If We Can Eradicate Zombie Cells

AS WE AGE, OUR BODIES FILL UP WITH a type of dysfunctional cell that permanently stops dividing, called a "senescent cell."

- Monique Brouillette

These "zombie cells" linger in our tissues, emit inflammatory signals, and increase the risk of age-related diseases. And just like zombies that spread their living-dead condition through a bite or scratch, senescent cells can damage their healthy counterparts through chemicals they emit.

When these cells were first discovered 60 years ago, scientists regarded senescence as a strange phenomenon. But in 2011 and again in 2016, a research group from the Mayo Clinic genetically engineered mice to have no senescent cells and showed that the mice did not develop cataracts or other signs of aging. The mice without senescent cells could increase their "healthspan," living disease-free into old age, according to Nathan LeBrasseur, PhD, a researcher who is studying senescent cells in the skeletal muscles of mice.