An elderly manFLICKR, BLEU MAN
Researchers have been able to delay the onset of age-related health declines in mice by selectively killing off aging cells, suggesting that cellular senescence can actively causing damage to surrounding tissue. The findings, published today (November 2) in Nature, could one day be used to create anti-aging therapies.
“It’s been speculated for some time that these senescent cells are a major cause of what goes wrong with aging,” said molecular and cell biologist Judith Campisi of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Calif., who was not involved in the study. “So this is really a very important step forward in validating that hypothesis.”
Indeed, researchers have long recognized the role of senescent cells—aging cells which no longer divide—in the health decline that accompanies ...
