Stress-reduction molecule has potential to treat aging and metabolic disorders

Originally published by University of Queensland on January 22, 2026

edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Robert Egan

University of Queensland researchers say the discovery of a new stress reduction role for a naturally occurring molecule in the body could lead to new drugs and treatment for metabolic disorders and aging.

  

Proposed model of miR-71 cell-autonomous and cell-non-autonomous dampening of mitochondrial stress responses. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67198-2

Professor Steven Zuryn, a molecular geneticist from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, was part of a team that found that very small RNA molecules, called microRNAs, bind to genes and prevent them from being over-activated.

MicroRNAs were discovered in C. elegans about 30 years ago and have since been shown to be important in human health and disease. This initial discovery led to the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

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