The research, which was published in the journal Nature, showed that it is possible to combat aging. This is an important step in combating aging processes in mice and humans.
“It is a special study,” says Gerald de Haan, stem cell biologist and director of research at Sanquin, the organization that manages blood banks in the Netherlands, among other things. De Haan explains to RTL News what exactly was researched.
Stem cells
“The blood-forming stem cells are necessary to produce blood cells. During life, these cells age and do so increasingly poorly,” says De Haan. “This manifests itself, for example, in the fact that the immune system decreases in older mice – and older people.”
The researchers removed certain older stem cells from the mice. “When those cells disappear, their task of making blood is taken over by younger cells. This gives the – in this case – mice a better immune system.”
According to De Haan, the same procedure is most likely applicable to humans. “The blood-forming system of mice is similar to that of humans, so that could be possible.”
Vaccinations
He sees a possible application of this technique in older people who no longer respond well to vaccinations against infectious diseases. “There are elderly people for whom this does not happen, who do not show a good response, and therefore remain vulnerable to infections. You can imagine that you can rejuvenate the immune system of such people before administering such a vaccine.”
However, that is still a long way off. The technology will first have to be extensively tested, and that is not that easy.
In the study, mice were given antibodies that remove older cells. “You could also do that in people, but you never know what the harmful side effects could be.”
That would have to be tested first. “You would want to do that with people with a weak immune system, but these are vulnerable groups,” says De Haan.
Challenge
There is still an important challenge there, but the results of the research are promising anyway. “The idea is that you can intervene in aging processes. It has long been thought that nothing can be done about this, but now it appears that it can.”
However, that does not mean that this development is a step towards eternal life. “Certainly not,” says De Haan. “That is an illusion, that will never happen. But we are all getting much older than before.”
