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Grantees in the News: AFAR researchers share expertise in NY Times piece on meaningful markers of aging

On July 22, The New York Times Health published an article on current research that looks to identify biological indicators of the aging process. The article featured a recent study led by former AFAR Beeson scholar Dr. Norman Sharpless, whose UNC Chapel Hill research group “implanted a firefly gene into mice, engineering animals whose cells light up as they age and become ‘senescent.’” Through this, researchers were able to correlate the brightness of cells with an organism’s biological age. Ultimately, they identified various conditions or factors (i.e. early stage cancer) that accelerate aging on a cellular level.

The article also included research conducted by former AFAR grantee Dr. Richard Miller. Dr. Miller, whose 2010 study on cellular aging analyzed the medical records of 4,097 women, identified 13 factors (such as eyesight and aerobic ability) that best indicated future mortality from various medical causes. The study concluded that these factors, chosen from a list of over 300, “characterize the clinical presentation of healthy aging in older women.”

Dr. Sharpless is a Professor of Medicine & Genetics at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC Chapel Hill. You can learn more about his work and research interests here. Dr. Miller is a Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center and Institute of Gerontology. You can learn more about his research here.

Visit the Infoaging Biology of Aging Center here to learn more about cellular aging.

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