After my first blog was published, a dear friend – let’s call him Dennis, called me out and argued that there is no such thing as Age Reversal and dreaming of fencing at age 120 was nothing but that – a dream! He said there was no evidence of any human reversing age. Dennis said “Most people grow old with infirmities, having a lifelong dependence on medicines and remain miserable in their old age until they die. In fact, what does age reversal even mean? Will I become 25 again?!” Mocked Dennis (who just celebrated his 58th birthday).
He did not stop there. He continued and admonished me on raising false hope with my article!
I did what any self-respecting enthusiast would do – I invited him for a drink!
Here is how it went – I started by explaining ageing, while Dennis was happily sipping on his drink!
Our age is defined as the number of years that we have been alive or number of years since our date of birth (referred to as our chronological age).
At a biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease, and ultimately, death. But these changes are neither linear nor consistent, and they are only loosely associated with a person’s age in years. For example, while some 70-year-olds enjoy extremely good health and functioning, other 70-year-olds are frail and require significant help from others.1 Scientists now agree to 9 hallmarks of ageing which measure the damage to a persons’ molecular and cellular systems. Measurements of these hallmarks are used to determine the “biological age”.2 Scientists are working on ways to measure this biological age and so far the best result is obtained by DNA Methylation clocks also called Horvath clocks after Steve Horvath, its developer.
Age reversal refers to reducing the biological age of a person – that is by a reduction in the damage at the molecular and cellular level which can be observed by the hallmarks of ageing and by the Horvath clock or any other similar measure.
I took a large gulp of my drink while Dennis finished his first drink and got himself a refill! I continued:
Scientists around the world have been running various experiments to establish age reversal, and using the biological age measures that I explained earlier, have shown age reversal in the lab on old human cells, in mice, and even in healthy ageing adults. This reconfirms the hypothesis that age reversal for humans is a real possibility and it is expected that we will have a proven, reliable and implementable “magic pill” to reverse ageing as early as by 2030.
“Let me explain just a few of the most recent studies to you” I explained to Dennis, while he smiled wryly and took a long sip of his drink.
- According to a new study in March 2020 by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, old human cells, in a lab dish, return to a more youthful and vigorous state after being induced to briefly express a panel of proteins involved in embryonic development. Their experiments have shown a rewinding of ageing in the treated human cells. 3
- A study done in 2019 by Dr George Church and his associates showed evidence that a single combination gene therapy treated multiple age related diseases in mice and provided evidence that this study can be built upon to address the process of ageing itself.4Dr George Church has shared “As we age, genes that promote youthful functions shut off. If we can switch these genes on again, the negative consequences of aging can be counteracted as our biological clocks are turned back”. The idea has proven successful in mice with different age-related disorders. Dr. Church is now pursuing the rejuvenation treatment in aging dogs. If all goes well, human trials will follow.
Dr Church believes gene therapy holds the key to eliminating many of our toughest age-related chronic illnesses: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, cognitive decline, and more. And he envisions a time when a few shots of his gene therapy cocktail will slow, or even reverse the aging process. An “anti-aging vaccine”, so to speak! This gene cocktail is approximately 10 years away, he feels. 5
- A study in 2020 from Tel Aviv University indicated that hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) in healthy aging adults can stop the aging of blood cells and reverse the aging process. In the biological sense, the adults’ blood cells grow younger as the treatment progress’. 6
This study showed a marked telomere lengthening (telomeres shorten as we age) after this treatment.
- In 2020, Researchers have managed to restore lost sight in mice by injecting them with reprogramming factor genes. 7The study provides pointers to the possibility of reprogramming epigenetic factors for anti ageing strategies.
- A small study in 2019 found that a drug regimen administered a few times a week, for a year, reversed biological age by 2.5 years on average, as measured by changes to DNA that accumulate as we get older. 8
- Researchers in Korea in 2020, in simulations, have identified an enzyme that could be targeted to reverse a natural aging process called cellular senescence.9
These are some of the recent test success’, among a number of others, being run around the world.
Dennis poured another drink while I paused to take a long sip myself and I continued – I will not bore you with details of other advancements in this field as the details get more and more technical. But suffice it to conclude that age reversal has now become an accepted reality in the minds of gerontologists and the question being debated is “when and how” rather than “is it possible”.
The scientific effort is also to reduce biological ageing by a few years, every few years, so that one remains biologically much younger than ones’ actual age. It is currently understood that best and lasting results will only be achieved when this effort is regular and continuous.
