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Salk Institute researchers studied a mutation in Werner syndrome to get a better understanding of aging as well as age-related diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Nobody likes the idea of aging. But the alternative — which is to die young — doesn’t have too many fans either. That’s why a study that offers possible new ways to prevent and treat age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease has attracted attention. The study was published today in the journal Science. But don’t throw out that bottle of Gray Be Gone just yet. The scientists at the Salk...

Researchers say it may be possible to slow and even reverse aging by keeping DNA more stably packed together in our cells In a breakthrough discovery, scientists report that they have found the key to keeping cells young. In a study published Thursday in Science, an international team, led by Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte at the Salk Institute, studied the gene responsible for an accelerated aging disease known as Werner syndrome, or adult progeria, in which patients show signs of osteoporosis, grey hair and heart disease in very early adulthood. These patients are deficient in a gene responsible for copying...