The Amish live on average 10 years longer: genetic mutation, but also the size of their telomeres.
The study by Professor Douglas Vaughan of North Western University in Chicago, published Wednesday in Science Advances, shows “The first human genetic mutation that has been found which has a multiple impact on the biological changes resulting from aging “. They also found that Amish people carrying this genetic mutation had 10% longer telomeres on average in immune cells.
This is one of the verifications of a hypothesis that we have known for a very long time; a theory which, in October 2009, allowed three American researchers to receive the Nobel Prize in medicine. The repair of a real injustice after 50 years of research concerns one of the mysteries of our life and the discovery of an enzyme which protects our chromosomes from aging. This is called the telomere theory. It sounds complicated, but it’s actually quite simple
It all depends on the size of the telomeres!
The blueprints of our body’s construction and function are completely contained in our chromosomes. These are shaped like an X. The 4 ends of this x are called telomeres; An area that we know protects our chromosomes, and therefore our life. They are the ones who bear the marks of aging. Each time a cell divides, the chromosomes do the same, with the risk, at the level of the ends, of losing some of the vital information they contain. Nature to protect our secrets of life, therefore put a kind of cap, a plug that prevents the loss of this part of the chromosomes. These are the telomeres; The guarantors of successful multiplication without loss of information.
This theory of aging suggests that telomeres, throughout our life, by protecting our chromosomes wear out, shorten and that at some point they can no longer guarantee the birth of new cells in good condition. Man begins to age faster and to develop diseases. Hypothesis verified in some centenarians. The telomeres of some reference cells had become very, very short. But they still existed.
Remember Dolly
Understanding how this cap works would make it even more airtight. It looks, in fact, like a protective wall whose crucial role has been confirmed at Dolly! The first cloned sheep. After the euphoria of birth, Dolly began to age quickly and inevitably. Premature aging, inexplicable, except for the state of her telomeres which were those of the cell from which she had been conceived. A cell that is too old and especially with already very shortened telomeres.
We can have hopes from all these discoveries because researchers have demonstrated an enzyme that ensures the growth and repair of these telomeres, telomerase. A catalyst that allows them to grow. Conversely, if we touch telomerase, telomeres shorten… and we get old! We can therefore imagine a simple and practical conclusion; it suffices to give telomerase to an aging organism to “rejuvenate” its telomeres and thus acquire eternal youth …
This study on the Amish shows that the experimental studies which study the effect of a drug which would neutralize the PAI-1 protein which seems to be responsible for aging or the injection of telomerase make sense. The tests are in progress.
A detail however: The Amish live in an extremely simple way, in self-sufficiency with a strong implication in the physical works, apply without knowing it all the rules which recommend the prevention of the majority of the diseases; this simple observation is perhaps not trivial …
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