Why do we age? | New insights into anti-aging science: epigenetics and cell repair
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Why do we age? | New insights into anti-aging science: epigenetics and cell repair
Aging is not necessarily an inevitable fate.
Imagine identical twins living in different environments: one frequently stays up late and experiences stress, while the other maintains a healthy lifestyle. Decades later, despite having identical genes, their appearance and physical condition differ significantly. Why do identical twins age differently despite having the same DNA?
Traditional theory: limitations of wear theory
In the past, the scientific community generally believed that aging was the result of "wear and tear":
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Free radicals continue to damage cells
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DNA damage accumulates over the years
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Telomeres gradually shorten
These do explain part of the puzzle, but they don't answer the whole question of why twins age differently.
New perspective: Cells Have “Forgotten How to Be Young”
Recent studies have proposed a groundbreaking answer—the loss of epigenetic information.
It’s like a musical performance: the sheet music (DNA) is still intact, but the conductor (epigenetic marks) has lost control, causing the orchestra to fall into disarray. The cells are still there, but they have “forgotten how to play the melody of youth.”
Research Story: Experiment to Reverse Aging in Mice
A team led by Professor David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School conducted an amazing experiment:
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They first "disrupted" the DNA program of mice, resulting in the mice showing signs of rapid aging: their hair became dull, their muscles atrophied, as if time had been accelerated.
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Next, they tried to "reset" the cells' epigenetic information.
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Miraculously, the mice's tissue function returned to its youthful state!
This experiment tells us that aging is not simply a loss of function, but rather a loss of correct instructions for cells - which can be restarted.
Anti-aging inspiration
Research like this has transformed our understanding of aging:
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Aging is not irreversible, but rather a disorder of "information programs".
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By repairing or resetting the epigenetic marks of cells, it may be possible to slow down or even reverse aging in the future.
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This is exactly the direction that regenerative medicine and advanced anti-aging technology are heading.
For Cell Secret™, these research results are highly consistent with our vision: starting from the origin of cells, awakening muscle memory and restoring youth.
Further reading
👉 In the next article, we will delve into the "language" between cells and see how exosomes transmit "youth signals" to each other.
📖 Reference
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Sinclair DA, et al. Loss of epigenetic information as a cause of mammalian aging. Cell , 2020; 184(12): 3159–3175.
👉 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.052
