Russian scientists have learned to prolong the life of cells, increasing the number of divisions that they can go through life. Perhaps, by that they managed to solve one of the fundamental problems of mankind - the problem of aging.

As you know, the life expectancy of any multicellular organism is determined primarily by the number of divisions that can pass through its cells. The fact is that this number is limited - sooner or later the newly formed cells cease to divide, stopping the renewal of tissues and restoring their functions. The causes of this phenomenon have not yet been studied - perhaps it is explained by the accumulation in the genome of newly formed "genetic errors" that make the next stage of division impossible, or this restriction is written somewhere in the cell genes.

However, it is known that an important role in this process is played by so-called telomeres - DNA fragments that protect it from damage. With each cell division, telomeres are shortened and eventually cease to perform their functions. In order to increase this limit, scientists from the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences introduced into the experimental cell culture a special epithelon protein, an artificial analogue of telomerase, an enzyme that restores telomere length.

As a result, if in the control culture the cells ceased to divide on the average on the 34th generation, then in the experimental culture they retained the ability to divide even at the 44th. Moreover, the introduction of epithalon did not lead to malignancy of the culture - all cells retained their properties and did not turn into cancerous ones, for which uncontrolled division is also characteristic. At the moment, the efficacy of epithalon has been demonstrated in cell cultures, as well as in mice and monkeys. Next in line is clinical research.

Medicus. En.