Can Humans Become Immortal

     In this Article posted by Sciworthy, they describe an experiment performed on voles to study how oxytocin can slow down cellular aging. The article goes on to describe how cellular aging works; telomere caps protect the DNA molecules and with each cellular division, the telomere caps become shorter and shorter. Eventually, your cells will stop diving which leaves you vulnerable to disease. 

    In previous studies glucocortico was discovered to shorten telmeres, speeding up the process of cellular aging. Glucocortico is commonly a response to stress and isolation. However, on the other hand, oxytocin is produced from positive social interaction having the opposite effect of glucocortico. So the scientist theorized that oxytocin would help prevent reduce the cell aging process thus preventing telomere shortening. Research for this experiment was conducted by giving oxytocin treatments to socially isolated voles. Researchers chose voles for this experiment because like humans they are very social animals as well as having increased stress levels when isolated for long periods. 

      Approximately 60 voles were used in this experiment, each was either placed in a cage by themselves or with a sibling. Isolated some isolated voles were chosen to receive oxytocin This experiment took place over 42 days, with days 0,21,42 being days blood samples were taken to measure telmeres. Blood samples from day 1 were damaged, but samples from day 21 and 42 gave good data. It showed that the isolated voles who received the oxytocin didn't lose length on their telomere and had very similar lengths to those voles who we in the cage with a sibling. This study showed the necessity of positive social interaction, while also showing the negative effects of isolation through the voles who were kept and had clear signs of stress. As well as giving a model for further research into humans. 

    The other article describes research on fish with different aging processes. It was discovered that fish like zander and perch have a more gradual aging process because they have higher levels of long-chain fatty acids that act as anti-inflammatory agents. While fish like that age at a very slow rate like pike have a long chain of unsaturated fatty acids called Hexadecanedioc acid. These long-chain help produce energy, regulating reproduction, and hormone production. They also found phospholipids which are associated with longer lifespans, these phospholipids are responsible for many of a body's normal functions and can act as antiacids. However, the real reason why it's so important is that it encourages autophagy which destroys old cells and creates new ones. When autophagy decreases aging begins to occur. This experiment helps pinpoint the specific reason aging starts and how harnessing these anti-aging compounds could lead to longer human life. 

Sources:

https://sciworthy.com/oxytocin-slows-down-aging-in-lonely-prairie-voles/

https://sciworthy.com/can-fish-help-us-understand-why-we-age/