This is a hallmark of Malibu fires, where the Santa Ana wind push flames over the mountains and hillside and down to the beach.

In the correct dosages, inducing the Yamanaka factors throughout the body in rodents can ameliorate the hallmarks of aging by mimicking the adaptability that is common to more youthful cells.

In humans, disruptions to this system are also thought to be hallmarks of auditory hallucinations, or "hearing voices," in people with schizophrenia who cannot distinguish "real" voices from outside sounds, say the study authors.

They discovered that this system can undergo catastrophic swelling, which leads to the degeneration of brain tissue, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

The study, recently published online in the journal Aging Cell, reveals how DNA damage, a hallmark of aging, compromises the retina's function and accelerates vision loss.