Can Ageing be Stopped by Stem Cells?

Shashwat Vaish

Recent research in the medical community has been focused on stem cells as the potential of them growing into organs and healing wounds is promising. Researchers have long pondered if the fundamental growth of organisms, that is, ageing, can be reversed with the help of stem cells.

WHAT ARE STEM CELLS?

Stem cells are defined as an undifferentiated cell of a multicellular organism, which are capable of giving rise to indefinitely more cells of the same type, and from which certain other kinds of cell arise by differentiation.

What this essentially means is that these are a group of cells, in our embryonic stage, which can divide and multiply into more number of cells. These cells are capable of growing into any type of cell, they can specialize to form your hands, they can specialise to form your heart. Essentially, they can form any part of your body if they are stimulated correctly. This property of theirs is known as totipotency.

THE PROCESS OF AGEING

Ageing - the process of natural decay and death of the body - can be attributed to three factors.

First, as we grow older, the number of mistakes incurred by daily cellular reproduction increases.

The second part of the ageing process relates to cellular damage that causes the shortening of DNA, eventually triggering a process called apoptosis or "programmed cell death”.

The third part of the ageing process involves the cellular down-regulation of our natural oxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase and glutathione peroxidase, making our antioxidant defences less efficient with age.

STEM CELLS AGAINST AGEING?

Now, imagine introducing the stem cells to stop, or better yet, reverse the processes that cause ageing. The stem cells, being new and having the function of dividing would ensure a high rate of reproduction of cells and will not damage the DNA as theirs would be newer than the ones in the old cells. This is the basic idea behind using stem cells to reverse the process of ageing.

It has actually been found that, indeed, stem cells can be used to reverse the process of ageing. Researchers used mice as subjects to test this. They found that the stem cells in the hypothalamus, an area in the brain, plays a crucial role in the process of ageing. As the number of stem cells decreases, the process of ageing gets accelerated. Therefore, by injecting fresh stem cells in the hypothalamus region, the process of ageing was slowed down and in some instances, the changes were completely reversed.

It was also found out that the stem cells located in other areas also help in the ageing process. When these supplementary cells were removed from the body, the mice died faster and on introduction to new stem cells in these areas, they had a longer lifetime. 

The stem cells do this with the help of microRNAs (miRNA). These are related to gene expression. Effective gene expression results in the effective and correct synthesis of molecules. These are essential for living a healthy and disease-free life.

Such promising results of stem cells to reverse the ageing process makes one wonder if this could be done to humans too. And if it could be done to humans how long would it take to develop it and how effective it would be.

Stem cells are miracle workers and with advancement in technology and effective exploitation, we’re probably moving towards an immortal future.

What are your thoughts about stem cells? Do you feel there is a drawback to them? Let us know in the comments section below!