Of Mice and Mitochondrial Medicine

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

Proving that all journalists like alliteration, a EurekAlert piece looks at recent steps towards better understanding the role played by cellular mitochondria - the powerhouse of the cell - in aging and age-related disease. While scientists know that failing mitochondria play a role in many diseases, they are only now able to reliably manipulate this part of the cell. Working with mitochondria in mice is the first step towards obtaining more information and greater understanding; then come interventions, trials and therapies.

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uorm-mom020904.php