Genes for Controlling Aging Identified

Fast-aging mice have been created at the University of Wisconsin by geriatrics-science researchers. Basically, what they did was just change two letters of the mouse DNA. This resulted in a modification of the energy producing factories of cells, the mitochondria. The gene, the researchers say functions as the quality control checker to assure that copies of the mitochondrial DNA do not result in mutations.

Thus, when the two letters were changed, the mitochondrial DNA accumulated mutations that resulted in faster aging of cells, or more specifically, the self-demise or suicide of cells. The researchers are careful to say that normal aging is not the result of faulty spell checking of DNA. They believe there is a set of genes that can actually prolong life by inhibiting mitochondrial mutations. If they can find it, it may result in new ways to prolong the lifespan of organisms.

The Wisonsin researchers are now trying to stop or reverse the rapid aging of the mice.

Dark Circles Under Your Eyes? Fix Them with Something Cold

The area around the eyes are sensitive to stresses coming from the body's bad habits. For example, staying up late can stress the tissues around the eyes, especially those below them. The result are dark bruise-like circles that show how much you're punishing your eyes. These circles become obvious with aged skin. Skin exfoliation can help in improving skin texture, but the problem with dark eye circles lie deeper.

While sleeping late and overworking the eyes can be avoided, sometimes, these are necessary to get things done, like when you have a job deadline to meet. In such cases, it may help to have a plan so that you are ready when those circles appear. The best and tested way to cancel out those marks is to use something cold. This usually gets rid of the appearance of stress and skin aging.

There are people who use cold cucumber slices; some use a cold glass of water; others even use ice cubes. But sometimes, you only need something that has the right temperature - you don't really need to have something that's icy-cold - you only need a rmedy that's just-right-cold. In the video above, fashion icon Losmir suggests using cold tea bags! Watch it to see what she has to say.