Youthful Cancer Free Pill Poppers?

Could you imagine one day, popping back a few tiny white pills with your morning coffee, knowing you were both fighting time and cancer?  That's the hope for research published in the scientific journal Nature this week.  

Their conclusion - injecting a drug into mice that stimulates the production of the protein p53, one integral to regulating how cells divide, can help combat aging and cancer.  But how?

Well, first a little background on how cells divide.  Like most things in science, I learned about the cell cycle through an acronym - IPMAT stands for Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase - the five stages of a cellular division.  The I in IPMAT concerns us here, as it involves the duplication of DNA and is also when p53 comes into action.  

During the transition between some of these stages, our cells have biochemical checkpoints.  These allow the cell to ensure everything is on the button before proceeding onwards.  If something has gone awry, and the cell cannot repair the damages incurred, then the countdown for self-destruction mode begins care of p53.

The protein p53 is integral in these checkpoints, and certain mutations in it can cause the cells to bypass all checkpoints like a diplomat at the airport.  Only these cells aren't interested in talking out a peaceful resolution but rather go on a replicating spree - cancer.

In recent years another role for p53 has been discovered.  It stimulates the cell to make antioxidants under stressful conditions.  These molecules are often described as mopping op 'free radicals' - the equivalent of an older brother telling your bully what's what, then taking away his fire crackers and stink bombs.

The above said, researchers wondered whether p53 might prevent both cancer and aging in mice....

So, 10-15 years from now if clinical trials actually begin, let alone finish, you might get to pop a few pills and know you're paying service to your cells.