Aging is a major risk factor for most chronic conditions, evidence shows, yet much of current research focuses on addressing specific diseases. The new translational geroscience initiative at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) seeks to change that approach by studying the effects of aging on various ailments.

“Yale School of Medicine has a long legacy in studying aging, but with this new initiative we are bolstering our ability to delineate basic mechanisms of healthy and accelerated aging,” said Nancy J. Brown, MD, Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of the Yale School of Medicine and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine.

The mechanisms underlying the aging process are often also driving the development and progression of chronic conditions, explains Thomas Gill, MD, Humana Foundation Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics) and professor of epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, and of investigative medicine at YSM, who leads the Yale Pepper Older Americans Independence Center.

Researchers at ETH Zurich recently identified a previously unknown compartment in mammalian cells. They have named it the exclusome. It is made up of DNA rings known as plasmids. The researchers have published details of their discovery in the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.

The new compartment is in the cell plasma; it is previously uncharacterized in the literature. It is exceptional because eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) usually keep most of their DNA in the cell nucleus, where it is organized into chromosomes.

Some of the plasmids that end up in the exclusome originate from outside the cell, while others—known as telomeric rings—come from the capped ends of chromosomes, the telomeres. Particularly in certain cancer cells, the ones from the telomeres are regularly pinched off and joined together to form rings. However, these don’t contain the blueprints for proteins.

This is a ~50 minute talk by Michael Levin to a clinical audience about bioelectricity and why it represents a new approach to medicine.

Gene therapy company Genflow Biosciences has received positive feedback from Belgium’s Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products as it seeks to move into human clinical trials. Genflow is developing gene therapies that target the aging process, with a focus on reducing and delaying age-related diseases.

Genflow’s approach involves the use of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to deliver copies of the Sirtuin-6 (SIRT6) gene variant found in centenarians into cells. Sirtuins are a group of proteins that play a vital role in regulating various cellular processes. In recent years, SIRT6 has gained attention for its potential role in promoting healthy aging.

Genflow says it has received written advice from the FAHMP to commence clinical trials of its lead compound (GF-1002) in patients suffering from NASH, an aggressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, rather than in healthy volunteers. While further discussions and agreement with the European Medicine Agency (EMA) are still required, Genflow says that it expects a NASH clinical trial to commence in approximately 18 months.