Tightening the connection between transposable element mobilization and aging

The process of senescence is typically accompanied by a gradual (or not so gradual) loss of the capacity to maintain homeostasis that, in turn, is thought to underlie the promotion of the reduced function and disease states that typically accompany old age. Although there are multiple factors that likely contribute to this process, a relatively recent observation has been the association of a decline in maintenance of repressive heterochromatin and aging. Studies in organisms as diverse as yeast, worms, flies, mice, and human cell culture have documented a decline in repressive heterochromatin with senescence, and genetic interventions have indicated that maintaining repressive heterochromatin might be beneficial for increasing healthy life span (1, 2).