The end of age
The question of what causes us to age and whether we can slow down or stop the process has long fascinated people. Now scientists believe a group of people with an extraordinary illness that ages them at twice the normal rate could provide some answers.
Those unfortunate enough to suffer from Werner's syndrome find that many of their body systems, including their blood vessels, skin and bones, age at double the normal rate. They typically die in their 40s, from the sorts of illnesses that kill the rest of us only in old age.
Werner's syndrome is mercifully rare: fewer than one in a million has it. It is a recessive disease, which means that it is possible for people to unknowingly carry a gene for it without developing the condition. If they start a family however, with another carrier, each child has a one in four chance of developing the disease.
Dr Richard Faragher from the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Science works with sufferers to try to understand why they age so quickly.
His research has provided important insights into why Werner's syndrome patients become sick and may hold the answer to why the rest of us grow old. He has shown that the disease can be reversed in a test tube and this may pave the way for drugs that could cure Werner's syndrome and prolong healthy life in normal people.
Find out more
Visit the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences website.
