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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 . Read more l   ...

Our brain wiring seems to undergo four major turning points at ages 9, 32, 66 and 83, which could influence our capacity to learn and our risk of certain conditions Originally published in NewScientist by  Carissa Wong , on 25 November 2025 T he wiring of our neurons changes with the passing decades. Alexa Mousley , University of Cambridge Our  brain  function is far from static throughout our lives . We already know that our capacity to learn, and our risk of cognitive decline , varies from when we are a newborn through to our 90s . Now, scientists may have uncovered a potential reason why this occurs: our brain wiring seems to undergo four major turning points at ages 9, 32, 66 and 83 . Previous research suggests that our bodies go through  three rapid bursts of ageing   at around 40, 60 and 80 . But the complexity of the brain makes it harder to understand . Read more

Originally published at cockrell.utexas.edu on April 04, 2025   It's no coincidence that our bodies feel a little creakier as we age. The trillions of cells that make up our skeleton age too, and some change in ways that weaken the very structure of our bones. Scientists and researchers around the globe are investigating a series of mysteries about what happens to our bones over time . In a new study, a team led by The University of Texas at Austin , in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just made a major break in the case. New research found that osteocytes undergo dramatic structural and functional changes with age that impair their ability to keep our bones strong . Their findings, published in Small and Aging Cell , offer new insights that could pave the way for better treatments for osteoporosis and age-related bone loss.   Aging and stress can induce cellular senescence in osteocytes, resulting in cytoskeletal and mechanical chan...

Originally published by Eötvös Loránd University on August 26, 202   N 6 -methyladenine levels in the C. elegans mitochondrial genome gradually increase with age. (A) The 6mA progressively accumulates at different mtDNA sites (mito 3 and mito 4) during aging. (A’) Quantification of the relative mtDNA 6mA levels at different adult stages. Bars indicate ±S.D.; each comparison reveals ***: p < 0.001 significance. Credit: International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.3390/ijms241914858 Building on their work on epigenetics of aging and transposable elements, researchers Dr. Ádám Sturm and Dr. Tibor Vellai from Eötvös Loránd University have made another advance in understanding the molecular mechanisms of aging . Their latest study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences , reveals a novel epigenetic mechanism in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that could transform our approach to aging research and diagnostics . In their previous articles , " T...

Originally published by Impact Journals LLC on October 25, 2023 Autophagy contributes to cells’ survival during chronological aging. Credit: Aging (2023). DOI: 10.18632/aging.205102 A new research paper titled "Live while the DNA lasts. The role of autophagy in DNA loss and survival of diploid yeast cells during chronological aging " has been published in Aging . Aging is inevitable and affects all cell types. Thus, yeast cells are often used as a model in aging studies. There are two approaches to studying aging in yeast : replicative aging , which describes the proliferative potential of cells, and chronological aging , which is used for studying post-mitotic cells. In this new study, while analyzing the chronological lifespan (CLS) of diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, researchers Tuguldur Enkhbaatar, Marek Skoneczny, Karolina Stępień, Mateusz Mołoń, and Adrianna Skoneczna from the Polish Academy of Sciences and Rzeszów University discovered a remar...