He Aging is nothing more than a natural process. (and so far inevitable) by which the billions of cells that make up our body accumulate damage and, finally, stop working and die. But What would happen if we were able to find the key to stop these processes? would we achieve like this delay aging Or what is the same, lengthen our life? This is the premise with which a scientific study published this Thursday in the magazine ‘Science’ begins, in which a group of researchers has managed to alter the «genetic clock» of some cells, delay their aging and lengthen their life by 82% more. life. This experimental technique, according to its promoters, has managed to establish «a new record for the extension of life» through genetic and chemical interventions.
The research, led by a team from the University of California San Diego, taken as a reference some yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) because, although its appearance suggests otherwise, They age in much the same way as human cells.. Thanks to this parallelism in nature, scientists first focused on studying this cell model using microscopy techniques to understand each and every one of the processes associated with the aging of these structures.
The aging of cells works like that of a car. «Vehicles age as the engine deteriorates or the transmission wears out, but both do not have to happen at the same time,» they illustrate. In the case of cells, according to several studies, there are at least two main mechanisms of damage accumulation. At least half of cells age by one gradual decrease in DNA stability (where the genetic information is stored), while the other half does it for a decline of mitochondria (the energy-producing units of cells).
How is aging slowed down?
Once these «mechanisms of cell deterioration» were identified, the fun part of the study began: the search for solutions. To do this, the scientists transferred the problem to a computational model in which, on the one hand, they have a ‘virtual copy’ of aging cells and on the other hand, different engineering tools and synthetic biology to try to stop this process. From there they will be able to try different techniques to correct the aging of cells. And once they found the most promising ones, they put them into practice in the living cells they had in the laboratory.
The technique is based on «reconfiguring» the clock of the cells so that from time to time it goes in the opposite direction
The most successful method was a experimental technique based on «genetically reconfiguring» the circuit that controls cellular aging. To give you an idea of what it is about, imagine that cells work like clockwork. In its normal state, its needles advance at the same rate and always to the right. But what happens if we manipulate the operation of these hands and get them to go in the opposite direction, at least for a while? In the case of cells, the researchers managed to design a technique capable of inverting the genetic clock of cells from time to time in order to slow down your aging.
How long can the life of cells be extended?
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As Nao Hao, one of the researchers who has led this work, explains, this technique is based on «slow down the biological ticking of the cell clock» and not in «forcing an artificial state of youth» as other experiments carried out to date had proposed. Thanks to the application of this tool, the yeast cells that had been ‘rewired’ managed to live 82% longer compared to their companions who aged naturally. It’s about the «most pronounced life extension observed to date through genetic modifications«, explain the researchers. It is also about a new record for life extension through genetic and chemical interventions.
«We have shown that it is possible to reprogram the aging process in cell models»
Nao Hao, researcher
The success of this first experiment represents, for now, a proof of concept. In other words, a first sample that this technique has potential. «We have shown that it is possible to reprogram the aging process in cell models,» the scientists enthused. From now on, the researchers will try to apply this type of technique to various types of human cells such as stem cells and neurons. These works will be limited to laboratories but, as explained by the researcher maria blasco In an interview with this newspaper, thanks to this type of study «today we will be able to ‘cure’ aging».