Chinese Scientists Develop Gene Therapy Which Could Delay Aging
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:
Chinese scientists develop gene therapy which could delay ageing:
BEIJING (Reuters) - Scientists in Beijing have developed a new gene therapy which can reverse some of the effects of ageing in mice and extend their lifespans, findings which may one day contribute to similar treatment for humans.
The method, detailed in a paper in the Science Translational Medicine journal earlier this month, involves inactivating a gene called kat7 which the scientists found to be a key contributor to cellular ageing.
The specific therapy they used and the results were a world first, said co-supervisor of the project Professor Qu Jing, 40, a specialist in ageing and regenerative medicine from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
"These mice show after 6-8 months overall improved appearance and grip strength and most importantly they have extended lifespan for about 25%," Qu said.
[...] Qu said she hopes to be able to test the method on primates next, but it would require a lot of funding and much more research first.
"In the end, we hope that we can find a way to delay ageing even by a very minor percentage...in the future."
Journal Reference:
Wei Wang, Yuxuan Zheng, Shuhui Sun, et al. A genome-wide CRISPR-based screen identifies KAT7 as a driver of cellular senescence [$], Science Translational Medicine (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abd2655)
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