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Death Postponed
19 February 2015

Death Postponed

The lives of cells in our bodies follow an arc that begins with birth and ends with death, which – if left to their own devices – is a programmed death. By making space for new cells and ensuring that potential cancer cells don't forget to die, the cycle of renewal keeps the body healthy. Now researchers have engineered the reverse, reprogramming hair-follicle stem cells in mice to live longer, to see if this could speed up wound healing. By switching off the process that leads to cell death, or apoptosis, they enabled mice with wounded tails to heal faster and to grow back hair follicles (shown, with stem cells in green and new cells in red), by accumulating a larger number of stem cells that helped replace damaged cells. Viable future therapies will also have to learn to switch programmed cell death back on to stop them running amok.

Written by Tristan Farrow

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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