Tag: Epigenetics

Scientists have created a new, highly effective method of tracing blood cells’ lineage. This can improve our understanding of clonal hematopoiesis and its impact on an aging organism [1]. Hostile takeover In the human body, a relatively small pool of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) sustains a system that produces 100-200 billion mature blood cells each...

A new paper published in Nature Aging suggests that somatic mutations cause significant remodeling of the epigenetic landscape. The findings might be relevant to future anti-aging interventions [1]. The genome and the epigenome Genomic instability and epigenetic alterations are two of the hallmarks of aging [2]. The former occurs in somatic cells due to replication...

In a groundbreaking Nature paper, researchers have developed synthetic regulatory sequences that could prevent targeted gene therapies from having effects in unwanted cell types. More than methylation While methylation is the most well-known regulator of gene expression, it isn't the only thing that determines what is to be expressed when. Cis-regulatory elements (CREs), so called...

Juan José Alba-Linares and his research team have published a preprint study that examined why different animals age at different rates. They found that epigenetic changes over time could explain why some animals live longer and estimated an upper limit for mammalian lifespan [1]. A problem of noise Why We Age: Epigenetic AlterationsEpigenetic alterations are...

In a preprint published in bioRxiv, researchers have published their findings in applying an epigenetic clock to the axolotl, a salamander species that does not age like humans. More than just regeneration Axolotls, and salamanders more generally, are well-known for their regenerative capabilities, being able to grow back lost limbs [1]. These amphibians, similarly to...

A preprint study published on bioRxiv discusses how a species' maximum lifespan can be predicted by its epigenetics, showing that these differences are largely unaffected by interventions. Differences and similarities in mammals The researchers begin their paper with a note that bowhead whales live over a hundred times as long as shrews, even though these...