- The discovery of ways to induce pluripotency of stem cells has allowed the advancement of stem cell, embryo, and organoid research.
- However, while pluripotency can be induced, the reversal of aging has proved more difficult.
- A group of researchers has claimed to have discovered cocktails of chemicals that reverse aging in cells.
- According to other researchers, the markers used to measure this could be an important breakthrough.
One of the most significant breakthroughs in biology in the past 2 decades was the discovery of how to induce stem cells to regain their
Stem cells are cells that are able to change into many different cells, and this process allows cells and tissues in the body to replace cells that have died or create cells needed in response to certain conditions, such as immune cells.
Being able to return differentiated cells to their previous pluripotent state and create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) was first achieved by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, and saw him and Sir John B. Gurdon awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their breakthrough.
Since then, understanding how to create induced pluripotent stem cells has been harnessed to allow for the development of embryo models to allow us to study the very earliest stages of human development and develop organoids for research into different conditions.
Despite the ability to make individual cells return to a state of greater pluripotency, returning cells to a younger state has proved challenging.
This is partly because the concept of an organism’s biological age and how that age affects it at the cellular level is complex and depends on many factors.
Telomeres are a segment of DNA at the end of a chromosome that shortens each time a cell divides, meaning the older an organism, the shorter the telomeres in its cells are.
Methyl groups are a molecule found attached to DNA that plays a role in how it is read by the cell machinery. The configuration of these…
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