Wiping Out the Brain’s Retired Cells Prevents a Hallmark of Alzheimer's
A study in mice hints at a new approach for thwarting neurodegenerative diseases—but many questions remain.
In 2016, Darren Baker and Jan van Deursen from the Mayo Clinic announced that they had discovered a new way to prolong the life of mice: They cleansed the rodents of retired cells.
Over time, the cells of complex organisms accrue damage in their DNA, which threatens to turn them into tumors. Some cells defuse this threat by entering a state called senescence: They don’t die, but they permanently stop growing and dividing. These retired cells accumulate as we get older, and despite their name, they’re not idle. They secrete molecules that trigger inflammation, and they’ve been implicated in some of the health problems
