journal Molecular Systems Biology, shows that when an ageing cell detects serious damage to its DNA – caused by the wear and tear of life – it sends out specific internal signals.
These distress signals trigger the cell’s mitochondria, its tiny energy-producing power packs, to make oxidising “free radical” molecules, which in turn tell the cell either to destroy itself or to stop dividing. The aim is to avoid the damaged DNA that causes cancer.
He added: “Our breakthrough means that we stand a very much better chance of making a successful attack on age-related diseases while at the same time avoiding the risk of unwanted side-effects like cancer.”
Read more at www.ft.com
