Scientists successfully delay ageing in cells; to be tried on humans soon

 

This updated handout photograph released by university of cambridge on June 11,2020

One of the most frustrating things about being human is perhaps not growing old, but the apparent physical changes age brings with it. The bones get weaker, skin gets saggier, eye sight deteriorates, and memory may be impaired over time.

However, a group of scientists may have found a solution to ageing. Ageing quite literally refers to body’s reaction to growing old. Many develop wrinkles, eyebags, and other visible features.

Yeast effect

Scientists from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) studied ageing in yeast, whose cells can be easily manipulated. Their goal was to ascertain whether different cells exhibit the same rate of ageing, and whether they do it to achieve the same goal.

Turns out, that’s not true. They found that cells that were made of near-identical genetic material spurring in the same environment aged in “distinct ways”. The findings were published in the journal “Science”.

Out of the tested yeast cells, half aged because of the deterioration of nucleolus, the round body situated in a cell’s nucleus. Using computer modelling and other sophisticated techniques, scientists came to this striking conclusion.

One of the most frustrating things about being human is perhaps not growing old, but the apparent physical changes age brings with it. The bones get weaker, skin gets saggier, eye sight deteriorates, and memory may be impaired over time.

However, a group of scientists may have found a solution to ageing. Ageing quite literally refers to body’s reaction to growing old. Many develop wrinkles, eyebags, and other visible features.

Yeast effect

Scientists from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) studied ageing in yeast, whose cells can be easily manipulated. Their goal was to ascertain whether different cells exhibit the same rate of ageing, and whether they do it to achieve the same goal.

Turns out, that’s not true. They found that cells that were made of near-identical genetic material spurring in the same environment aged in “distinct ways”. The findings were published in the journal “Science”.

Out of the tested yeast cells, half aged because of the deterioration of nucleolus, the round body situated in a cell’s nucleus.  Using computer modelling and other sophisticated techniques, scientists came to this striking conclusion.

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On the other hand, the remaining half cells showed signs of ageing because the mitochondria stopped functioning normally. This component of the cell is responsible for creating energy. There are two ways for cells to die - nuclear or mitochondrial. They choose their path in the early stages of their inception, and then eventually die out over time regardless of the path.

“We identified the molecular processes underlying each ageing route and the connections among them, revealing a molecular circuit that controls cell ageing, analogous to electric circuits that control home appliances," Nan Hao, senior author of the study, told CNN.

A big feat 

Scientists after establishing an “ageing landscape” manipulated and reconfigured the ageing process. This was achieved by modifying the DNA of the cells, achieved through computer simulations.The study says they were then able to create a “novel ageing route”, which increased the lifespan of the cell, implying the ageing process can be delayed through such modifications.

This is a big medical feat, for it gives credence to gene-altering programmes that intend to improve human life by increasing the lifespan and stopping the deterioration of health.

The scientists intend to plan their tests in more complicated cells, then moving on to other organisms before they test it on human beings.