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Secret to Aging Discovered

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the fun-with-genetics dept.

Gazoomba writes, "Researchers at the Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., have found a clue in our genes putting us closer to eternal youth. They hope to eventually do trials on worms and mice to try and get them to live longer and perhaps someday do the same thing for us. More on this story can be read here. "

15 comments

  1. Anti-Viagra by Wigs · · Score: 1
    From the article:
    The protein 'turns off' particular genes, which means that these genes will not be expressed. The organization of which genes are "turned on" and which ones are "turned off" is vital to human structure.

    Okay, so this would be like an anit-viagra?

    Wigs
    --I'm hungry, time to eat lunch.

    1. Re:Anti-Viagra by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      No. It's absolutely unrelated to viagra in any manner.

      Sexual stimulation (being "turned on") is different than gene activation (being "turned on"). In one case you get a boner. In the other, you get a protein formed (which may regulate other proteins, "turn off" other genes, etc.)

  2. Be Not Proud by ATKeiper · · Score: 2
    The professor quoted in this article has made his career out of studying aging. Other recent studies (such as this) have pointed to other causes of aging, so we should remember that it is a complex process with many different causes which we should not expect to "master" any time soon - although everyone's fingers will undoubtedly be crossed.

    Certainly, mitigating or reducing the effects of the natural aging process seems a more realistic short-term goal than waiting for nanotechnology to make cryonics feasible.

    A. Keiper
    The Center for the Study of Technology and Society

  3. Hardly the "Secret to Aging" by Alik · · Score: 2

    Does anybody else remember a year or two ago when telomerase was figured out? You couldn't throw a rock without hitting articles about how this was the key to the fountain of youth and various Katzian pontifications on what it will be like to be immortal. Funny, I don't seem to be immortal. Wonder what happened?

    As far as I can tell from this story, they've found a transcription factor that exists in both yeasts and mammals. This is nice biology and will certainly be important, but there are many evolutionarily conserved transcription factors, none of which is the "secret to aging". Similarly, there are many reactions which happen to require NAD. Fat synthesis requires NAD, and if you take away NAD, the synthesis stops. This does not mean that the acetyltransferases and dehydrogenases are the "secret to aging".

    In short, I don't see anything here that makes this protein particularly special. The title of the article is pure hype.

    Alik

  4. I can only say this by Kaufmann · · Score: 2

    Hmmm... immortality.

    Seriously now, just how sad is it that, while the Windoze source code debacle gets 400+ posts, all these subject-specific stories that don't get posted in the main page (God knows why) only get like three posts?

    --
    To the editors: your English is as bad as your Perl. Please go back to grade school.
    1. Re:I can only say this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does this help?

    2. Re:I can only say this by powerlord · · Score: 2

      I agree but they also suffer from less trolls/1st posters, and O.T. conversations... of course maybe not ;)

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
  5. Big Fucking Deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wake me up when slashdot posts something that matters - like when the secret to Natalie Portman's bearded clam discovered.

  6. yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I'm a biochemist, so I know some stuff about this... but to dumb it down a bit...

    What's the difference between a 10 year old and an 80 year old? Skin! The 10 year-old has tight, healthy skin, whereas the 80 year-old has stiff, saggy, wrinkly skin. Skin is composed of collagen, which is made of cys (amino acid) crosslinks which give it it's strenth. But, as you age, the # of crosslinks increase, and the collagen becomes more brittle & inflexible.

    There is no fountain of youth. You can exercise, stay healthy, eat well, not smoke, don't do anything fun, etc. if you want, but you're going to die regardless (the quality of your life can vary though).

    Doubling the life of an earthworm isn't relevant to humans because earthworms don't live 79.6 years.

  7. The true cause of aging. by penguinicide · · Score: 1
    The cause of aging is very simple. The breaking down of the cellular reproduction process. As the cells in the body reproduce they have the potential to make a bad copy (also where cancer comes from). The bad copy may not be able to reproduce anymore. Over time these non-reproducing cells add up. It's called aging. (Anything that could possibly influence the reproduction process is a cause.)

