#4 - Andy Koff - Preventing Quiescent Cells from Turning Senescent - A Unique Approach to Fighting Senescent Cells by Atropos Therapeutics

Andy Koff is the Founder of Atropos Therapeutics. A company with
a new approach to tackling senescent cells, one fo the biggest
hallmarks of aging.

Atropos Therapeutics uses a bio marker to identify when a cell
starts transitioning from a quiescent cell into a senescent cell.
Using this bio marker, Atropos aims to be able to prevent the
cell from transitioning into a senescent cell, they've dubbed
this type of technology a "senosuppressant"

For 25 years or so, starting with his post-graduate work at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center with Jim Roberts, and into his
faculty position at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Andy
has used a multitude of approaches, biochemical, genetic and
cellular, to identify the proteins and the mechanisms that
control how cells choose between duplicating themselves, known as
proliferating, or remaining in a non-proliferating state. 
This decision is incorrectly made in virtually all cancer cells,
thus providing the framework to explain much about how drugs work
in oncology.


About five years ago, Andy’s attention shifted to another
decision…how cells maintain themselves in the non-proliferating
state and what might be the consequences to not being able to do
so. His work today has applications in both oncology and in aging
and age-related diseases.

-James Ruhle, SimpleBioTechPodcast.com

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