A study by the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, found that key gene loss could be the cause of premature aging in the brain.
While it is known that degradation in NSCs, or neural stem cells is primarily responsible for the decline of brain function in aging individuals, scientists also found that the decreased function in a specific gene called Set8 is partially responsible.
Set8 controls the addition of chemical tags onto the DNA packaging proteins called histones, and is found to be directly responsible for the upkeep and proliferation of NSCs, so their decreased activity leads to NSC degradation.
This begs the question, could neurodegenerative illness be fixed genetically isntead of regeratively?
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