Also advancement in any field is well indicated by the number of players participating in this space as also the amount of money being invested here – lets’ look at the numbers: as the field of genomics10 is so new, data available is really not complete or accurate, but as per a leading startup tracking company Tracxn there are 3,300+ startups in this space as of April 2021, of which around 2,500 have received venture funding of approx. $ 108 Bln. (As compared to this India received total venture funds of $ 14.2 Bln in 2019, the highest in any year till 2021.) One third of the funding has been raised in the last 2 years!11 And this does not cover universities, academics, gerontologists, pharma and other companies, which have established an active presence in this space.
This now had Dennis’ attention – figures and the smell of money makes him exited! Dennis reacted for the first time – “so what does this really mean? You said things are happening and there is some evidence to show that age reversal is possible, but nothing tangible may happen for another 10 years! So why are investors rushing into this? And what is the takeaway for me?”
It was my turn to smile. I continued – Money in this space indicates that investors believe in the promise of age reversal and are willing to make huge bets in its potential. The pace of developments has picked up a huge momentum, thanks to the synergistic combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning and cheap computing power. In fact, genomics is even outpacing developments as measured by Moore’s law in computing.12 In short, we can expect a huge acceleration in new developments in the space of age reversal.
Both of us took a long sip of our drink and I continued – so the takeaway is that Age Reversal for humans is for real and we can expect solutions / vaccines / a magic pill, call it what you want, to reduce our biological age, in the near future. In the meanwhile, we should pursue healthy living, implement known biohacks for age reversal, consume supplements having age reversal benefits13 and indulge in therapies that have a proven positive impact on age reversal. The message for now is that we should take serious care of ourselves so that we may enjoy the benefits of these age reversal advancements when they become a reality.
Dennis now seemed convinced, yet retorted – “but will I be 25 again?”
I replied – with reference to your Biological age – it is not impossible! If you start taking the right measures to positively impact your biological age and stay alive for the next few decades, who knows?
Akkshay Mehta
(Life Extension and Age Reversal Evangelist)
This blog is my effort to inspire you with the latest developments in the space of healthspan, lifespan and age reversal. In simple English! Do share and Stay tuned.
I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at agm@growyoungtech.com
Join the “Grow Young” set.
References
1 WHO definition of biological ageing
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
2 9 Hallmarks of ageing: Genomic instability, Telomere attrition, Epigenetic alterations, Loss of proteostatis, deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, altered intercellular communication.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.14283/jpad.2019.50#Tab1
3 Vittorio Sebastiano PhD is the senior author of the study and Tapash Sarkar PhD is the lead author of the article.
4 Copy of the Research article entitled “A single combination gene therapy treats multiple age-related diseases”.
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/47/23505
5 Interview of Harvard Geneticist Dr George Church in Life Extension magazine.
https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2020/9/george-church-age-reversal#
6 The findings indicated that the treatments actually reversed the aging process in two of its major aspects: The telomeres at the ends of the chromosomes grew longer instead of shorter, at a rate of 20%-38% for the different cell types; and the percentage of senescent cells in the overall cell population was reduced significantly — by 11%-37% depending on cell type.
(The Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Shamir Medical Center in Israel results of the study were published on 20 November 2020. Article from Science Daily)
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201120150728.htm
7 David Sinclair and his team were able to restore lost sight in mice – see the article in Science magazine dated December 2, 2020.
8 LiveScience magazine article – study by biogerontologist Gregory Fahy
https://www.livescience.com/reverse-aging-biological-clock-drug.html
9 Science daily article dated November 30, 2020
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201130101245.htm
10 Genomics: that’s where age reversal studies are being done.
11 Article on Tracxn website updated on April 9, 2021.
https://tracxn.com/d/emerging-startups/top-genomics-startups-2021
12 More than Moore’s Mores: Computers, Genomics, and the Embrace of Innovation by Joseph November
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30140966/#:~:text
13 After consulting your Physician.
Disclaimers:
Views or opinions expressed in this blog are personal and belong to the author. The content on this blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be a treatment plan for any individual situation. The author does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy or completeness of information in this blog and will not be held responsible for the same. The author will not be liable for any errors or omissions found on the blog. The author disclaims liability for any damage, mishap, injury or loss that may occur from engaging in any activities or ideas from this site. Any view or opinion on this blog is not intended to malign any organization, company or individual.
The material on this site is not to be used by any commercial or personal entity without expressed written consent of the author. Statements on this blog are not for personal medical care, but rather for the purpose of general knowledge. The statements on this blog are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult your personal physician for specific medical advice.