
Clearing the Body's Retired Cells Slows Aging, Extends Life - mrfusion
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/clearing-retired-cells-extends-life/459723/?single_page=true
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api
This makes tremendous sense on all kinds of levels. As long as you have a stem
cell population, eliminating senescent cells will trigger their replacement.

When you think about it, reproduction and the birth of a new human being is an
extreme example of this. Start with one pristine fertilized egg cell and build
a whole new body.

This does lead to a related question though: what the heck goes on in germ-
line cells that keeps them 'immortal' like this? Of course whatever it is
maybe it's something that is mutually exclusive with what has to happen in
body cells after they differentiate. Maybe germ line cells just keep most of
their DNA "offline" and more or less keep themselves pristine by not doing
anything.

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norea-armozel
I think the question remains what happens when a certain mutation takes hold
in the stem cell line? I'm guessing we'd need to a genetic map between your
family members then (parents, siblings, etc)? Obviously radical life extension
isn't a one solution problem, but I have to wonder how much will need to be
done before we get something close to Aubrey de Grey's SENS program.

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mrfusion
I'm not clear what the therapy is. How are they removing the cells?

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mswen
Although not a complete answer there was this sentence

“We have molecules that are 300 times more poisonous to these cells than to
non-senescent ones.”

