HOUSTON, Aug. 16, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- If our genome is compared to a computer, then methylation of DNA would be "aging software." In Chicago this week, Dr. Stanislaw R. Burzynski will tell antiaging researchers from around the world that a person's internal time clock can be slowed down by modifying the methylation of the body's DNA. Methylation is the reaction which adds inert chemical methyl groups to DNA. Once the promoter, which controls activity of the gene, is covered by this methyl "insulation," the gene is silenced ("switched off"), and aging begins.
In a presentation to the 13th International Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine, Dr. Burzynski will talk about how the aging process is controlled by decreasing the methylation of promoters in the genes, and increasing the methylation of "junk" DNA, which does not contain genes. Approximately 2% of genomic DNA contains genes and most of the remaining DNA is colloquially referred to as "junk" of unknown function.
Burzynski's gene silencing theory of aging states that important genes are "switched off" through methylation during the aging process. Silencing of crucial genes, such as the telomerase gene in stem cells, will decrease the body's ability to self-repair and retard cell renewal, thus accelerating aging. With every cell division, there is an addition of methyl groups to the promoters of the genes and removal of methyls from the "junk" section of DNA, comparable to the shift of grains of sand from upper to lower compartments of an hourglass. In aging cells with silent genes, the promoters are packed with methyls whereas the remaining DNA is depleted of methyl groups. Dr. Burzynski will discuss how the methylation clock can be adjusted and aging slowed down by a new generation of pharmaceutical and nutritional agents which change the methylation pattern of DNA: they decrease the methyl shield around gene promoters and increase it in the "junk" portion of the DNA.
Dr. Burzynski will explain his theory on Friday, August 19 at 10 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, 151 East Wacker Drive at the 13th International Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine. For more information on the conference, visit www.worldhealth.net/event.
About Dr. Burzynski
Stanislaw R. Burzynski, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally recognized physician and scientist, opened the Burzynski Research Laboratory in 1977 to study the relationship between cancer and aging. The Burzynski team of scientists began the study of DNA methylation in 1979 and presented their gene silencing theory of aging in 2002.
Burzynski also discovered new treatments for cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases. Among his many scientific contributions are over 400 publications, and more than 200 patents issued in 39 countries.
In addition to the corporate offices and clinic in Houston, S. R. Burzynski operates an FDA-supervised pharmaceutical manufacturing facility and research laboratory in Stafford, Texas.
For more information, please visit www.cancermed.com and www.aminocare.com.
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