Not Just Cancer, DNA Mutation may Trigger Other Diseases Too

DNA mutations throughout a person's life can significantly raise their biological age and susceptibility to heart conditions, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Current Biology.//

These somatic mutations and the associated diseases they cause may accelerate a person's biological age how old their body appears faster than their chronological age.

Stem Cells Propagation and Cancer Risk
Cancer cells are found to be stem cells that have been activated by DNA mutation and tissue damage according to study by Cambridge University researchers.

‘The changes to DNA, known as somatic mutations, can impact the way blood stem cells work and are linked to blood cancers and other age-related conditions.’

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"Previously, somatic mutations have largely been studied in cancer. Our findings suggest they play a role in other diseases, which will change the way we study disease risk," said Dr. Tamir Chandra, Group Leader at the University of Edinburgh's MRC Human Genetics Unit.

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, examined these changes and their potential effects in more than 1,000 older people from the Lothian Birth Cohorts (LBCs), born in 1921 and 1936.

The LBCs are a group of people - now in their 80s and 90s - who sat intelligence tests as 11-year olds. They are some of the most intensively studied research participants in the world.

Aspirin Slows Down Rate of DNA Mutations in at Least One Pre-Cancerous Condition
A new study has found that the rate of accumulation of DNA mutations in abnormal cells is slowed down by aspirin in at least one pre-cancerous condition.

Scientists studied people where the biological and chronological age was separated by a large gap.

They found the participants with somatic mutations - around six percent - had a biological age almost four years older than those with no alterations.

DNA Mutations can be Traced
Researchers have developed a new technique to find out which DNA mutations cause disease.

Experts say they will now explore the link between these DNA changes and biological aging acceleration.

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25 Percent of Healthy Skin Cells Carry Cancer-associated DNA Mutations
Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers. Ultraviolet-radiation from sunlight damages skin cells and transforms it from healthy to cancerous tissue.