Did Scientists Just Discover How To Dramatically Extend Human Lifespan?

• Did Scientists Just Discover How To Dramatically Extend Human Lifespan?
  by Steven Maxwell, http://www.activistpost.com/  
  Could it be possible that medical researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine have found the secret of the “fountain of youth” while experimenting with the genetics of mice?
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  In an article posted on Popular Mechanics, cell biologists Darren Baker and Jan van Deursen are noted as the researchers responsible for this developing medical breakthrough. The process they took seems to be an approach that anyone could suggest without an extensive medical background: take out dead, stagnant cells that have stopped reproducing in order to make more room for the active cells to reproduce.
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  The seven-year study by Baker and van Deursen showed, through careful observation, that the use of the tumor-suppressing protein molecule, “p16lnk41” (or “p16” as referred to by the article), altered the genetic coding of the mice which caused them to secrete “caspase,” an agent that self-destroys when it is within a cell. By making stagnant cells secrete caspase, these cells self-exploded, resulting in the decrease of stagnant cells in the body and the increase in lifespan and quality.
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  By removing these stagnant cells, the lifespans of the mice in the study not only increased by 25%, but the removal of stagnant cells also showed a reverse in the signs of aging. These cells, referred to as senescent cells, are normally cycled through the immune system to be ejected from the body; but, as the body ages, this function slows and becomes less effective which in turn leads to an increase in senescent cells in the body.
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