Research into cellular aging is moving to a new level: technologies that were only recently tested in animals are beginning to be used in humans. A key milestone was the first treatment of a person under a Life Biosciences program developing a method of partial epigenetic reprogramming. The approach is based on the idea that, with age, a cell loses the ability to properly “read” its own DNA, and the therapy is meant to restore these mechanisms without changing the genetic information itself.
The method grew out of David Sinclair’s research, in which mice had their retinal cell function restored, optic nerve regeneration stimulated, and vision improved. Now the safety and effectiveness of the technology are beginning to be studied in humans. The first trials are being conducted on eye tissue because changes there can be controlled most precisely.
At the same time, other approaches to combating age-related changes are also developing. Studies point to the promise of restoring NAD+ levels, which affect cellular energy metabolism, and are also examining the effects of calorie restriction, ketone bodies, rapamycin, and GLP-1 drugs.
Work by Irina Conboy at the University of California, Berkeley shows that aging is also determined by blood composition. Age-related signals circulating in the blood can accelerate cellular aging, and therapeutic plasma exchange is showing the first encouraging results.
At the same time, specialists emphasize that the main criterion of success remains not a reduction in the so-called biological age, but a real improvement in organ function and human health.
We will be looking forward to new research!
