Since time immemorial, humans have been seeking ways to reverse the aging process, such as applying ancient remedies and sometimes even falling into the trap of pseudo-science peddlers.
After the modern scientific revolution, there has been a massive hunt for the Fountain of Youth. Now, it seems like the scientists at Harvard University are on the cusp of discovering the secret to reverse aging.
The latest study published in the journal Cell, a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal within the life sciences, found that by repairing DNA on mice, scientists were able to move age “forward and backwards”, and thus control the aging process in them.
“There is new research now showing that the aging process may be reversible,” Johns Hopkins health policy expert Dr. Marty Makary said. “That is, the body may carry a copy of a gene in your body that codes for a younger response to everything physiologically.”
Thirteen years in the making, this epigenetic study unveiled that the reorganization and regulation of genetic structures could either accelerate or reverse effects of aging like deteriorating eyesight, smaller attention span, and skin tissue falters.
“We believe ours is the first study to show epigenetic change as a primary driver of aging in mammals,” the paper’s senior author, David Sinclair, professor of genetics at the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research, told Harvard in a press release.
The researchers also said that the results might be tested next in larger mammals, including humankind.
“We expect the findings will transform the way we view the process of aging and the way we approach the treatment of diseases associated with aging,” co-first author Jae-Hyun Yang, research fellow in genetics in the Sinclair lab, also told Harvard.
