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Local scientists working to find the antidote to aging


Local scientists working to find the antidote to aging
Local scientists working to find the antidote to aging
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SAN ANTONIO - There's groundbreaking research right here in San Antonio to delay aging.

You may go looking for the fabled fountain of youth at the cosmetics counter, but that's only skin deep.

At Texas Biomedical Research Institute, scientists are working from the inside, out, to find the antidote to aging, or the breakthrough to living better.

"What does living better mean to you?" reporter Emily Baucum asks.

"Better would mean to me lower risk of cancers, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, better mobility," says Carina Ross, Ph.D.

She believes marmosets could hold the answer.

"They're a nonhuman primate so they're evolutionary very similar to humans," Dr. Ross says.

She's taking a drug that's FDA approved for organ transplants and seeing how it helps the animals as they get older.

"So far, the marmosets aging, it seems to be improving kidney health and cognitive health," Dr. Ross says. "So it's not a cure for Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, but it might help delay that onset."

In another lab, Marcel Daadi, Ph.D., and his team are also targeting diseases that impact cognitive skills, like your memory and speech.

"When you work in this lab, are you thinking about the families out there struggling?" Baucum asks.

"Exactly," Dr. Daadi responds. "That's really what impacts us on a daily basis."

He says as you age, your cells become weaker.

"And then we start to see inefficiencies in functioning, in mental capacities," Dr. Daadi says.

He's testing an FDA-approved cancer drug on aging baboons, using touch screens to test brain function and motor skills.

"It's a system that tests the cognitive ability of the animal to basically improve the animal's working memory and also ability to solve problems," Dr. Daadi says.

So far, the results are promising. The scientists say their goal is to help older adults stay healthy and independent.

"It's not necessarily about living longer," Baucum says.

"Our team doesn't want 130-year-old individuals that are stuck in nursing homes and have Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Dr. Ross says. "Instead, we want those 80- or 90-year-olds that can live independently and have health and go out and be able to enjoy their lives."

By EMILY BAUCUM

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