The Nazz
07-09-2006, 06:31
That seems to be the two options, according to some research done by three teams working jointly (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/06/science/06cnd-stem.html?hp&ex=1157601600&en=db44a829e712934c&ei=5094&partner=homepage) (I'm sure Bottle can tell you how rare that is) on genetic cancer research.
Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages.
The critical gene, already well known for its role in suppressing tumors, seems to mediate a profound balance between life and death. It weighs the generation of new replacement cells, required for continued life, against the risk of death from cancer, which is the inevitable outcome of letting cells divide. To offset the increasing risk of cancer as a person ages, the gene gradually reduces the ability of stem cells to proliferate.
The new finding, reported by three groups of researchers online Wednesday in Nature, was made in a special breed of mice that lack the pivotal gene, but is thought likely to apply to people as well.
The finding indicates that many of the degenerative diseases of aging are caused by an active shutting down of the stem cells that renew the body’s various tissues, and are not just a passive disintegration of tissues under life’s daily wear and tear, as is often assumed.
“I don’t think aging is a random process – it’s a program, an anti-cancer program,” said Dr. Norman E. Sharpless of the University of North Carolina, senior author of one of the three reports. The two other senior authors are Dr. Sean J. Morrison of the University of Michigan and Dr. David T. Skadden of the Harvard Medical School.I normally try to end these posts with a little quip or something, but not this time--ain't nothing funny about cancer, and I'm feeling old these days. :)
Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages.
The critical gene, already well known for its role in suppressing tumors, seems to mediate a profound balance between life and death. It weighs the generation of new replacement cells, required for continued life, against the risk of death from cancer, which is the inevitable outcome of letting cells divide. To offset the increasing risk of cancer as a person ages, the gene gradually reduces the ability of stem cells to proliferate.
The new finding, reported by three groups of researchers online Wednesday in Nature, was made in a special breed of mice that lack the pivotal gene, but is thought likely to apply to people as well.
The finding indicates that many of the degenerative diseases of aging are caused by an active shutting down of the stem cells that renew the body’s various tissues, and are not just a passive disintegration of tissues under life’s daily wear and tear, as is often assumed.
“I don’t think aging is a random process – it’s a program, an anti-cancer program,” said Dr. Norman E. Sharpless of the University of North Carolina, senior author of one of the three reports. The two other senior authors are Dr. Sean J. Morrison of the University of Michigan and Dr. David T. Skadden of the Harvard Medical School.I normally try to end these posts with a little quip or something, but not this time--ain't nothing funny about cancer, and I'm feeling old these days. :)