A secret of youth may have been discovered by CNRS researchers after a study resulting from analyzes of small zebrafish. These marine animals would share with us 70% of their genes, which would have allowed scientists to find a cure for aging, and even for certain neurodegenerative diseases.
Everyone has dreamed at least once of obtaining eternal life. We may be on the right track thanks to the discovery of a handful of CNRS researchers who looked at the 70% of genes we share with small zebrafish. The aim of the scientists is in particular to seek to slow down the process of shortening of the chromosomes present in the intestine, of the telomeres more precisely. These cells are located at the ends of our chromosomes and shrink throughout life, each time they regenerate.
And it is the telomerase enzyme which makes it possible to lengthen the ends of the chromosomes and has thus been injected into the intestines of zebrafish. Miguel Godinho Ferreira of the Nice-based Cancer and Aging Research Institute describes the remarkable results of the study. “With telomerase, only on the intestine, we managed to recover the aging of the latter, and for our surprise, all the rest of the organism became younger”, he explains.
Counteract cancer or neurodegenerative diseases
Thanks to these experiments, the team of researchers has also “succeeded in increasing the survival of these fish by 40%.” In addition, fish that were sterile became fertile again, which is a potentially revolutionary discovery for man. It opens up prospects for countering pathologies associated with telomere shrinkage, such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases.
Source: Europe1
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