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UCLA biologists says they can slow the aging process by activating a gene by 'remote control.'
Scientists at the university's Molecular Biology Institute published a paper this month that found activating a gene called AMPK in fruit fly cells increased the insects' lifespans by about 30 percent and lived healthier lives.
The treatment could one day be used to increase human lifespan and stave off disease by stimulating the gene in targeted organs or organ systems.
Triggered: By activating AMPK in the cells of fruit flies, researchers at UCLA found they could significantly increase their lifespan
The study found that when AMPK was increased in cells in the nervous system, not only did the those cells age slower but the cells in the intestines did as well.
The reverse was true when AMPK was targeted in intestinal cells.
After treatment, the fruit flies in the study increased their lifespan from six weeks to eight weeks.
By tweaking levels of AMPK, scientists were allowing cells to dump 'cellular garbage,' components that cells discard due to damage or age.
Discarding this material earlier avoids damage to the cell and prevents the aging process.
David Walker, associate professor at UCLA and senior author of the research, is hopeful that the treatment could one day be used to prevent the debilitating diseases associated with aging.
New life: Biologists at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA are hopeful that this research could prevent aging-related diseases like Parkinson's
"Instead of studying the diseases of aging—Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes—one by one, we believe it may be possible to intervene in the aging process and delay the onset of many of these diseases," said Walker.
UCLA Newsroom writes fruit flies are used in gene studies because scientists have already cataloged the entirety of the fruit fly's genes and can activate targeted genes.
The lead author of the study said that a drug used to treat diabetes Type 2 could be used to activate AMPK in humans.
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