10 Mindblowing Things That Happen As You Age
5. Your Stem Cells Do Age
Stem cells have got a bit of a reputation as fountains of eternal youth, but that's not quite the case.
According to a study done in 2007, stem cells are just as vulnerable to degeneration as the rest of our creaky, old bodies. During the study, researchers managed to isolate the stem cells of mice, both young and old; both types of stem cells were then transplanted into the bodies of mice whose bone marrow needed repairing.
To begin with, everything was just hunky-dory, with both types of stem cell beavering away to replace the bone marrow. But, after a while, the older stem cells started to lose it a bit, unable to perform the task as effectively as the younger ones.
This research has led some scientists to begin to develop a new theory of ageing, with stem cells taking the brunt of the blame for age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and tissue degeneration but no one is still 100% sure which, if any, is the cause of our old age.