As a person grows older, the number of ageing, or “senescent”, cells increases. These ageing cells fail to die off or multiply, as healthy cells should.
Technology developed in South Korea recently may change that. Researchers from the Department of Chemistry at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology can isolate ageing cells from healthy cells and remove them.
In the human body, ageing cells can spread inflammation and damage to other cells. The increase in the number of ageing cells — known as cellular senescence — has been connected to age-related conditions, including:
- Cancer.
- Diabetes.
Osteoporosis.
Cardiovascular disease.
Stroke.
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Osteoarthritis.
Declines in eyesight, mobility, and thinking ability.
The research focused on developing a technology that could precisely target and eliminate ageing cells, while sparing normal healthy cells.
“The selective removal of ageing cells, by targeting the mitochondria and inducing dysfunction, has been successfully demonstrated in our experiments,” lead researcher Professor Ja Hyoung Ryu said.
