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Scientists discover how harmful “zombie cells” hide from the immune…

Researchers found that blocking the protein in mice cut the cells and inflammation while improving blood sugar regulation and strength; it is early, animal-stage research.

On air: Dale Bearman and Hank Ledger on The Bonk-o-Meter
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Photo: Photographer: Charles Martin Scanned and uploaded to… · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Dale Bearman and Hank Ledger on this story, from The Bonk-o-Meter at 1:28 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are ScienceDaily's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Senescence
Photo: Photographer: Charles Martin Scanned and uploaded to… · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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  1. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe claim under review, reported by ScienceDaily on October fourteenth, twenty twenty-six: scientists found a protein that may help harmful aging cells hide from the immune system.

  2. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThose cells build up and may fuel age-related health problems.

  3. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWhen researchers blocked the protein in mice, the cells and inflammation dropped, while blood sugar control and strength improved.

  4. Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo the cells survive by keeping their heads down, never contributing, and getting steadily more irritating. I have worked with that exact employee.

  5. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt's mice, Dale.

  6. Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorQuite right. The source calls it a promising direction, not a cure, so the claim rates Mildly Bonkers. Frankly, I admire the cells.

  7. Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorTwenty years of dodging management.

  8. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYou'd be the first one they'd find, and you'd tell them yourself.

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