Fountain of Youth

Recently, a group of mice was engineered to lack the enzyme telomerase, which has been connected to aging. Mice lacking the enzyme were found to have aged quicker, be less fertile, and of course, die young. This is because telomerase is involved in the decline of the loss of telomeres. Telomeres are caps of repetitive DNA at the end of chromosomes, in which every time a cell divide, its telomeres shorten, which eventually prompts it to stop dividing and die. Thus, scientists hope an increase in this enzyme will lead to a longer life span with continuous DNA reproduction. However, the downside is that telomerase is also linked to cancer, in which mutated forms of telomeres and telomerase actually tend to speed up tumor growth. Thus a great deal of research is still needed. Scientists have hope though after giving the mice telomerase, which were engineered without it to beging with, to find that a great deal or regeneration took place, possibly meaning that certain aging conditions in humans can be somewhat treated. The study acknowledges that there is a great deal more to aging than this lone enzyme, but are still looking into it for a potential breakthrough.

I found this article to be incredibly interesting, as humanity has always had some sort of obsession for the prolonging and even eternal youth, as shown by the search for the Fountain of Youth by Ponce de Leon. The potential breakthrough in anti-aging is staggering, as not only the idea is there, but the potential funding could really make this possible.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=telomerase-reverses-aging