Every day, our bodies face a bombardment of UV rays, ozone, cigarette smoke, industrial chemicals and other hazards.
This exposure can lead to free-radical production in our bodies, which damages our DNA and tissues. A new study from West Virginia University researcher Eric E. Kelley—in collaboration with the University of Minnesota—suggests that unrepaired DNA damage can increase the speed of aging.
The study appears in the journal Nature.
Kelley and his team created genetically-modified mice with a crucial DNA-repair protein missing from their hematopoietic stem cells, immature immune cells that develop into white blood cells. Without this repair protein, the mice were unable to fix damaged DNA accrued in their immune cells.
Read more at: West Virginia University
A new study by WVU School of Medicine researcher Eric Kelley suggests that unrepaired DNA damage can increase the speed of aging. Kelley and his colleagues genetically modified mice to remove a crucial DNA-repair protein from some of their stem cells. Without this protein, the mice were unable to fix damaged DNA accrued in their immune cells. By the time the genetically modified mice were 5 months old, they resembled a regular two-year-old mouse. For context, a two-year-old mouse is similar in age to an 80-year-old human. (Photo Credit: Aira Burkhart illustration/WVU)