Getting old means fighting a war you’ll never win. Our bodies already battle for us every day, against bacteria and viruses, mutant cells, harmful chemicals and the slow rush of time itself. But as we age, our bodies begin to slow down — all the way down to the level of the cell. This slowdown means the threat of multiple chronic diseases circles, vulture-like, ever closer.
Research into the complex causes of these diseases has been a staple of medicine for decades. Scientists have figured out many of the pathways and mechanisms by which they harm our bodies. They’ve created new and better treatments. But definitive cures remain distant.
Now a new field of research is hinting that there might be a better way to solve the maladies of aging, one that holds the promise of addressing not just one disease, but all of them. The key, some scientists think, is something that happens to the body's cells when they are damaged or rendered defective.
