Life expectancy, healthspan & DNA repair
Global average life expectancy has increased by more than 10 years over the last four decades. With this, the prevalence and cost of treating age-related diseases has risen exponentially. On average, people across the globe will lose around nine years of healthy life because of age-related diseases and disability — reducing the amount of time spent living life to the fullest.
Age is an independent risk factor for many of the diseases we encounter as we grow older. This is due to a reduction in our bodies’ natural ability to repair DNA damage as we age — leading to the development of cancer and other illnesses. Cellular DNA repair processes can protect us from the accumulation of DNA damage; however, these repair pathways also decline in efficiency and accuracy as we age. The accumulation of DNA damage and genome instability is also linked with ageing-associated diseases, highlighting the importance of DNA repair in the prevention of these disorders. Mutations in genes leading to premature ageing/progeria syndromes are also associated with DNA repair.
DNA contains the “master instruction book” for our cells to make the proteins that control the majority of processes in our bodies. As such, the accuracy of our DNA sequences is crucial for the correct functioning of our cells and organs, and our health overall. Our cells experience DNA damage multiple times a day by external (exogenous) factors like ultraviolet radiation from the sun; and internal (endogenous) processes such as DNA replication errors. DNA damage affects all aspects of cell biology, including disruption of DNA structure, gene expression and metabolic functions. Persistent DNA damage also leads to the activation of cellular senescence pathways which repress cell cycle progression to prevent the replication of damaged DNA. Senescent cells have a negative effect on surrounding cells, through the secretion of pro-inflammatory chemicals, leading to inflammation in the affected tissue. This DNA damage-dependent loss of cellular function, cell death and senescence-induced tissue inflammation has been suggested to drive the ageing process, leading to ageing-related diseases such as osteoporosis, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis, and other ageing-related conditions.
By utilising our profound expertise in DNA damage repair to develop ground-breaking products and solutions, we strive to prevent unnecessary ageing and drastically improve the number and quality of healthy years — not only to revolutionise global health care, but also to completely transform how we live.
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