Scientists have developed a drug with the power to stop the passing of time itself, apparently.
The treatment has been found to reverse ageing and has been successfully trialled in animals, reports the BBC.
Scientists at Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands have coined a potentially controversial treatment which has proven to rejuvenate old mice.
The team have created a drug which flushes out retired cells – otherwise called senescent cells – and has been seen to restore stamina and even some organ function.
The drug has been through rigorous testing, with the first three trials failing. However, the team knew they were on to something when they noticed the mice were showing signs of fewer grey hairs.
Publishing their findings in the journal, Cell, the scientists explained how they retired the cells by disrupting their chemical balance.
Dr Peter de Keizer told the BBC:
I got very rebellious, people insisted I was crazy for trying and for the first three times they were right. We weren’t planning to look at their hair, but it was too obvious to miss.
In terms of mouse work we are pretty much done, we could look at specific age-related diseases [such as] osteoporosis, but we should now prepare for clinical translation.
While the peptide drug hasn’t been tested on people yet, it is thought the treatment wouldn’t have any negative side effects on human cells.
Yet ‘until more high-quality research is done, it is better to be reserved about these findings’, according to Dr Dusko Ilic, a stem cell expert at King’s College London.
Ilic added:
Though, I would not be surprised if manufacturers try to capitalise on this and, in a few years, we could buy this peptide as a supplement over the counter.
So, while the drug may not be the font of eternal youth many a Disney villain has been searching for, the ground-breaking treatment could begin a revolution in ageing.
However, we should probably just all learn to love our bodies, ageing and all.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.