Running head: AGING RESEARCH

Aging Research

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
AGING RESEARCH

Aging Research

The finding from the research that old mice can be rejuvenated by sharing blood supply

from young mice is mind blowing. This is possible using stem cell science, and the results of

strengthened pancreas, liver, and heart depicts that aging research is being revolutionized.

Exposing old mouse to young environmental conditions, and the result being better brain

functioning is just fascinating. The correlation between the body and the brain has been

established to be the key to youthfulness. Human bodies live in an entirely different environment

when we get older due to degenerative blood tissues. As a result, humans are prone to age-related

illnesses that deny them their youth. The research is proof that science has found a way to

deceive death; therefore, the Fountain of Youth is not elusive after all.

The research implies that body factors can be modulated to reverse aging through a

process called parabiosis. Surgical connection of an old and young mice revealed that more

neural stems resulted in neural development in the old brains (Wyss-Coray, n. d). As a result, the

new genes result in the creation of new memories. However, no new cells entered the old brains

during the transfer, therefore; therefore the conclusion was that soluble factors caused

regeneration. Conclusively, the research suggests that young blood factors can change brain

functioning that reflect on body rejuvenation of the mice.

Another aging research model is the removal of senescent cells from mice genetically.

Removing senescent cells prevented the spread of damaged cells that causes age-related

disorders. These cells accumulate in aging cells; therefore, disrupting the functioning and
AGING RESEARCH

structure of some tissues. The research found that the mice population exhibited enhanced health

and increased physical activity. Besides, it suggests that late-life clearance senescent cells halted

the proliferation dysfunctional cells. The result provided experimental evidence that showed that

treated animals showed increased diameters of muscle fibers as well as enhanced performance in

exercise activities (Baker et al., 2012). The successes of the experiments were based on the

reduced number of senescent cells in the fat and skeletal muscles. However, the research was

unable to determine whether the removal of senescent cells affected age-related deficits such as

infertility, cataracts, and fat loss associated with aging mice.

In addition, another research that focused on the study of myasthenia gravis provided

insight into how genetic factors cause aging. The research was successful in determining that the

disease influences cellular mechanisms that cause immune illnesses in human bodies.

Myasthenia gravis is a disease that makes humans susceptible to auto-antigens that lead to

development of complications in the thyroids, diabetes, arthritis, and other immune-related

disorders (Renton et al., 2014).

Moreover, the research established that the disease is genetically-inherited based on the

family history. Therefore, genetic modification of these auto-immunes through cell biology is

likely to cause persons to be less susceptible to these diseases; as a result, delaying the aging

process. However, the research failed to establish the relationship between functional variants of

early and late-onset illnesses on the contraction of myasthenia gravis in humans.

AGING RESEARCH

References

Baker, J. D., Wijshake, T., Tchkonia, T., LeBrasseur, K. N., Childs, G. B., de Sluis, B….

Deursen, M. J. (2012). Clearance of p-16 positive senescent cells delays aging-associated

disorders. HHS Public Access, 479(7372), 232-236.

Renton, E. R., Pilner, A. H., Provenzano, C., Evoli, A., Ricciardi, R., Nalls, A. M….Traynor, J.

B. (2016). A genome-wide association study of myasthenia gravis. HHS Public Access,

72(4), 364-404.

Wyss-Coray. (n. d). How young blood might help reverse aging. Yes, really. [Online]. TED.

Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_wyss_coray_how_young_blood_might_help_reverse_agi

ng_yes_really/transcript