What you don't know about the ICE mice may prevent you from doing something once considered to be far-fetched, like living past 120. Before you shoot the messenger, I want to share one more notion about aging that most of us believe to be reality. The general population has no desire to live longer because they falsely believe getting old also means becoming decrepit. Maybe it's time to meet the ICE mice. These mice have no clue why one twin is aging faster than the other. The scientists studying them are discovering something that may help us slow down our aging process.
ICE stands for inducible changes to the epigenome. Scientists tested the theory that aging is related to breaks in the genome that occur as we age. They accelerated aging in mice by inducing changes to the epigenome, similar to scratching a record. The twins without the breaks or scratches aged naturally while the twins with the induced changes aged much faster. See for yourself. Look at this photo from the lab.
Here's the next question to ponder. If the ICE mice can age faster than normal by inducing changes to the epigenome, can the reverse be true? Can we somehow create the "Benjamin Buttons" scenario? Maybe that will be another story for later. Stay tuned. Have a great day.
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