Could This Protein Delay Aging?

It’s called Heat Shock Protein 10.  It responds to stress, and might just slow the aging process, scientists are finding.  Science Daily reported, “Scientists in the UK and the U.S. have discovered that a protein which responds to stress can halt the degeneration of muscle mass caused during the body’s aging process.”
    Why do humans lose 25-30% of their muscle strength between the ages of 50 to 70?  Why do they become more susceptible to falls?  Could increased levels of heat shock protein 10 (HSP10) lead to preservation of muscle strength and better quality of life for seniors?  A professor involved in the study said, “Our research is the first to demonstrate that age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass is not inevitable and this could have considerable implications for the future health care of the elderly.”

The book of Genesis says people lived for hundreds of years before and after the Flood.  Methuselah lived for 969 years.  People bore children well into centuries.  There is nothing theoretically impossible about it, if physiological repair mechanisms were working properly.  After the Flood, longevity began plummeting substantially, but even at the time of the patriarchs it was common to be healthy to the age of 150 years.  Factors such as UV radiation from a changing atmosphere, new virulent diseases, or mutational load from a genetic bottleneck on the Ark, could have been responsible.
    Since sin entered the world, God has put a time limit on each individual’s sojourn on this planet; “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  Thank goodness evildoers no longer have centuries to work their wickedness.  These days, politicians would certainly have to reconsider Social Security laws if we had Methuselahs retiring at 65.  It’s interesting to consider, though, that there are no inevitabilities to aging as we know it.  Through molecular biology and genetics we can discover the cellular mechanisms responsible for the aging process and perhaps adjust some of them to extend the quality of life of our senior years before the cosmic ray with your name on it hits you.  Death can be delayed but not denied.  Even Methuselah probably thought it came too soon.  But now that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken our judgment for us, death can be the doorway to eternal life with our Maker, by faith (Hebrews 10-13).  “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” ().  Will you be at your welcome home party?