Researchers at the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have tried what is considered the first gene therapy is able to extend the life of rats. It is a treatment which acts directly on genes, in adult animals, and which is applied only once. Mice treated with this procedure lengthened her life by 24%, delaying the onset of diseases of old so without increasing the incidence of cancers or other disorders. And the good news is that this is a therapy which can be applied in humans.

This may be one of the most important news of the year: Maria A. Blasco and M. Bruno Bernardes de Jesus, along with a group of colleagues from the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have developed and successfully tested what it believes is the first gene therapy can extend the life of rats. Unlike previous works, this treatment is implemented in adult, directly modifying genes. In other experiments had to modify the genes while the guinea pigs were in an embryonic state, a situation that was virtually irrelevant in humans and, of course, completely useless to extend the life of those who are alive. This is a therapy that could be applied in humans, which has proven safe and effective in mice, and has managed to extend the life of the treated mice by up to 24%. Another remarkable aspect of this experiment is that the treatment they have tuned CNIO scientists has not only prevented the emergence of diseases typical of old such as osteoporosis, but has improved neuromuscular coordination without thereby has been increased the incidence of cancer.

The results of this work have been published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, and statistics show that mice were treated per year of life lived 24% longer than those who received no treatment. Those who were treated at 2 years of life managed to live 13% longer. In essence, gene therapy is used to treat the animal with a virus whose DNA has been modified to incorporate the gene for the enzyme telomerase, which is closely related to aging. Scientists know that telomerase is able to repair the telomeres (the ends of chromosomes), "holding back" the clock cells. The role of viruses in this therapy is simply to act as a vector capable of delivering the modified DNA to each cell of the body being treated.



The authors note that the experiment has "shown that it is possible to develop an anti-aging telomerase gene therapy without increasing the incidence of cancer", which until now had never been achieved. "The adult organisms accumulate DNA damage result of the shortening of telomeres, this work shows that gene therapy based on the production of telomerase has the potential to repair or delay this damage," say the authors. The telomerase gene is active only in cells of the body before birth. The cells of the adult, with few exceptions (basically, the stem cells and cancer cells), lack of telomerase. In fact, this makes tumor cells virtually immortal. Now, thanks to this treatment, you could get the same "aging effect" without the risk of cancer. You may not apply this therapy in humans until several years, but nobody can doubt that this is a very good first step on the road that leads to a prolongation of life expectancy without additional risks.

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