Every day, behind closed laboratory doors, scientists are performing experiments and doing studies looking for ways to improve people’s lives and prolong their health . A recent study done regarding the regeneration of skin cells is looking extremely promising in both regards.
After ages spent looking for a way to restore skin cells to younger states, a team has discovered a method that seems to be working rather steadily, one where they’re able to reverse the age of the cells by 30 years.
Scientists have developed an exciting new method to reverse aging in human skin.
The study, published in eLife , explains the process, one they’re claiming is the longest ‘re-programming’ technique ever achieved.
Basically, they’ve found a way to take old cells and refresh them, restoring some of their functions and ‘renewing’ their biological age.
They performed trials that simulated a skin wound, finding these refreshed cells to behave more like youthful ones.
This process is called ‘maturation phase transient reprogramming’, or MTPR. The authors of the study wrote, “The magnitude of rejuvenation instigated by MTPR appears substantially greater than that achieved in previous transient reprogramming protocols.”
“In addition, MPTR fibroblasts produced youthful levels of collagen proteins, and showed partial functional rejuvenation of their migration speed.”
The research is still in its very early stages.
However, if things continue to go well, scientists are hoping their findings could help “revolutionaries regenerative medicine”, especially if their method can be applied to other cell types.
Regenerative biology is all about repairing cell function.
The idea is to revert cells to younger states so that they’re able to do the functions they tend to lose as they get older, similar to humans losing some abilities as they age, without the risk of the cell becoming wiped clean and thus being able to turn into a new cell type. They want the same cell, just younger and stronger.
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This breakthrough means they found a method of doing just that.
Those involved are already looking to the future of their research.
Professor Wolf Reik, a group leader in the Epigenetics research, said “This work has very exciting implications. Eventually, we may be able to identify genes that rejuvenate without reprogramming, and specifically target those to reduce the effects of aging.”
“This approach holds promise for valuable discoveries that could open up an amazing therapeutic horizon.”
h/t: LADBible
