Science a Step Closer to Creating Elixir of Youth

(Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.)

Boosting the body's level of a natural enzyme could prevent cells from dying, and lead to longer, healthier lives.

The protein telomerase acts to maintain the structural integrity of chromosomes that divide and eventually die as we age. A team of scientists at the Spanish Cancer Center genetically engineered mice to produce 10 times the normal level of telomerase, and found that the modified mice lived 50 percent longer and were healthier than normal ones.

Research leader Maria Blasco concluded that mega-doses of telomerase were able to turn "a normal, mortal cell into an immortal cell." Although Blasco is optimistic this technique will be able to be used in humans, she cautioned "it is hard to extrapolate data from mouse aging to human aging."

Work with telomerase is also being done to combat cancer, though that little concern will most likely be put on the back burner if it's possible to make a product that would make people look even a day younger.

Click here to have Happy Hour Hero delivered to your desktop every pour time.


The new Happy Hour Hero widget brings amazing facts and figures to your desktop, MySpace page, Facebook profile, or blog: