Senescent Cell Treatment Slows Aging Process On Mice, Study Reveals

It might be too clever to think but a group of scientist had found out a bewildering way on how to significantly extend a normal life span of a mice. Soon enough, biotech companies are planning to render this discovery to humans.

The study by medical researchers at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in New York headed by Darren Baker and Jan van Deursen conducted one of biggest innovations in understanding the complexity of physical aging.

Their study, published recently in the journal "Nature", concluded that systematically removing the cells that no longer reproduce can make a mice live longer than expected by more than 25 percent. Furthermore, clearing these stagnant cells slows the onset of age-related diseases such as heart and kidney deteriorations or even tumor formations according to Popular Mechanics.  

Moreover, Deursen admitted that the discovery just came about by accident when he was in the process of studying cancer in mice genetically controlled to become old and develop tumors. This is when he found out that if you block the cells from entering a state of senescence, you can avoid the early symptoms of aging as posted on MIT Technology Review. Senescent cells were claimed to be easy to kill except for cells found in the liver and colon. However, according to Science News, age-related deterioration of the functions of the organs such as the eyes, heart and kidney can be slowed.

Previously, it has been proven that senescent cells were needed for wound healing, so the probability that the treatment will be applied to humans will consider the fact that the senescent cell therapy can temporarily stop the wound healing processes in case of surgeries or accidents.

Overall, restorative treatments that prevent aging really catch the interest of most people yet the road to applying this therapy to humans is still a little rocky. Many processes and tests are still needed to be done before the treatment will be approved.