Mutational damage to nuclear DNA occurs constantly throughout life, and is suspected to contribute to degenerative aging in ways other than risk of cancer. But most mutational damage occurs in somatic cells with few replications left before the Hayflick limit, and in DNA sequences that are not used in that cell type. So how can this damage cause significant disruption of metabolism? One recent idea is that repeated activation of DNA repair processes can deplete factors necessary to maintain correct DNA structure and gene expression, producing detrimental epigenetic changes chara…
The Gut Microbiome May Contribute to Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential
Mutational damage to nuclear DNA occurs constantly throughout life, and is suspected to contribute to degenerative aging in ways other than risk of cancer. But most mutational damage occurs in somatic cells with few replications left before the Hayflick limit, and in DNA sequences that are not used in that cell type. So how can this damage cause significant disruption of metabolism? One recent idea is that repeated activation of DNA repair processes can deplete factors necessary to maintain correct DNA structure and gene expression, producing detrimental epigenetic changes chara…