Researchers from BGU have identified the genes responsible for a more “healthy aging” process. Their findings were published in the scientific journal Aging.

“As you get older, DNA damage builds up, and fixing them is essential to a long life. Any clinical intervention which will slow down or stop the death of nerve cells will express itself as an improvement in the quality of life of patients and their families, and that is the goal we are working towards in our lab,”  concluded BGU’s Dr. Deborah Toiber, head of the Alzheimer and Neurological Diseases Scientific Reserve, named after Zahava and Chezi Vered.

According to the research, genes differentiate between pathological aging and healthy aging.

By comparing mice with a damaged SIRT6 gene to those with a normal gene, the researchers were able to isolate the genes which affect aging, and determine which genes can be used to treat pathological aging.