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In 1965, Professor Leonard Hayflick published a landmark paper describing a process that limited the proliferation – or growth – of normal human cells in culture. Linking this effect to both tumour suppression and ageing, the exact mechanism of what came to be known as cellular senescence was still unknown. Fast forward half a century and cellular senescence is taking centre stage as a promising therapeutic approach for treatment of age-related pathologies. But what have we uncovered about how this senescence happens in cells? And how might we harness this knowledge for the treatment of an ever-ageing population?

To explore this and more, Ian Sample speaks to the Mayo Clinic’s Dr Jan van Deursen, who came to the field via an interest in the molecular basis of cancer. We also hear from Newcastle University’s Professor of Cellular Gerontology, Thomas von Zglinicki, who was a senior author of a recent Nature Communications paper that unpacked the role of cellular senesence in age-related liver disease.