A Cellular Path to Anti-Aging Drugs

By Jane Farrell

Researchers have devised an algorithm that can help in the ongoing search for anti-aging drugs.

The scientists, from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, published their findings in the journal Frontiers in Genetics.

In their investigation, the researchers compared the cells of young and elderly patients, focusing on signaling pathways. The pathways play a crucial part in a process that ultimately results in either normal or pathological changes in cells.

The team of experts from MIPT and other Russian and British organizations developed a model that would involve comparing those patterns of signaling pathways activation in young and aging cells as well as the impact of various substances on the pathways.

They said that this algorithm (i.e. method) would help predict the kind of change that would respond to different drugs. The method is inexpensive, the scientists said, making it possible to decrease the high cost of drug research.