Boy and girl with progeria. Progeria Research Foundation
Cellular repair could reduce premature ageing. Researchers have identified a potential drug therapy for a premature ageing disease that affects children causing them to age up to eight times as fast as the usual rate. The study is the first to outline how to limit and repair DNA damage defects in cells and could provide a model for understanding processes that cause us to age. The findings could have significant benefits, such as reducing degeneration of some tissues in older age, and could assist health management in countries, including the UK, where average life expectancy is extending, according to the researchers. The first results of the 18-month study, led by Durham University, are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. Researchers looked at a group of inherited degenerative disorders called Laminopathies that are caused by mutations in the gene LMNA. The most severe disorders linked to mutation in this gene include Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a fatal disease that causes premature ageing in children.
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