According to an article published in the journal Nature Genetics, scientists have discovered the cause of aging. Damaged DNA is responsible for this. “DNA damage functionally underlies key aspects of physiological aging,” the researchers wrote. Understanding how signs of aging appear requires looking at every step of the process.
In the study, a team from Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands looked at mice and studied how protein production slowed as they got older. Looking back, we can blame damaged DNA for aging and death.
Master DNA
As William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, explained in an article for Forbes, the slowdown in protein production results from DNA damage. Proteins are made up of ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is responsible for copying DNA. The process of converting DNA into RNA is known as transcription, and it involves taking genetic information from DNA and moving it outside the cell. DNA is used to securely store our genetic code long-term, and RNA is molecules used in cells as an intermediary between genes. The DNA is copied and transferred to another organism in the body to produce proteins that prevent cells from aging.
Cumulative damage to DNA hinders the transcription process. The researchers found that in older mice, the RNA production phase tends to stop, causing DNA to build up behind it and darken the DNA strands until the process stops. The larger the gene, the more frequently protein production stops.
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