Stay Curious

SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AND UNLOCK ONE MORE ARTICLE FOR FREE.

Sign Up

VIEW OUR Privacy Policy


Discover Magazine Logo

WANT MORE? KEEP READING FOR AS LOW AS $1.99!

Subscribe

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

FIND MY SUBSCRIPTION
Advertisement

Immortal Cells

Is this the end of facial wrinkles and aging arteries that clog?

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

The clusters of human skin cells basking in a sterile incubator, with alarms poised to go off if the level of carbon dioxide drops or the temperature wavers from 98.6 degrees, appear to be blessed with eternal youth. Under normal circumstances, skin cells divide about 50 to 70 times and then quickly wither and stop dividing. But after nearly two years in a laboratory at Geron, a Menlo Park, California, biotech company, these genetically altered cells are approaching 400 divisions and still show no signs of aging. They just keep multiplying.

Until now, endlessly multiplying cells indicated one thing: cancer. But Geron biochemist Cal Harley and cell biologist Jerry Shay, who has the same type of lab setup at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, say the remarkably youthful skin cells remain cancer-free. Moreover, Harley and Shay hope their success in prolonging the life span of these ...

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe
Advertisement

0 Free Articles