This article is the second in a three-part series that is adapted from an essay written by Dr. Alex Berezow, now archived at Suzzallo Library's Special Collections at the University of Washington. In Part II, he discusses how aging and cancer are two sides of the same biological coin.
cell biology
Scientists have discovered molecules that inhibit tumor growth by starving cancer cells of their favorite foods: the sugar glucose and the amino acid, glutamine.
New research published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering shows that molecular and physical changes in skin cells can be used to calculate a "cellular age" that may be used as a proxy for healthspan.
The fight against cancer has been one tough war. Perhaps the most difficult battle has been finding drugs that selectively kill cancer cells while sparing the rest. A research group at Washington University Medical School has come up with a very clever approach — starving the cancer cells.
Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi was honored for discovering autophagy, which is a type of programmed cell death. Some cells in multicellular organisms, like animals and plants, choose to self-destruct for the greater benefit of the organism. This can occur for a variety of reasons.