Budapest scientists discover way that could potentially slow or even stop the aging process – Health

Scientists may have made a breakthrough that could lead us to ditch dream anti-aging creams from our Christmas lists in the future – and it’s all thanks to worms.

Women generally live longer than men, and in the WE the average age expectancy between the sexes differs considerably.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that the average age expectancy is 80.2 years for women, compared to a much lower 74.8 years for men.

However, is there a way to slow down or even completely stop the aging process?

This is what a team of researchers Budapest undertook to respond and strangely made a eureka discovery with the help of towards.

THE scientistsled by Dr Ádám Sturm and Dr Tibor Vellai, from Eötvös Loránd University, took a close look at elements of our DNA with the aim of destabilizing the genetic codes that age us.

The group specifically looked at parts of our DNA called transposable elements (TEs) and conducted their experiments on our undulating animal friends.

ETs, more commonly known as “jumping genes,” move through our genetic code.

But if there is too much movement, our genetic codes can become unstable and the functioning of our cells disrupted, causing us to age.

However, research has revealed cancer stem cells do not age.

Based on this discovery, doctors explored “the path to immortality” by examining the process at work in cancer cells, known as the Piwi-piRNA pathway.

They achieved this by attempting to strengthen the Piwi-piRNA pathway in a worm called Caenorhabditis elegan and by reducing the regulation of TEs.

The results led to a surprising discovery because the worms aged more slowly.

And what’s even more interesting is that when scientists controlled multiple TEs simultaneously, the lifespan of the worm increased by up to 30%.

They published their discovery in Natural communications, showing how controlling certain ETs can modify the functioning of genes in DNA and ultimately slow down the aging process.

Commenting on the research, Dr Sturm said: “In our lifespan experiments, by simply down-regulating TEs or somatically overexpressing elements of the Piwi-piRNA pathway, we observed a statistically significant benefit in terms of lifespan.

“This opens the door to a myriad of potential applications in the world of medicine and biology.”

Scientists said the study could even help find ways to improve human health or even extend lifespan.

On the subject of immortality, Dr Vellai said: “This epigenetic modification could pave the way for a method to determine age from DNA, thereby providing an accurate biological clock. »