Longer and better living through senescent cell ablation

Age correlates strongly with a wide variety of adverse health outcomes, including cancer, heart disease, and cognitive decline. Although medical advances have extended our life span, preserving quality of life during these additional years remains a challenge. During senescence, cells enter an irreversibly arrested state in response to stress, and senescence can function to suppress tumors or preneoplasms. For years researchers have suspected that senescent cells play a role in aging; however, conclusive evidence has been lacking. In a February 2016 study published in Nature, Dr. Daren Baker, Dr. Jan van Deursen, and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine use a transgenic approach to eliminate senescent cells in mice and establish clear, causal contributions by these cells not only to life span, but also to age-related functional decline in specific organ systems (Baker et al., 2016).