On January 29th, 2026, Science published new research co-authored by AFAR President Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD, offering new insights into age-related changes in cells and how some may be protective trade-offs. The research shows that aging muscle stem cells accumulate a protective protein called NDRG1, which slows tissue repair but helps the stem cells survive longer.
“Some age-related changes that look detrimental — like slower tissue repair — may actually be necessary compromises that prevent something worse: the complete depletion of the stem cell pool,” Dr. Rando explained in a related UCLA Health Sciences press release.
In addition to being the President of AFAR’s Board of Directors, Dr. Rando is a 2008 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award recipient and a 1999 Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging Scholar.
Read a related UCLA Health Sciences press release here and a UCLA Broad Stem Cells Research Center news piece here.
Read the research published in Science, “Cellular survivorship bias as a mechanistic driver of muscle stem cell aging”, here.
