In Ireland, scientists have found scientific proof explaining why children heal more quickly than adults. Children’s stem cells have the JNK3 gene which allows children to respond to their physical environment more quickly and helps them heal faster than adults. Using what they know, researchers hope to help speed up healing in adults by using this gene that is responsible for the fast healing in children. This can come in handy particularly for repairing broken bones and bone degeneration in adults.
Commenting on the significance of the research, Dr Arlyng Gonzalez Vazquez, joint first author on the study told News-Medical, “Our findings not only have major implications for tackling the decrease of bone repair capacity that occurs with age but also set the basis for a novel research strategy applicable to other tissues in the body.”