The article discusses experiments done on fruit flies and the results of transferring certain genes into them. In the experiment, scientists took genes from simple organisms that are able to regenerate their bodies into fruit flies. Fruit flies are more complex and on their own can not regenerate parts of their body. However, with the transferred genes, the fruit flies had an age-related intestinal issue gene become suppressed. This can be beneficial for discovering new mechanisms related to stem cell function and new anti-aging strategies.
The genes focused on in the study are called highly regenerative species-specific JmjC domain encoding genes (HRJDs). HRJDs ended up increasing the fruit flies intestinal stem cell division while suppressing intestinal cells that were mis-differentiating. According to the article, fruit flies intestines are similar to human intestines on a cellular level so it would be interesting to see if this method has the same affect on humans' intestines.
It would be amazing if in the future, scientists could develop techniques like this to help promote anti-aging and self regeneration in humans. Seems like an absurd concept but with time and research it has potential. If flatworms and jellyfish can do it then maybe there is a possibility for humans too.
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