Inhibiting TOR boosts regenerative potential of adult tissues

Adult stem cells replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues throughout our lifetime. We lose many of those stem cells, along with their regenerative capacity, as we age. Working in flies and mice, researchers discovered that TOR, a nutrient sensing pathway which is central to the aging process, drives the loss of adult stem cells. Treating mice with the TOR-inhibitor rapamycin prevented this loss and could reverse age-related loss of stem cells in mouse trachea.