Monthly Archives: October 2009

The lowly naked mole rat is in the news again.  I talked about the little critter in my in my February 2009 post Animal models of aging – the African naked mole rat.  I said “This little critter is the … Continue reading →

  MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (22 nucleotides,more or less) single-stranded RNA molecules which do not encode proteins. Discovered in 1993 they are recently coming under intense research scrutiny because of the important roles they play in post-transcriptional regulation of gene … Continue reading →

A recent publication suggests that DNA methylation may be the cause of aging and death in higher organisms.  The May 2009 publication by Alexander L. Mazin from Lomonosov Moscow State University is entitled Suicidal function of DNA methylation in age-related … Continue reading →

A couple of important tumor suppressor genes have figured heavily in my past writings and in anti-aging science discussions, P21 and P53.  Another tumor suppressor gene may now be coming onto center stage, NRG1.   Paying attention to the general … Continue reading →

I am partial to an occasional slice of pizza despite my health-driven dietary compulsions. I love to sprinkle generous amounts of oregano on the slices and have often wondered what the health properties of that pungent herb are.  I recently … Continue reading →

A cluster of research reports has appeared during the last few years looking at  mechanisms through which substances rich in phytochemicals (e.g. coffee, chocolate, turmeric, olive oil, broccoli, red hot peppers, green tea, garlic, blueberries, rosemary, oregano, sage) are cancer-preventative. … Continue reading →

For a great many years the medical establishment warned everyone of dire consequences that could result from taking large doses of vitamin D.  The daily maximum of 400iu was the strict acceptable limit to avoid vitamin D toxicity.  In recent … Continue reading →

Since its discovery in 1997 the Klotho gene has been known to be involved with longevity.  I came across a recent news article describing research linking expression of the gene to reduction in hypertension, and this led me to look … Continue reading →

An interesting report came to my attention relating to telomeres in pythons, and this set me off for the umpteenth time pursuing further research and thoughts about cell senescence, telomere lengths and telomerase. I share that all here. First of … Continue reading →

I have written about cancer stem cells several times in this blog, but many oncologists and cancer researchers still see cancer stem cells mainly as hypothetical entities whose relevance if not very-existence is questionable.  A recent article in Gen points … Continue reading →