Science breakthrough reverse ageing by 20 years

The fountain of youth may not have been found, but scientist believes they may have found a tap of youth with new research.

New research, yes it was done with mice, does suggest that not only can scientists slow the ageing processes but they have actually had some examples of reversing it. This is done by tweaking some genes that turn matured cells back into developing cells like you would find in a child. Research has shown that by doing this, they were able to significantly extend the life of a mouse with an accelerated-aging condition.

While extending the life of a mature mouse might not get you excited, the fact that these same scientists were able to replicate the processes with human cells in a lab might do the trick. The study gives credibility to the theory that ageing is no more complicated than individual cells being made more active while other cells are being made less active. The only thing that science would have to do is turn those inactive cells back on.

The author’s senior author, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, told Scientific American, “Ageing is something plastic that we can manipulate”. While there is still a lot of research that continues to need to be done the prospects have a lot of scientists excited as it means that some problems we all face as we get older, joint pain, digestive issues, and more, could actually be reversed. With other scientists believing that treatments could turn the entire body back 10 to 20 years.

It might seem like the work of science fiction, but the work is very real and opens some ethical questions. Just because we think we can manipulate the hands of time, should we?

What do you think? If this treatment was available now would you be one of the first in line?