Biology Forums - Study Force

I think according to Dr. David Sinclair, geneticist at Harvard, our cells behave increasingly like different cell types than they are due to epigenetic noise from aging. Like a skin cell might take on qualities of a muscle or brain cell without actually changing type. Is there evidence to this effect?

Never have I come across this idea before. Any reference you can share?

Only from YouTube videos of Dr. Sinclair being interviewed.

General idea of his work.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=134e29VmNEY

Eye research
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yoepW7cAZ9g

Don't know if he mentions it in this video but he covers a lot of stuff. Maybe on Joe Rogan he mentioned cells getting identity confusion.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5DtWqzalEnc

I watched some parts of the videos, and he references Yamanaka factors, which we've already established exist. Where is the part where talks about "our cells behave increasingly like different cell types than they are due to epigenetic noise from aging."?

https://hms.harvard.edu/news/loss-epigenetic-information-can-drive-aging-restoration-can-reverse

"By acting as a toggle for gene activity, these epigenetic molecules help define cell type and function. Since each cell in an organism has basically the same DNA, it’s the on-off switching of particular genes that differentiates a nerve cell from a muscle cell from a lung cell."

Maybe this was the gist.

Very early on in development, that is true. By activating or deactivating certain genes during fetal development, different proteins are formed when these now specialized cells, which also give rise to other cells in the tissue with the same markings. This idea that if we remove those markings, the cells return to their undifferentiated state has been proven in a lab. But taking your example where "a skin cell might take on qualities of a muscle or brain cell without actually changing type." is something that I do not know about, unless you can provide some sort of article discussing (peer reviewed or not). The idea is interesting, but big claims require extraordinary evidence.

I'm pretty sure Dr. Sinclair has said it. I just need to find it. Might of been on Rogan and that stuff is on Spotify now. But doesn't it make sense that the epigenome of a skin cell might take on changes that make it behave less like a skin cell and arguably became more like any other cell type that it isn't? Muscle quality certainly changes over time and my skin doesn't hold moisture like it used to.

The DNA of any cell is enclosed within the nucleus. It is tightly regulated and protected from the elements, unlike other molecules found within a cell. Hence, I do not see this happening freely in any cell, unless some external source directly causes it to do so.

Joe Rogan episode 1670 with David Sinclair shortly after the 1:30:00 mark. He mentions cells behaving more like different types. Doesn't really go into much detail, but still interesting.

Maybe he was referring to the 2006 research done on Yamanaka factors. I don't think there is a single case that I have come across in literature that shows one cell type behaving like another. This whole idea of reprogramming cells involves a laboratory process that is complex and requires specialized techniques; it is not something that happens naturally in vivo. Given that David Sinclair has been in the public eye for decades, he might have been talking quickly, and as a result misspoke.