Find a drug that extends your mouse's life expectancy by 35%, coming soon for humans?

Only by simply removing the old, undivided cells, scientists were able to extend the life of the mice by up to 35%, while delaying the occurrence of diseases. It is related to aging such as cardiovascular disorders, kidney failure, cataract, tumor formation, . Although it has only been successfully applied on mice, it is not far away. This is also used to extend life.

A member of the research group, cell biologist Darren Barker of the University of Mayo, said: "This approach not only helps the mouse live longer, but it also ensures good health despite being older. This is an important start because not only does it last long, but the ultimate goal is to live well, no one wants to last a few years of life just to stay in the hospital. '

When it comes to aging, weak old cells appear everywhere in the body, including the skin, muscles and organs and because of the high pressure exerted, these cells also stop feces. dividing and accidentally reducing the ability to form cancer cells. Jan van Deursen, another member of the research team, said: " Aging is a biological mechanism that functions as an " emergency brake " , using damaged cells to stop dividing. While this cell division is important for preventing cancer, when the "brake" function is activated, these cells are no longer needed. "

This approach not only helps the mouse live longer, but it also ensures good health despite being older.

When we are young, our immune system will routinely erase damaged cells that accumulate in the body, but once old, this function becomes ineffective, old cells go on. accumulate and gradually destroy our body. More notably, these are cells associated with heart failure, arthritis, Alzheimer's and cancer.

To determine what happens when the above cell compensation mechanism continues to be maintained in old age, the researchers conducted mutations in the mice, forcing them to continue to produce. a protein that destroys cells. This type of protein is produced only in response to another protein called P16 produced by aging cells. Later, the researchers used a special drug to activate and control cellular shedding, injected into middle-aged mice (12 months old in rats, equivalent to 40 years old in children). people.

The drug is injected into the body twice a week throughout the life of the mouse. The results showed that the older the mouse is, the more effective it is. Specifically, the lifespan of mice has been extended from 17 to 35% (an average of 25%), while they still live healthier than other elderly mice not treated with drugs. However, this therapy is still not perfect, some aging cells have not been destroyed, including in the intestine and liver. From here, there appear to be hard to heal injuries and difficult to control.

Therefore, the researchers set a goal in the future to find a way to completely erase the weak old cells in the human body and, of course, this is a much more difficult task than on mice. The key is to develop a drug that has the same effect on humans. Known as Unity Biotechnology, the US has begun funding this research to develop a drug to fight aging. If successful, is it possible that a life-long drug will become a reality in the near future?