Life Extension: Ending It All

                    Telomere

Telomeres are the “caps” on the ends of chromosomes that keep things functioning smoothly. Normally, each time a cell divides its telomeres get shorter, until eventually the cells can no longer function. The enzyme telomerase can restore the telomeres (that is how many cancer cells achieve their self-destructive “immortality”).

By itself, that doesn’t mean that somehow inducing or restoring telomerase function can stop you from ageing. But in a report in BioTechniques, not only are telomerase-deficient mice “severely degenerate: shrunken brain, impaired cognition, infertility, gray hair, dermatitis, and all sorts of problems that would not be unlike a 90 or 100 year old person”, but when such engineered mice have their telomerase switched back on:

“What we witnessed was this dramatic reversal in the signs and symptoms of aging. Their brain size increased, cognition improved, and olfaction improved.” Interestingly, throughout life the brain produces neurons that populate olfactory bulbs and if an organism goes through premature aging those neurons never get a chance to develop. The fact that olfaction was restored in these mice is strong evidence that the aging process was going in reverse.

Of course, these mice were prematurely not naturally aged. But the fact that such remarkable results were achieved – and the premature ageing was so similar to normal ageing – makes this a hot area to keep an eye on.