Scientists at Stanford recently made a discovery that could turn out to be revolutionary for the future of skin rejuvenation.
With the help of mice, the dermatology research team understood that a single protein regulates many genes that play a crucial role in aging.
The researchers blocked the protein, called NF-kappa-B, in a two-year-old mouse. After two weeks, the skin of the mouse showed remarkable resemblance to that of a newborn mouse. The skin looked younger and thicker and its cells seemed to divide faster.
Although its short-term effects have exciting potential, the role of NF-kappa-B in cancer and other diseases could prevent it from becoming a long-term solution to the fountain of the youth.
Blocking protein in limited treatments may be an option promising to help older people recover from surgery, but if used as a prolonged anti-aging treatment for the skin, researchers suspect the results could have an unhealthy price.
Only other research will determine the safest applications for this manipulation of proteins.
