Brits could live to be 108 – as scientists discover how to REVERSE the ageing process
Drugs that re-programme human cells could mean people live a third longer than they currently do, while protecting against the ravages of age
LIFE expectancy in the UK could leap to 108-years after scientists discovered a way to reverse the ageing process.
Drugs that re-programme human cells could let people live a third longer than they currently do while also preventing the ravages of old age.
It would mean people live longer, healthier lives without the aches, pains, wrinkles and grey hair that usually accompany ageing.
By turning on just four genes, researchers have shown they can make human cells grown in the laboratory look and behave as if they were much younger.
And mice treated with the technique lived a third longer than those without the treatment.
They also showed fewer signs of ageing.
Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California, said it may be ten years before the therapies are ready for clinic trials in humans.
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The study leader added: “Obviously, mice are not humans and we know it will be much more complex to rejuvenate a person.
“But this study shows that ageing is a very dynamic and plastic process, and therefore will be more amenable to therapeutic interventions than what we previously thought.”
The research, which is published in the journal Cell, exploits a discovery that revealed cells can be reprogrammed by turning on four key genes known as the Yamanaka factors.
The researchers triggered these genes in living mice and found their lifespan increased from 18 weeks to 24 weeks.
They also looked younger and healed faster than those who had not had their cells reprogrammed.
Professor Izpisua Belmonte added: “Our study shows that ageing may not have to proceed in one single direction.
It has plasticity and, with careful modulation, ageing might be reversed.”