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"Damage Suppressor" Gene Found in Tardigrades, Inserted into Human Cells

posted by martyb on Thursday September 22 2016, @09:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the Shields-up! dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Scientists have found a damage suppressing gene in tardigrades that they have called "Dsup". It directs the production of a protein that can protect DNA, partially explaining tardigrades' resistance to the effects of radiation. The scientists also inserted the gene into human cells and found that Dsup-treated cells suffered less damage from X-ray exposure.

Extremotolerant tardigrade genome and improved radiotolerance of human cultured cells by tardigrade-unique protein (open, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12808) (DX)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Thursday September 22 2016, @01:04PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Thursday September 22 2016, @01:04PM (#405113)

    Just the opposite I think - by constantly repairing damaged DNA you make it all but impossible for the X-factor mutations to occur in the first place.

    All we're likely to get is is super-normals. But hey, at least they should be extra resistant to cancer.

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