Apoptosis

   A type of cell death in which a series of molecular steps in a cell lead to its death. This is one method the body uses to get rid of unneeded or abnormal cells. The process of apoptosis may be blocked in cancer cells. Also called programmed cell death.

Blastula

   An animal embryo at the early stage of development when it is a hollow ball of cells..

cas9

   Is heavily utilized in genetic engineering applications. Its main function is to cut DNA and thereby alter a cell's genome..

cellular differentiation

   Cellular differentiation is the process in which a cell changes from one cell type to another. Usually, the cell changes to a more specialized type. Differentiation occurs numerous times during the development of a multicellular organism as it changes from a simple zygote to a complex system of tissues and cell types..

Cellular Senescence

   Loss of a cell's ability to divide and grow..

Cellular transformation

   Transformation of cells is a widely used and versatile tool in genetic engineering and is of critical importance in the development of molecular biology. The purpose of this technique is to introduce a foreign plasmid into bacteria, the bacteria then amplifies the plasmid, making large quantities of it..

CpG methylation

   In humans, DNA methylation occurs at the 5 position of the pyrimidine ring of the cytosine residues within CpG sites to form 5-methylcytosines. The presence of multiple methylated CpG sites in CpG islands of promoters causes stable silencing of genes..

crispr

   CRISPR technology is a simple yet powerful tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify genes. .

Cryonics

   The practice or technique of deep-freezing the bodies of people who have just died, in the hope that scientific advances may allow them to be revived in the future..

DNA damage

   DNA damage is a change in the basic structure of DNA that is not itself replicated when the DNA is replicated. A DNA damage can be a chemical addition or disruption to a base of DNA (creating an abnormal nucleotide or nucleotide fragment) or a break in one or both chains of the DNA strands..

DNA repair

   The different types of DNA repair include direct repair, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair (NER), double-strand break repair (including homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining), and crosslink repair (Sancar et al., 2004).

DNA repair (types of)

   At least five major DNA repair pathways—base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), mismatch repair (MMR), homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ)—are active throughout different stages of the cell cycle, allowing the cells to repair the DNA damage..

DNA Transcription

   Transcription is the process by which the information in a strand of DNA is copied into a new molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA). ... The newly formed mRNA copies of the gene then serve as blueprints for protein synthesis during the process of translation..

Embryonic stem cell

   Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells..

Enzyme

   Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts. Catalysts accelerate chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products..

Escape Velocity, longevity

   An expression coined by Aubrey DeGrey that is the first group of humans whose lives are incrementally lengthened in steps as their first treatments allow them to live long enough for a newer treatment. This cycle repeats until they live virtually forever..

Hayflick Limit

   The Hayflick Limit is a concept that helps to explain the mechanisms behind cellular aging. The concept states that a normal human cell can only replicate and divide forty to sixty times before it cannot divide anymore, and will break down by programmed cell death or apoptosis..

Histone packaging/unpacking

   Histones are proteins responsible for DNA packaging. The DNA wraps around the histones. Histones are positively charged proteins and hence can easily bind to the negatively charged DNA. Histones are also involved in controlling the expression of the genes..

Histones

   In biology, histones are highly basic proteins found in eukaryotic cell nuclei that pack and order the DNA into structural units called nucleosomes. Histones are abundant in lysine and arginine..

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

   Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, is a type of treatment used to speed up healing of carbon monoxide poisoning, gangrene, stubborn wounds, and infections in which tissues are starved for oxygen..

induced pluripotent stem cell (iPPSC)

   Induced pluripotent stem cells are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated directly from a somatic cell..

Juvenescence

   The state or period of being young..

lipolysis

   the breakdown of fats and other lipids by hydrolysis to release fatty acids.

Methylation

   To attach a methyl molecule ( three hydrogens and one carbon) to another molecule like Cytosine..

Mitochondria

   Mitochondria (sing. mitochondrion) are organelles, or parts of a eukaryote cell. They are in the cytoplasm, not the nucleus. They make most of the cell's supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that cells use as a source of energy. ... This means mitochondria are known as "the powerhouse of the cell"..

mRNA

   Messenger RNA which is the product of DNA transcription..

number of stem cells in human body

   Adult humans have many more blood-creating stem cells in their bone marrow than previously thought, ranging between 50,000 and 200,000 stem cells..

Pleiotropy

   A gene that has two or more phenotypic traits.

pluripotent stem cell

   Pluripotent stem cells are master cells. They're able to make cells from all three basic body layers, so they can potentially produce any cell or tissue the body..

Resveratrol

   A stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol, and a phytoalexin produced by several plants in response to injury or when the plant is under attack by pathogens, such as bacteria or fungi. Sources of resveratrol in food include the skin of grapes, blueberries, raspberries, mulberries, and peanuts..

RNA polymerase

   In molecular biology, RNA polymerase is an enzyme that synthesizes RNA from a DNA template..

Senolytics

   A senolytic is among a class of small molecules under basic research to determine if they can selectively induce death of senescent cells and improve health in humans. A goal of this research is to discover or develop agents to delay, prevent, alleviate, or reverse age-related diseases..

Serotonin

   A hormone that stabilizes mood and feelings of well being..

stem cells do not obey Hayflick Limit

  There are three characteristics of all stem cells. They can divide indefinitely and are the only type of cells, besides cancer cells, that have the capacity to divide forever. Stem cells are also capable of self-renewal, and can make identical copies of themselves indefinitely..

stem cell

   An undifferentiated cell of a multicellular organism which is capable of giving rise to indefinitely more cells of the same type, and from which certain other kinds of cell arise by differentiation..

Telomerase

   Telomerase, also called terminal transferase, is a ribonucleoprotein that adds a species-dependent telomere repeat sequence to the 3' end of telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosomes of most eukaryotes..

Telomeres

   Repetitious non coding DNA at the ends of chromosomes..

Vitrification

   Vitrification is an alternative to slow freezing for the cryopreservation of cells. Compared to the slow-freezing method, a much higher initial concentration of CPA and a much faster freezing rate are required. In living systems a large percentage of the intercellular water must be replaced by a vitrifying cryoprotective agent (CPA) to avoid the damaging effects of ice. Essentially the water turns to a glasslike structure rather than a crystal.

Zygote

   A zygote is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information necessary to form a new individual. In multicellular organisms, the zygote is the earliest developmental stage..