Warner BrothersFinally, the world of science may have just made an exciting discovery we can all get behind and the results are fascinating.
In a crazy revelation, scientists claim they can now do a ‘Benjamin Button’ on us and actually reverse the ageing process, The Guardian reports.
The academics spent six weeks analysing the effects of gene therapy on mice and after this short period, the creatures looked younger, had straighter spines, head healthier hearts, healed quicker and even lived 30 per cent longer.
The cells they are researching are called iPS cells and have an insanely useful ability to turn back the clock and turn cells into ’embryo’ cells.
The same technique is also intriguingly being used to trial growing spare human body parts, which sounds more gruesome than it perhaps is.
Cambridge researcher Wolf Reik explained:
Obviously there is a logic to it. In iPS cells you reset the ageing clock and go back to zero. Going back to zero, to an embryonic state, is probably not what you want, so you ask: where do you want to go back to?
Very interesting question Wolf…
At this stage, scientists do not have the means to apply this to human cells, but they believe they could do so in the next ten years.
Scientist Izpisua Belmonte said:
These chemicals could be administrated in creams or injections to rejuvenate skin, muscle or bones. We think these chemical approaches might be in human clinical trials in the next ten years.
The main man behind the study at the Salk Institute in California, Juan Carlos described their findings.
He explained:
Our study shows that ageing may not have to proceed in one single direction. With careful modulation, ageing might be reversed.
This ground-breaking discovery, albeit with rodents, could potentially lead to some extremely positive benefits in healthcare for humans, such as changing the way that ageing is treated rather than just the diseases that come with getting old. What’s even more unbelievable, is that their experiment may have unearthed some really interesting, new information which could change the way we think about ageing.
They suggested that getting older is not just wear and tear and that actually, we’re all predisposed to the rate at which we age because of our genetics and our parents. Great news for some people who have youthful genes but unlucky for those with older-looking relations.
Disappointingly though, they say that ageing cannot be stopped altogether, but hopefully in the future, they will be able to slow the internal clock, adding years onto a person’s life.
Izpisua said:
We believe that this approach will not lead to immortality
There are probably still limits that we will face in terms of complete reversal of ageing. Our focus is not only extension of lifespan but most importantly health-span.
This crazy discovery does sound very exciting, but the thought of people reverting back to a baby status, like Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button, is an extremely disturbing thought…
