14 DAY TRIAL // This is something humanity has always dreamed of and longed for: immortality and being forever young. Now, a month after two proteins connected to the aging process have been discovered, an injection could be developed to simply...'erase' the health problems linked with aging.
The injection induces change in the cell's mitochondria, the energy generating organelle found in any cell of the body except the red blood cells. Mithocondria burn biochemicals like glucose and fatty acids employing oxygen, resulting water, carbon dioxide and energy that can be used by the cells, from the heart to muscles, brain and any living organ. Studies showed that their deterioration along the lifespan is a crucial factor of aging, as reported in New Scientist magazine.
By fixing DNA mutations in mitochondria, the organism could be enabled to ward off age related diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, stroke, Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer. The gradual storing of the mutated genes in mitochondria over a lifetime could be the main factor of aging. But inserting healthy genes into mitochondria to replace impaired ones has proven tricky so far.
"It is not a panacea but, if successful, it might potentially correct part of this age-associated damage to mitochondria which might be important in slowing down aging," Professor Patrick Chinnery, a leading British expert on mitochondrial disorders, told Daily Mail.
Mitochondria possess their own DNA, totally independent from the nucleus' DNA. If this DNA is mutated, the mitochondria's function is impaired. The problem is carrying genes across the mitochondrial membrane inside the mitochondria.
A team led by Marisol Corral-Debrinski at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris chose two mitochondrial gene mutations, one linked to muscle weakness and the other to blindness. They tagged normal type of these genes with two distinct 'address codes' and inserted them into lab cells. The team managed to reverse the mithocondria mutations.
Now the team is going to conduct trials on rats, and eventually humans. If successful, this could be the first 'elixir of life'. This treatment would slow down aging, but would not stop it completely, as other factors, too, are involved in this process.
A recent trial reported in the Lancet showed that injections of genes into the brain decreased significantly the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Mitochondrial impairment can affect one in 5,000 children, leading to nervous system issues and blindness.