Detection of genes that regulate brain aging

A group of Canadian and American scientists announced on January 17 that they have discovered an important gene that regulates brain aging.

Dr. Gilbert Bernier, a scientist at the University of Montreal, who led the study, said aging is the main cause of serious brain and neurological diseases such as skin pigmentation disorders, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

According to him, his team has identified the gene "Bmi1" that regulates directly the aging of brain cells as well as the mammalian nerve cells.

Tested on mice, Dr. Bernier and colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Research Laboratory in California, USA, discovered genetically modified mice "Bmi1" despite being born 20 days, but old. like a 2 year old mouse. He also said that the transformation of the "Bmi1" gene could accelerate the aging of the brain and mouse eyes.

This finding is a big step in gene decoding related to aging of the brain, allowing scientists to find ways to slow this process, while preventing many dangerous diseases. Dr. Bernier asserts that we can slow down the aging process of the brain by slowing down the activity of the "Bmi1" gene.

This finding is published in the journal "Neuroscience" (UK) in the middle of January 2009. /.