A novel way to target proteins in cells could lead to undruggable diseases being treatable.

Researchers at the university of Dundee have shown that it is possible to target and destroy specific proteins within cells using a new directed protein missile system. This is very interesting as it raises the possibility of targeting aberrant proteins present in diseases that currently have no drug that affects them.

This opens the door to treating a range of diseases as well as potentially being useful in directly targeting proteins involved in the aging process. Before we take a look at the research let’s recap on why proteins are important, what they do and how they relate to aging and diseases.

So what are proteins?

Proteins are often called the building blocks of life and they are critical to the operation of our cells and therefore to our lives. Proteins are produced by the cell and perform a huge variety of functions such as, activating the immune response against pathogens, regulating metabolism and cellular functions. They do the majority of the work in cells and are required for maintaining the structure, function, and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs.

A very simple reason why whether or not people want to live ‘forever’ doesn’t matter in the discussion about rejuvenation biotechnologies, plus a couple of thought experiments to better understand the wish to ‘die at some point’ of some.

You don’t want to live forever? Then don’t.

I’m not kidding. It is as simple as that, and I’ll tell you more. If you—or even the entire world, for that matter—don’t want to live forever, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t develop rejuvenation therapies.

Why? Because rejuvenation therapies do not make you immortal. Being forever young only means you don’t get age-related diseases and disabilities, not that you can’t be shot or run over by a truck, or that you can’t kill yourself. On top of that, you don’t have to undergo rejuvenation therapies if you don’t want to. However, while rejuvenation wouldn’t make you immortal, it would give you more control over you life. If you say you know for a fact you want to die at some point, I’m cool with that, but there is no guarantee ageing will kill you just at the right moment. Ageing could easily take you away when you still had tons of things you wanted to do. On the other hand, if you didn’t have to worry about the possibility of such an untimely death, you could very well decide for yourself when and how you want to go, and be relatively sure it’d happen that way.