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Aging may just be a state of mind after all.
Scientists at the Harvard Medical School have developed a therapy which rejuvenates the worn out organs of the elderly and effectively reverses the aging process by regenerating the body. This age-defying treatment is, however, only available to mice — for now.
(See the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs.)
Aging is caused by a myriad of different processes but, according to the Guardian, this study looked at the 23 pairs of chromosomes (the lockup for our DNA) on an individual cellular level. The study focused on fixing a process known as telomere shortening, whereby the protective cap (the telomere) of the chromosome is worn away by constant cell division and eventually causes the cell to stop working. Ronald DePinho, leader of the study, found that when he gave aged mice an injection to reactivate the enzyme telomerase, which makes telomere, the mice experienced tissue repair among other signs of rejuvenation.
(See pictures of beautiful science in Seeking Art in Science.)
The reason that our cells stop is that the enzyme telomerase stops being produced in adult humans, effectively kick-starting the aging process but also to slow and halt repeated cell division to prevent cells from becoming cancerous. Scientists must strike a balance between decreasing the aging process and increasing the risk of cancer before anti aging therapy becomes a real possibility for humans.
Phew, after that brief biology lesson you can now go back to reading about WikiLeaks.