Gene edition
Numerous scientific papers are studying why some people, in their old age, are able to experience good health for their age, with partial solutions such as altering the gut microbiota, eliminating senescent cells, or drugs, as already studied in this paper published in Nature, in 2018.
Now, a study published in Nature Communications, led by Professor Haim Cohen, director of the Sagol Center for Healthy Human Longevity at Bar-Ilan University (Israel), has managed to increase lifespan in mice by 23% thanks to a protein called sirtuin 6 (SIRT6), something that could be replicated in humans.
"This discovery, combined with our previous findings, shows that SIRT6 controls the rate of healthy aging," explained Cohen. "If we can determine how to activate it in humans, we may be able to prolong life, and this could have huge health and economic implications." Therefore, their findings are currently going to continue along the path of discovering how this protein could, for example, extend the age of 90-year-olds to 120 years, a truly novel fact.
The SIRT6 protein has been the focus of numerous studies at the university, as it is involved in the regulation of biological processes as important as aging, obesity, insulin resistance and metabolism itself. “SIRT6 was shown to regulate longevity and various physiological pathways. These include embryonic development, DNA repair, transposon stability, metabolism of carbohydrates, cholesterol and fat, inflammation, circadian rhythms, cancer, and aging”
Thus, this protein has been given the common name of "fountain of youth", even more so when it has been successfully tested in mice, which showed significantly greater improvement in diseases that usually occur with old age, apart from cancer and blood disorders.
Thus, the older mice showed little difference in the activity level of the younger ones, i.e., they did not become frail or less vigorous.
What they did was to genetically modify a group of mice, in order to discover that they improved their capacity to generate energy by breaking down fats and lactic acid. In short, a kind of sugar was created for use as energy in muscles and, specifically, the brain.
In 2019, in a study published in Cell Reports, Cohen and his team showed that mice with SIRT6 had longer life expectancy, whereas deficiency of this protein in primates caused peri- and post-embryonic lethality.
It is therefore not surprising that the most recent study is the basis for the search for new ways to extend the human lifespan, having shown that mice have increased lifespan. In conclusion, Cohen is already investigating new ways to extend human life expectancy and, at the same time, ensure healthy aging.