Tajna večnog života

Rešenje za postizanjem večnog života se možda krije u proceduri produženja hromozoma.

Ova procedura bi dozvolila naučnicima da produže telomere, zaštitne kapice na kraju hromozoma koje se skraćuju sa godinama, prenosi Independent.

Telomere štite hromozome od oštećenja dok se ćelije dele i rastu. Međutim, one se s vremenom smanjuju i gube svoju zaštitničku ulogu. Kada do toga dođe, smatra se da je otpočeo proces starenja. 
Nova procedrura omogućava naučnicima da produže telomere i na taj način uspore biološki sat, što će ljude učiniti mlađima. Ispitivane ćelije pokazale su se kao mlađe i brže. 
“Ovaj pristup je nov način prevencije protiv raznih bolesti starenja. Postoje i veoma parališuće genetske bolesti povezane sa skraćenjem telomera koje bi mogle da imaju korist ovog potencijalnog tretmana”, izjavio je jedan od istraživača. 
Proces je otkrila Helen Blau sa Univerziteta Stenford, koja ja sve podatke o ovom otkriću objavila u naučnom radu zajedno sa Džonom Ramunasom i Eduardom Jakubovom. 
“Otkrili smo način kako da produžimo ljudske telomere za čak 1.000 nukleotida, što je omogućilo vraćanje biološkog sata unazad i produžilo životni vek”, izjavila je Helen. 

izvor: B92

Eternal life could be achieved by procedure to lengthen chromosomes

The key to eternal life could be a procedure to lengthen chromosomes.The procedure would allow scientists to lengthen telomeres, the protective caps that are on the end of chromosomes and shorten with age.

The telomeres protect chromosomes from getting damage as cells divide and grow. But as they do, they slowly become shorter and eventually are unable to protect the chromosomes. When that happens, they are liable to deteriorate — thought to be a key part of the ageing process.

The new process allows scientists to lengthen the telomeres, effectively turning back the biological clock and making the chromosomes — and the people that are made out of them — younger.

When the cells have been treated, they behave as if they are younger and multiply quickly rather than stagnating or dying.

The procedure could eventually be used to treat patients with genetic diseases that lead to the telomere being shortened before it should be, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It could also be used to treat more general symptoms of ageing, like diabetes and heart disease.

“This new approach paves the way toward preventing or treating diseases of ageing,” said one of the researchers on the study. “There are also highly debilitating genetic diseases associated with telomere shortening that could benefit from such a potential treatment.”

The researchers behind the study hope that the procedure will be able to allow scientists to generate large numbers of cells to study or use to develop drugs.

The process has been discovered by Helen Blau of Stanford University, who was senior author on a paper describing the procedure with John Ramunas of Stanford and Eduard Yakubov from the Houston Methodist Research Institute. “Now we have found a way to lengthen human telomeres by as much as 1,000 nucleotides, turning back the internal clock in these cells by the equivalent of many years of human life,” said Helen Blau, who is also professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford and director of the university’s Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology. “This greatly increases the number of cells available for studies such as drug testing or disease modeling.

izvor: Independent