Scientists develop a new technique for rejuvenating skin cells

The scientists in Cambridge have rejuvenated a 53-year-old woman’s skin cells so they are the equivalent of a 23-year-old’s. They believe that they can do the same thing with other tissues in the body.

• Researchers used the IPS (Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells) technique on 53-year-old skin cells.

Fibroblasts

• In experiments, ageing cells became more like skin cells called fibroblasts that produce collagen, a protein that holds the body together and keeps it strong.

• The number of fibroblasts in human skin decreases progressively with age. These cells also become shrivelled as we get older.

• As people age, their cells’ ability to function declines and the genome accumulates signs of ageing.

iPS Technology

• The technology is built on the techniques used to create Dolly the cloned sheep more than 25 years ago.

• The origins of the technique stem from the 1990s, when researchers at the Roslin Institute developed a method of turning an adult mammary gland cell taken from a sheep into an embryo. It led to the creation of Dolly the cloned sheep.

• In 2006, Prof Shinya Yamanaka developed a new method, called IPS, involved adding chemicals to adult cells for around 50 days. This resulted in genetic changes that turned the adult cells into stem cells. Shinya Yamanaka won a Nobel prize for his work on reprogramming adult cells to an embryonic-like state.

• Scientists used the IPS technique on 53-year-old skin cells. But they cut short the chemical bath from 50 days to around 12. They were astonished to find that the cells had not turned into embryonic stem cells – but had rejuvenated into skin cells that looked and behaved as if they came from a 23-year old.

• The IPS technique cannot immediately be translated to the clinic because the IPS method increases the risk of cancers.

• Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to be more like embryonic stem cells.

GS TIMES UPSC PRELIMS & MAINS CURRENT AFFAIRS BASED BASICS  DAILY ONLINE TEST CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ FOR STATE CIVIL SERVICES