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Is aging of cells and organisms an inevitable process? Some research suggests that aging can be retarded (JW Gen Med Dec 28 2006) A new report suggests that it might even be reversible.
One reason cells age is that telomeres — the tips of the chromosomes — become shorter with each cell division, a process that can be stopped by turning on the enzyme telomerase. A team from Boston created mice in which telomerase was not produced but could be turned on at the investigators' discretion. In mice with no telomerase, tissues atrophied, stem cells were depleted, tissue injury repair was compromised, and organs began to fail. Although chronologically young, they were physiologically very old and close to death.
One month after the investigators turn…