    What I don't know is if the scientists see it this clearly, and are looking for specific mechanisms behind the degredation (to see if they can help prevent the problems), or think that there is some preprogrammed mechanism that forces aging (still a possibility, just not without standard wear and tear).

    --


    penguinicide... when jumping out a window just won't do.
  8. Some factors in the aging process by jd · · Score: 2
    Aging is horribly complex. Here are a -very- few factors which form an almost insignificant fraction of the whole process:

    • Metabolic rate. This determines the relative rate of repair/construction to disrepair/destruction.
    • Cell suicide. Cells will self-destruct, due to certain triggers that aren't well-understood. It may be, in part, affected by cell oxidation.
    • Cell oxidation. Cells oxidise, partly through exposure to radiation, partly when they process food. There are mechanisms for preventing cellular breakdown, through oxidation, but they aren't perfect.
    • Toxic metals. Aluminium is perhaps one of the worst for this, especially as it is found in many foods. It's also often used as a base for medicines. Exposure to high levels of aluminium will cause brittle bones. It may also be linked to Alzeimer's Disease. Aluminium in acidic rivers is invariably fatal to all water life.
    • Heart Rate. Researchers have shown that the -average- number of heartbeats for mice, over a typical lifespan, is the same as that for elephants, monkeys and other animals. The heart, it would appear, has a certain millage built into it. To affect a person's lifespan would require a detailed understanding of how to increase that millage, or even reset whatever clock is involved.
    • The Brain. This is where things get difficult. The brain is not built to be repaired. The body's immune system can't reach it. Brain cells don't divide and, once lost, aren't replaced. However, brain cells also have self-destruct mechanisms. They don't always work (hence tumors), but they are there. Short of having a large supply of non-specialised cells handy, there is nothing you can do to regenerate damaged or dead sections of the brain. Transplanting cells into the brain has been tried, and it does seem to work, but it's hardly an exact science, and precious little is really understood.
    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  9. (OT, but with purpose) Malda, please read this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You REALLY, REALLY need to make more mention of these sections than just that little side bar, and the random "Sections" sidebar, because only occasionally do people ever come in these parts to see if anything new has popped up. Make them more prominent! ANYTHING! This is SAD!

  10. Less posts/OT/Trolls != More signal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Yes, when you get fewer posts/threads/trolls/etc you get less noise, that doesn't mean you're getting more signal. You need more eyes period.

    The more eyes/knowledge you can bring to bear, the greater a discussion you get, the finer quality the best parts of the discussion are (if they can find each other thru the noise to interact).

    Problems for conversations are:

    Bandwidth/grabbing eyes/minds (ie: front page versus hidden site, and slashdotted servers vs big pipes/enough storage space to handle the load).

    Ability to supress noise, or allow people to find the best stuff to interact with (ie: moderation/filtering/active agents).

    It doesn't benefit me, since I'm not a DNA/enzyme scientist to get something like this, and not know how accurate this guy (who hypes this stuff) is, or if it's even useful -- IF someone else with experience can't point out flaws, give me other sources.

    -- Ender, Duke_of_URL

  11. collagen-X-link by the Duke of Earl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Collagen cross linking is very damaging to the skin AND ORGANS which over the years loose proper functioning from a deterioration of the supporting connective tissues.

    an enzyme collagenase is manufactured in the body until the late teens if memory serves, but could probably be re stimulated by the the introduction of human growth hormone.

    Vit.C is capable of discharging active ions in the system lessening the possibility of such cross linkages.

    As an elderly gentleman I have been considering the possible effects of femaale sex hormones to improve vascular tone and maybe getting back a thicker scalp of hair hhmmm

    -30-

  12. I want to die... someday. by jallen02 · · Score: 1

    There is only so much life one person can live. I myself would like to pass on some time. Ive been shit on enough but im still around and kicking because I know there are things out there.