Telomerase
Anti-aging seems to be among the newest goals of medicine and science. Every here and then, we see new anti-aging treatments, dietary supplements and so on that show promising results. After all, every decade, life expectancy increases by 2 years, and there are half a million people who are over 100 years old worldwide. So… how far can we stretch the limits of human life? Are we on the path to immortality?
There is an enzyme capable of conferring additional life to cells was a very promising finding in the development of anti-aging and even anti-cancer therapies.
Although it may seem like a science fiction movie, there is a molecule with the ability to extend life indefinitely, and you don't need to go very far to find it. It is inside your own organism, albeit at a microscopic level. Telomerase is an enzyme whose sole function is to confer additional life to cells. And how does it do that? By lengthening the ends of chromosomes, called telomeres.
The genetic information is stored in the chromosomes, i.e. the instructions that determine how everything in your body works: the color of your hair, the shape of your lips and also, the diseases you are most at risk of suffering from. Since its discovery in 1990, it has been proven that short telomeres are related to premature aging and higher incidence and mortality from cancer. It is also related to a weakened immune system, type 2 diabetes, elevated blood cholesterol levels, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, low bone density, dementia, and even infertility.
It is precisely because of cancer disease that we owe the discovery of Telomerase: in 2003, the American Elizabeth Blackburn, together with her team, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for proving how tumor cells were able to activate the action of telomerase to become immortal.
So, if there is an enzyme capable of lengthening telomeres, why do we suffer from diseases and die? In reality, telomerase activity is "deactivated" at birth. So, from then on, we are irremediably condemned to grow old and, ultimately, to die.
The good thing is that science and medicine are always advancing, so now, gene therapy with Telomerase are available. You can up the production of this enzyme naturally with exercise, a good diet and overall healthy diets, but the gene therapy will always bring very good results in ways that nature can’t possibly do.