Oxidative stress speeds up cellular aging

Today's Video of the Day from the University of Pittsburgh is a 24-hour time lapse which shows how light-induced oxidative telomere damage causes daughter cells to get stuck together by DNA fusion and ultimately die. The research provides the first evidence that oxidative stress acts directly on telomeres to accelerate cellular aging. The experts found that the same sources that cause oxidative stress to cells, such as pollution, smoking, and obesity, are also associated with shorter telomeres that protect the ends of chromosomes. …