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Here's today's feel-good story:
Researchers have developed a way to slow down the aging process by removing old cells from tissues.
Scientists at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the University of Leicester have been working on ways to understand why some people develop diseases such as Alzheimer's, fibrosis, type-2 diabetes, and more.
They have designed an antibody that can act as a smart bomb and recognize specific proteins on cells. They then attach themself to the cell and release a drug to remove them without affecting anything else, minimizing side effects.
“We now have, for the first time, an antibody-based drug that can be used to help slow down cellular senescence in humans,” said Salvador Macip, leader of the research and a doctor and researcher at the UOC and the University of Leicester. “We based this work on existing cancer therapies that target specific proteins present on the surface of cancer cells, and then applied them to senescent cells.”