Publication Date
6-1-2022
Abstract
Since the 1960s, biologists have shown that, contrary to the previous belief that ageing is irreversible, many undesirable biological effects of ageing can be reversed. First attempts to perform this reversal on living creatures were not fully successful: while mice achieved some rejuvenation, many of these rejuvenated mice developed cancer. Later experiments showed that these cancers can be avoided if we apply cyclic rejuvenation: a short period of rejuvenation followed by a longer pause. This modified strategy led to recent successes of mice that recovered their age-deteriorated vision and mice that recovered their heart tissue after a heart attack. However, why rejuvenation attempts often lead to cancer and why cyclic rejuvenation is better remained largely a mystery. In this paper, we provide a simple qualitative explanation of these two phenomena.
Comments
Technical Report: UTEP-CS-22-72