Trends In Cell Biology

[suchandra 1]

Jara, old age, aging - although in the Vedas signified as basic problem and fundamental evil similar like birth/janma, disease/vyadhi, and death/mrtyu,

(janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-dukha-dosanudarsanam ) modern medical science took up that challenge to localize the DNA sequence which is responsible for aging.

Yesterday a Spanish scientist, Maria Blasco, was awarded a prize of having detected the switch in the DNA of mice so that they never grow old.

If this really works for human beings, would be something like a yoga-siddhi?

See also, they use the term "somatic cells", isnt soma a vedic word?

 

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="514"><tbody><tr> <td width="514" height="10"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" width="514"> Körber Award 2008:

Drugs to Fight Cancer and Aging

The Körber European Science Award 2008 goes to the Spanish molecular biologist

Maria Blasco

Maria Blasco and her team conduct research into the dynamics of the telomerase enzyme. Their work not only promises to create a new kind of drug to fight cancer, but could also help to make somatic cells – and therefore humans – live longer.

The Körber European Science Award 2008 will be presented on 8 September in the Main Festival Hall of Hamburg City Hall

>> Press Release (03.09.2008)

<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="138"> <tbody><tr> <td>

Maria Blasco

(Photo: Santiago Ojeda)

>> printable version

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> SHORT SCIENTIFIC BIOGRAPHY

In 1993, Maria A. Blasco obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid after her work at Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (CSIC-UAM, Madrid) under the supervision of Dr. Margarita Salas. That same year, Blasco joined the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (USA) as Postdoctoral Fellow under the leadership of Carol W. Greider. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, Maria A. Blasco cloned one of the mammalian telomerase genes and generated the first telomerase knockout mouse. It was during this time that she was also appointed as Fellow of the Leukaemia Society of America. In 1997, Maria returned to Madrid as an Independent Investigator at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CSIC), where she continued her work on the development of mouse models for the study of telomerase in cancer and ageing. Together with her research group she moved to the CNIO in 2003 as Director of the Molecular Oncology Programme and Leader of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group.

Since her return to Spain, Blasco has been the recipient of several honours, such as the Swiss Bridge Award for Research in Cancer, the Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award, and the EMBO Gold Medal. More recently, she received the "Carmen and Severo Ochoa" Award for Research on Molecular Biology and the "Rey Jaime I" Basic Research Award. She also serves on the Editorial Board of several scientific Journals. She has been an elected EMBO Member since 2000, a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum since 2006, and a Member the Academia Europaea since 2006. Maria A. Blasco is also a member of Faculty 1000 ("stem cells and regeneration"). Maria A. Blasco, with more than 100 original papers, has made major contributions to the field of telomeres and telomerases and the role they play in ageing and cancer.

HONORS AND AWARDS

<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="514"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="43"> 2008

</td> <td width="451"> Member of the Scientific Committee of the Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2008

</td> <td> Körber Prize, Germany

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2008

</td> <td> The Editorial Academy of The International Journal of Oncology

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2008

</td> <td> Editorial Board Aging Cell

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2008

</td> <td> EMBO Council Member

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2007

</td> <td> Rey Jaime I Prize for Basic Research

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2007

</td> <td> Scientific Advisory Board of "Fundació Institut Recerca de l´Hopital Universitary Vall d´Hebron (FIR-HUVH)", Barcelona

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2006

</td> <td> Member Faculty 1000 (section: "Stem Cells & Regeneration")

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2006

</td> <td> Elected Member of the Academia Europaea

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2006

</td> <td> Editorial Board (Monitoring Editor) Journal of Cell Biology

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2006

</td> <td> Member of Forum of Global Young Leaders

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2006

</td> <td> Scientific Advisory Board "Fundación Genoma España", Madrid

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2005

</td> <td> "Carmen and Severo Ochoa" Award in Molecular Biology

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2005

</td> <td> BMC Cancer Editorial Board

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2004

</td> <td> EMBO Gold Medal

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2004

</td> <td> Highlights Advisory Panel Nature Reviews Cancer

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2004

</td> <td> Editorial Board of Carcinogenesis

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2004

</td> <td> Editorial Board of European Journal of Cell Biology

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2004

</td> <td> The Carcinogenesis Young Investigator Award

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2003

</td> <td> Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award 2003

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2003

</td> <td> "Universalia" Research Award 2003

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2002

</td> <td> "EMBO Lecture" Award at ELSO Meeting 2002

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2002

</td> <td> European Life Sciences Organization (ELSO) Early Career Award 2002

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2002

</td> <td> European Association Cancer Research Young Cancer Researcher Award

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2001

</td> <td> SEBBM Beckman/Coulter Award 2001

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2001

</td> <td> Award of the Spanish Health Science Foundation for excellence in Biomedical Research

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2000

</td> <td> Elected EMBO Member

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2000

</td> <td> Swiss Bridge Award 2000 for Research in Cancer

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2000

</td> <td> FEBS Anniversary Prize

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2000

</td> <td> Editor of the European Life Scientist´s Organization Gazette (ELSO)

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 1999

</td> <td> II Spanish National Oncology Award (Echevarne Foundation)

</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 1999

</td> <td> Associated Editor Journal of Biomedicine & Biotechnology

</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

 

Aging

 

The enzyme telomerase allows for replacement of short bits of DNA known as a telomere, which are otherwise lost when a cell divides via mitosis.

In normal circumstances, without the presence of telomerase, if a cell divides recursively, at some point all the progeny will reach their Hayflick limit. With the presence of telomerase, each dividing cell can replace the lost bit of DNA, and any single cell can then divide unbounded. While this unbounded growth property has excited many researchers, caution is warranted in exploiting this property, as exactly this same unbounded growth is a crucial step in enabling cancerous growth.

Embryonic stem cells express telomerase, which allows them to divide repeatedly and form the individual. In adults, telomerase is highly expressed in cells that need to divide regularly (e.g., in the immune system), whereas most somatic cells express it only at very low levels in a cell-cycle dependent manner.

A variety of premature aging syndromes are associated with short telomeres.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">[3]</sup> These include Werner syndrome, Ataxia telangiectasia, Bloom syndrome, Fanconi anemia, Nijmegen breakage syndrome, and ataxia telangiectasia-like disorder. The genes that have been mutated in these diseases all have roles in the repair of DNA damage, and their precise roles in maintaining telomere length are an active area of investigation. While it is currently unknown to what extent telomere erosion contributes to the normal aging process, maintenance of DNA in general and telomeric DNA specifically, have emerged as major players. Dr. Michael Fossel has suggested in an interview that telomerase therapies may be used not only to combat cancer but also to actually get around human aging and extend lifespan significantly. He believes human trials of telomerase-based therapies for extending lifespan will occur within the next 10 years. This timeline is significant because it coincides with the retirement of Baby Boomers in the United States and Europe.