Scientists at Columbia University found that children born in the vicinity of a coal-fired power plant in Chongqing Tongliang before its closure had shorter telomeres than those that lived after the shutdown of the TPP.

Thus, dirty air can promote premature aging. This is reported in a press release on the website MedicalXpress.

Telomeres are called end sections of chromosomes, which protect the loss of DNA in cell division. However, every time mitosis telomeres are reduced, which leads to a gradual increase in the instability of the genome. In the end, the cell ceases to share and dies. It is shown that the shortened length of telomeres is associated with cancer, cardiovascular diseases, decreased cognitive abilities, accelerated aging and premature death.

Researchers analyzed the length of telomeres in 255 newborns. It turned out that in the body of children who were born before the closure of TPP, there are a large number of traces of the effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on DNA. In addition, the level of these chemicals correlated with the length of telomeres, as well as with a low level of neurotrophic brain factor - a protein involved in the formation of neurons.

Source: lenta. en.