Monday, June 2, 2008

Tumor Suppressor Genes Affect Aging

On Friday the Mayo Clinic announced that its researchers had shown that—in mice, at least—a pair of tumor suppression genes had a significant impact on aging. Their findings were published in the online issue of Nature Cell Biology.

The researchers discovered that when the tumor suppression gene p16 was over-expressed, tissues in their mice models started aging rapidly. But when the p19 gene was overexpressed, it counteracted the effects of p16, retarding aging.

Whether these results will have any implications for humans is yet to be determined.

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