Canada Journal – News of the World Articles and videos to bring you the biggest Canadian news stories from across the country every day
Stem cell “exhaustion” may play a role in defining the limit of human lifespan, a study of blood from a dead Dutch super-centenarian suggests.
Analysis of white blood cells from 115-year-old Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper showed they were derived from just two related stem cell clones.
Let us put that in context for you. Blood stem cells are what your body uses to replenish your blood. Humans are typically born with around 20,000 of these cells, and on average about 1,000 work to keep your bloodstream pumping.
But this study suggests over time our stem cells weaken and die out, which, as a writer for New Scientist points out, might actually limit the ability of your stem cells to replenish your tissues.
“Once the stem cells reach a state of exhaustion that imposes a limit on their own lifespan, they themselves gradually die out and steadily diminish the body’s capacity to keep regenerating vital tissues and cells, such as blood.”
Although it’s not known for sure whether van Andel-Schipper died because of this exhaustion, this study does reveal her white blood cells were mutated, leading scientists to wonder if some genetic mutations are actually harmless.
And as the International Business Times says, it could mean: “Genetic mutations may hold the key to a long life.”
The researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Genome Research, say more studies are needed to investigate whether dying stem cells can cause death at extreme ages.
Agencies/Canadajournal
