The secret of longevity is a telomerase mutation

Ashkenazi Jews found the "longevity gene"
Copper newsAmerican scientists have found increased activity of the telomerase enzyme in Ashkenazi Jews due to a mutation of the corresponding gene, the BBC reports (Mutant genes 'key to long life').

Telomerase restores telomeres – DNA fragments located at the ends of chromosomes and carrying a protective function. With each cell division, the telomere length decreases. When their length becomes below critical, the cell loses the ability to divide. It is assumed that this phenomenon underlies the aging of the body.

In most cells of the human body, telomerase is blocked. Its activity is observed only in stem and germ cells. Unblocking this enzyme in the remaining (differentiated) cells is considered as a potential "cure for old age".

(The fact that telomerase is also active in cancer cells and that such treatment can be a double–edged sword, colleagues from the BBC and the Media delicately kept silent - VM.)

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine collected blood samples from 86 Ashkenazi centenarians for genetic analysis, who, despite an average age of 97 years, did not have serious health problems. Blood was also collected from 175 of their descendants and from 93 members of the control group, in whose family there were people with normal life expectancy.

It turned out that the telomerase level and telomere length in centenarians were significantly higher than in the control group. Moreover, these features are inherited, that is, due to a certain variant of the enzyme gene.

According to the head of the study, Yousin Suh, scientists are currently trying to understand the mechanism by which the discovered variant of telomerase lengthens telomeres, and possibly develop drugs that increase the activity of this enzyme and slow down aging.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru17.11.2009