I felt the author did an excellent job at conveying just how groundbreaking the new discovery could be as well as going into detail about what exactly this discovery is. Although, it appears that the cell purging is far away from reaching humans it is still both exciting and amazing that we are getting to almost science fiction like levels of aging research. Overall i felt this topic was fascinating and amazing and that the author did an excellent job at conveying all aspects of it.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Purging Cells in Mice Is Found to Combat Aging Ills
The article “Purging Cells in Mice Is Found to Combat Aging Ills” discusses recent discoveries of the ills of senescent cells. These cells accumulate in aging tissues and secrete agents that stimulate the immune system and cause inflammation. The cells are very few in number and have few positive effects on the human body. Recently doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. have performed tests on mice where these senescent cells are purged by giving the mice a drug that self-destructs these specific cells. In these mice the researchers discovered that the mice’s tissues did not have many of the issues that come with aging, like cataracts, the wasting of muscles, could exercise more, and did not lose the fat that in humans, causes wrinkling. Researchers now are able to research even more efficient and healthy ways to purge the body of these cells. They have already experimented with specific drugs and the manipulation of genes to self-destruct the cells, both with relative success in mice. Although aging research is relatively young and for a long time it appeared to be an impossible task to slow aging down, this discovery may be groundbreaking. The discovery of senescent cells follows other discoveries in the manipulation of aging genes, where it appeared that the aging process was similarly slowed. Although the researchers have not discovered whether or not the discovery will allow humans to live longer, they are continuing research on mice with longer life spans in hopes of seeing all the effects of the drug.
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Overall, Brendan did a great job of reviewing the article, “Purging Cells in Mice Is Found to Combat Aging Ills.” I thought that he adequately showed how groundbreaking the discovery could potentially be if the research these scientists are in the midst of continues. I liked how he explained that the research, though very interesting, is far from really helping us understand the human aging process due to the fact that the research is in its very preliminary stages at this time. Lastly, Brendan made clear the affects that the scientists’ research had on animals, and how it could be very useful in our understanding of our own aging process.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the review was well presented, there were a few issues Brendan could work on. I was unable to understand the full meaning of the content of this review mostly because I did not know some of the terms. Some of the specific types of cells and processes that he mentioned in the review should have been explained in more depth so that the reader is more easily able to understand the analysis. He also did not make it clear where the first and second body paragraphs of his review were separated. This made it difficult to distinguish between the paragraph including the explanation of the study and the paragraph in which he discusses its affects.
From Brendan’s review I learned that once the cells that caused the vexing affects of aging in mice were removed, they were able to act as they had when they were younger for a longer period of time. For example, they could carry out exercise more easily, had fewer cataracts, etc. This discovery could be very important to our understanding of the human aging process and if the research is to go on, hopefully the researchers will be able to prevent some of the irritating affects of aging.
Brendan does a good job getting right to the point of the article and explaining the process. He discuses the key concept of what results conducting and experiment like this can bring. It is always crucial to examine the possible consequences a discovery as major as this may hold. Finally, Brendan considers one of the most pressing questions, no doubt on everyone’s mind, when, if any time, will this “purging” be available to humans? Brendan’s many perspectives are essential to a good review of an article.
ReplyDeleteThough well thought-out, Brendan does have a couple of improvements he can make. I felt he was almost a little too quick to delve directly into the content of the article and did not have much of an “introduction,” rendering it unclear. Also, Brendan could work on some of his grammar in regards to comma usage. Some of his sentences were run-on and difficult to understand.
I was completely impressed by the whole discovery of such an idea. It is astonishing that one type of cell can be gotten rid of, and give these Benjamin Button effects. It is amazing to think that one does not have to ingest a pill. Overall, I really liked Brendan’s topic!