Aging

Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, co-first author Hsin-Kai Liao and colleagues developed a novel CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing therapy that can suppress the accelerated aging observed in mice with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that also afflicts humans. The treatment provides insight into the molecular pathways involved in accelerated aging, as well as how gene therapy can be used to reduce toxic proteins.

The medicinal powers of aspirin, digitalis and the anti-malarial artemisinin come from plants. Members of the lab of Professor David Schubert, including senior author Pamela Maher and first author Wolfgang Fisher, discovered a potent neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory chemical in a shrub native to California that may lead to a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.