Uploaded November 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In 2020, roughly 1 billion people were older than 60. in 2030 this number will rise to 1.4 billion. Aging is accompanied by diseases such as heart disease, stroke or dementia. Aging seems inevitable.. or are there ways to slow down aging? Let's see in our third part how scientists try to slow down Aging!
🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: bit.ly/2SRMqhC
📸 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek
🔬Twitter: twitter.com/CSteinek
The loss of telomeres is one of the hallmarks of aging. Telomeres were discovered by Elizabeth blackburn. She found that the ends of chromosomes contain the same sequence over and over again. These "telomeres" protect chromosomes from fusing with each other and are progressively lost as we get older. When a cell has lost too many of its telomeres it becomes dysregulated and can cause inflammation (which increase the chance to have age related inflammatory diseases). In more extreme cases, though, the loss of telomeres leads to the rearrangement of chromosomes and cancer. So we need ways to make telomeres longer and possibly slow down aging!
In 2003, it was found that people with long telomeres (longer than average) live five years longer than people with short telomeres. Now scientists try to make telomeres longer to slow down aging. Preclinical studies where telomerase (an enzyme which makes telomeres longer) were introduced into mice resulted in an extended lifespan (+41%). In other studies, alternative ways to make telomeres longer are explored. We need to be careful though with artificial therapies as only the right cells should receive longer telomeres.
But we can also do something to keep our telomeres long! It is important to reduce stress, as chronic stress is associated with a loss of telomeres and stress management with longer telomeres. Exercising at least 4 times a week also has been consistently associated with longer telomeres. Special diets (fruits, dairy products, nuts, legumes, seaweed) are also associated with longer telomeres. All of this might help to reduce the loss of telomeres and slow down aging!
0:00-0:52 Intro
0:52-3:33 Discovery of Telomeres
3:33-5:20 Age related Telomere Loss
6:45-7:36 Slowing Down Aging by Hacking Telomeres
7:36-12:32 How You Can Slow Down Aging
References:
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867420317505#bib44
National Cancer Institute Cancer Stat Facts seer.cancer.gov/statfacts (2020)
nature.com/articles/s41556-022-00991-z
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673603123847
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5546536/pdf/oncotarget-08-45008.pdf
ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302151
nature.com/articles/nature09603
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8920518
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2121499119
nature.com/articles/490169a
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5123495/pdf/APJON-3-137.pdf
Images:
Most videos and images are derived from: pixabay.com, pexels.com and videvo.net
Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier (including the thumbail). You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com
The following videos were provided by A Luna Blue, videvo.net, CC BY-SA 4.0. White TV Screen, Eye Flickering, Viruses Rotating, Human Body, Device Screen, Cell, Sparks, Microscope, Pulsar Star, Video Wall, Antibody Growth, Microbe, It’s Spreading
The following videos were provided by videvo.net, CC BY-SA 4.0. Scientist Working, Red Blood Cells, Timelapse, Bokeh Particles, Volume Graph, Abstract Color, Light Rays, Fog (by Voyager Project). Sca Results (MaartenLCF)
Telomeres by AJC1, CC BY-SA 4.0
Old Film Leader, Infected Cells, Lightning Strike Beachfront, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cartoon Clouds by stockfootage, CC BY-SA 3.0
Tetrahymena thermophila Robinson R (2006) Ciliate Genome Sequence Reveals Unique Features of a Model Eukaryote. PLoS Biol 4(9): e304. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040304
Music:
Art of Silence by Uniq soundcloud.com/uniqofficial
Laconic Granny by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
Title: Punch Deck by promoted by BreakingCopyright: bit.ly/bkc-ethereal2 (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Filaments by Scott Buckley (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Rudolph by Lukrembro soundcloud.com/lukrembo
About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (Sciencerely) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.
In 2020, roughly 1 billion people were older than 60. in 2030 this number will rise to 1.4 billion. Aging is accompanied by diseases such as heart disease, stroke or dementia. Aging seems inevitable.. or are there ways to slow down aging? Let's see in our third part how scientists try to slow down Aging!
🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: bit.ly/2SRMqhC
📸 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek
🔬Twitter: twitter.com/CSteinek
The loss of telomeres is one of the hallmarks of aging. Telomeres were discovered by Elizabeth blackburn. She found that the ends of chromosomes contain the same sequence over and over again. These "telomeres" protect chromosomes from fusing with each other and are progressively lost as we get older. When a cell has lost too many of its telomeres it becomes dysregulated and can cause inflammation (which increase the chance to have age related inflammatory diseases). In more extreme cases, though, the loss of telomeres leads to the rearrangement of chromosomes and cancer. So we need ways to make telomeres longer and possibly slow down aging!
In 2003, it was found that people with long telomeres (longer than average) live five years longer than people with short telomeres. Now scientists try to make telomeres longer to slow down aging. Preclinical studies where telomerase (an enzyme which makes telomeres longer) were introduced into mice resulted in an extended lifespan (+41%). In other studies, alternative ways to make telomeres longer are explored. We need to be careful though with artificial therapies as only the right cells should receive longer telomeres.
But we can also do something to keep our telomeres long! It is important to reduce stress, as chronic stress is associated with a loss of telomeres and stress management with longer telomeres. Exercising at least 4 times a week also has been consistently associated with longer telomeres. Special diets (fruits, dairy products, nuts, legumes, seaweed) are also associated with longer telomeres. All of this might help to reduce the loss of telomeres and slow down aging!
0:00-0:52 Intro
0:52-3:33 Discovery of Telomeres
3:33-5:20 Age related Telomere Loss
6:45-7:36 Slowing Down Aging by Hacking Telomeres
7:36-12:32 How You Can Slow Down Aging
References:
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867420317505#bib44
National Cancer Institute Cancer Stat Facts seer.cancer.gov/statfacts (2020)
nature.com/articles/s41556-022-00991-z
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673603123847
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5546536/pdf/oncotarget-08-45008.pdf
ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302151
nature.com/articles/nature09603
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8920518
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2121499119
nature.com/articles/490169a
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5123495/pdf/APJON-3-137.pdf
Images:
Most videos and images are derived from: pixabay.com, pexels.com and videvo.net
Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier (including the thumbail). You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com
The following videos were provided by A Luna Blue, videvo.net, CC BY-SA 4.0. White TV Screen, Eye Flickering, Viruses Rotating, Human Body, Device Screen, Cell, Sparks, Microscope, Pulsar Star, Video Wall, Antibody Growth, Microbe, It’s Spreading
The following videos were provided by videvo.net, CC BY-SA 4.0. Scientist Working, Red Blood Cells, Timelapse, Bokeh Particles, Volume Graph, Abstract Color, Light Rays, Fog (by Voyager Project). Sca Results (MaartenLCF)
Telomeres by AJC1, CC BY-SA 4.0
Old Film Leader, Infected Cells, Lightning Strike Beachfront, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cartoon Clouds by stockfootage, CC BY-SA 3.0
Tetrahymena thermophila Robinson R (2006) Ciliate Genome Sequence Reveals Unique Features of a Model Eukaryote. PLoS Biol 4(9): e304. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040304
Music:
Art of Silence by Uniq soundcloud.com/uniqofficial
Laconic Granny by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
Title: Punch Deck by promoted by BreakingCopyright: bit.ly/bkc-ethereal2 (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Filaments by Scott Buckley (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Rudolph by Lukrembro soundcloud.com/lukrembo
About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (Sciencerely) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.
