The Brake That Heals: How One Piece of the p53 Protein Slowed Aging in Mice
A mouse with progeria ages at an accelerated pace: by five weeks it already shows damage in the aorta and skin. Scientists built a switch into its genome that, on command, turns on production of the Δ133p53α protein. This protein is a shortened version of the famous guardian of the genome, p53, which can both halt cell division and set their repair in motion.