Pausing” Cell Death Could Be the Key to Longevity

Necrosis drives aging and disease by triggering damaging inflammation. Interrupting it may offer new treatments for chronic conditions and improve health in space travel. Necrosis, a form of uncontrolled cell death, may hold one of the most promising keys to altering the course of human aging, disease, and even space travel, according to a new study by researchers at UCL, the drug discovery company LinkGevity, and the European Space Agency (ESA). Challenging conventional thinking, the paper draws on evidence from cancer biology, regenerative medicine, kidney disease, and space health to argue that necrosis is not just a final stage of cell death, but a major driver of aging—and a potential target for intervention. Dr. Keith Siew, an author of the study from UCL Centre for Kidney & Bladder Health, said: “Nobody really likes talking about death, even cell death, which is perhaps why the physiology of death is so poorly understood. And in a way, necrosis is death. If...