Accumulations of DNA damage can distract sirtuins from their normal function of maintaining cellular identity and proper gene expression, leading to loss of cellular identity.

“And one of the reasons old cells became sterile, which is a hallmark of yeast aging, is because the sirtuins are keeping the cells fertile back here, but they're so distracted by all this other DNA damage that's going on over here that they lose their identity. And that's a theme that we've discovered is likely true in mammals as well, that accumulations of DNA damage distract the sirtuins from their normal job of keeping a cell with the proper gene expression, and cellular identity and we see the loss of cellular identity over time in mice, at least.”