The number of centenarians is constantly increasing and often with excellent health. We have an answer on this injustice thanks to the analysis of the blood of several centenarians … On the occasion of All Saints’ Day, Pourquoi doctor takes stock of immortality.
The blood of people over 100 years old has revealed a lot of information, but above all has allowed the verification of a hypothesis that we have known for a very long time; a theory which allowed, in October 2009, three American researchers to receive the Nobel Prize for 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 totally 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, has 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. And this is what we verified in this centenary. The telomeres of two of his reference cells had grown very, very short. But they still existed.
Remember Dolly
We are starting to understand how this cap works, and what 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. A premature aging, inexplicable, except by 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 based on these discoveries, because researchers have identified an enzyme that ensures the growth and repair of these telomeres, telomerase. A catalyst that allows them to grow. Conversely, if we touch telomerase, the 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 … Some start-ups have already taken the plunge. We are waiting for the results!
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