Shorter lifespan in worms is linked to changes in gene activity that in turn alter sugar metabolism. This highlights the importance of gene activity rather than DNA mutations as a driving force of aging. Continue reading Your DNA is only as old as it feels: epigenetic regulation of aging in roundworms
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks – but maybe you can have an old brain grow new neurons. New research published in Nature Medicine has shed some light onto the debated topic of whether adult brains can create new neurons in the hippocampus, the region of the brain that is important in short- and long-term memory consolidation. As you might expect, … Continue reading Old Brain, New Neurons?
by Patrick Griffin figures by Abby Burrus There has been much talk in recent years about the disconnectedness of coastal elites, epitomized by Silicon Valley characters such as VC-mogul Peter Thiel and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Their wealth and fame make them appear god-like, free of the mortal cares of middle-America. Yet, death, the great equalizer (it could also be said to be … Continue reading Even Silicon Valley’s Elite Age, but for How Long?
Naked mole rats are a peculiar species in the animal kingdom for a number of reasons. These wrinkled rodents are immune to cancer, insensitive to pain, and capable of surviving for up to 18 minutes in zero-oxygen environments. Recently, researchers have discovered that in addition to these peculiarities, naked mole rats — unlike all other mammalian species — simply do not age. In 1825, British … Continue reading Naked Mole Rats: An Exception to the Rule
by Paris Bentley figures by Michael MacArthur The immediate environmental effects of nuclear bomb testing during the Cold War era were undoubtedly devastating. Having left enormous negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts all over the world, it is hard to imagine that any sort of silver lining to these tests could exist. But despite all the destruction that these tests caused, their remnants are now being … Continue reading Unexpected Lessons Learned from Mid-Century Atomic Bomb Explosions
A team at UC Berkeley investigated the effects of transfusing blood from young mice into old mice and vice versa. They found that young blood only slightly improves some functions (e.g. brain cell development) in old mice, but old blood significantly decreases those functions in young mice. This points to something present in old blood that actually ages our systems, but that something is still unknown. Continue reading Transfusing old blood into young mice aged their systems
by Gabriel Filsinger figures by Anna Maurer Can biological aging be slowed or reversed? Time is constantly passing. Given enough time, we change as people and move between stages of life, transforming from children into young adults and evolving from parents into elderly grandparents. Although we may not notice it explicitly, time continually and unrelentingly propels us forward into the future. To us, time and … Continue reading Resetting the Aging Clock: The science of age reversal
Women now tend to live longer than their male counterparts in every country in the world, but anatomy alone cannot fully explain why. Looking to solve this riddle, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently studied how the primary causes of death have changed over the past few centuries. They found that men and women had comparable life expectancies during the 19th century and that the … Continue reading Nature or Nurture: Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?
“… several groups have previously demonstrated that circulating factors found in young mouse blood are capable of rejuvenating various organs in aged mice.” Continue reading Young Blood Rejuvenation – Groundbreaking Science or Old News?