George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and prolific entrepreneur, is well-known for pioneering human genome sequencing and editing technologies. His lab employs these solutions to address viral infections, diseases and even extinct woolly mammoth populations.
He is working on an anti-aging vaccine utilizing CRISPR gene editing technology. A few shots could delay or reverse many age-related diseases at once.
1. Rejuvenate Bio
George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and well-known entrepreneur, has been developing gene therapies to combat aging. He believes that aging results from dysregulation of genes and proteins, and can be stopped by “restoring them back to the healthy state they had when younger.” Rejuvenate Bio has been developing RJB-01, which has demonstrated efficacy against multiple age-related diseases in mice. They intend to bring this treatment eventually to humans but have had difficulty raising funds; their San Diego gene therapy manufacturer recently laid off employees and reduced pipeline activity as reported on LinkedIn posts.
Rejuvenate Bio is employing CRISPR technology to add or boost specific genes in order to optimize their functionality, unlike other gene editing techniques which alter DNA strands or eliminate genes entirely.
Alongside their work in developing gene therapies, the company is also working on an anti-ageing vaccine designed to fight back against the effects of aging. The vaccine would specifically target inflammation and immune responses associated with getting older which contribute to chronic conditions like heart disease.
Rejuvenate Bio announced in 2023 that they had successfully treated an inherited form of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy in mice using gene therapy that targeted key disease-mediating pathways. Gene therapy targeting FGF21, sTGFbR2, and aKlotho was demonstrated to significantly alleviate disease symptoms while protecting cardiac structure in animals, with its results published in Nature Medicine. Now, the team is gearing up to conduct human trials using gene therapy in an early-stage drug candidate called RJB-0402. If successful, gene therapy could treat multiple age-related diseases while increasing lifespan; trial completion is scheduled for 2025. Rejuvenate Bio’s Regenerative Medicine platform includes this treatment as part of its Rejuvenate Bio regenerative medicine platform, with ten distinct age-related diseases addressed including muscle loss, ineffective physical exercise responses and buildup of fat in bloodstream.
2. Rejuvenate Skin
Skin rejuvenation is an effective treatment designed to diminish fine lines and wrinkles on the face, as well as improve its texture. This procedure may be performed on either all or selected parts of the face – such as forehead or chin areas – or may be used specifically to reduce sun damage.
Your skin is the largest organ in your body, composed of three layers – epidermis, dermis and subcutis – with epidermis being the outer layer and composed primarily of dead cells; dermis being comprised of living skin cells; and subcutis being comprised of fat cells and connective tissue.
George Church is an expert in gene editing and genome sequencing who has used these technologies to reverse human cell aging, as showcased on 60 Minutes.
Recently, he formed Marble with Denitsa Milanova, his engineer-biotechnologist protege. This new company focuses on gene therapy methods to rejuvenate cells. They hope to have their product on the market within one year; similar to genetic Botox treatments it could help people look younger while feeling healthier.
3. Rejuvenate Cells
George Church is an esteemed geroscientist renowned for his research into gene therapy, or using drugs to correct mutations in DNA and restore normal function. One of the first to sequence a human genome, his lab now is developing gene therapies to reverse age-related diseases and extend life expectancies. Gil Blander interviewed George to learn how gene therapy could help us live longer, healthier lives.
Cellular reprogramming is one of the most promising approaches to combating aging. This process entails changing cells’ internal genetic programs so as to bring back an embryonic state, with promising results when tested on mice; potentially treating common diseases in humans too; however it has yet to be tried on us yet.
Researchers are employing RNA sequencing and gene network analysis to identify genes linked to the cellular aging process, and to search for ones that can reverse this clock and return cells back to younger states. They test these genes using iPSC-derived skin cells before differentiating into various tissue types.
Many theories exist regarding the cause and progression of aging; some scientists believe most of it stems from epigenetic changes; while others propose that most damage accumulates slowly over time and can be reversed by replacing damaged cells with healthy ones; Church believes the most efficient way to achieve this goal is reprogramming somatic cells into iPSCs and then further developing them into various desired cell types.
Church has founded Androcyte, which focuses on using CRISPR technology to reverse aging through editing the genomes of cells. His research could eventually be applied to reverse symptoms associated with illnesses including cancer. He’s working on gene therapies designed specifically for delivery directly into the brain in hopes that these may prevent Alzheimer’s from emerging.
Regenerative gene therapies that can treat all areas of the body would be revolutionary, yet development and testing would take years to achieve. Meanwhile, Androcyte is developing a product for dogs that targets multiple aging-related diseases simultaneously, which should provide much faster results than directly entering clinical trials on humans.
4. Rejuvenate Organs
George Church is one of the world’s foremost geroscientists and pioneers in gene therapy. His work centers around eliminating age-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia as a means of reversing biological aging. A geneticist at Harvard Medical School he also directs Synthetic Biology at Wyss Institute focusing on creating tools for regenerative medicine research.
Church Lab relies heavily on CRISPR as their primary tool, a gene editing technology which allows scientists to modify living cells. CRISPR allows scientists to switch off genes causing diseases or change their activity so they produce similar outcomes as healthy genes – in essence using this new technology as a way of prolonging mouse lifespan by delaying its natural aging processes. Church and his team hope that CRISPR may allow them to reverse age-related processes using mice as test subjects.
His research has already demonstrated how animals’ aging processes can be reversed, opening the possibility for future development of anti-ageing drugs to extend human lives. His lab is also engineering pig organs to be more compatible with humans and making transplants safer by reducing rejection of transplanted tissues – these technologies could help address global organ shortages while potentially decreasing lifesaving medications needed by patients to ensure they don’t reject transplanted tissue implantation.
At present, only about 15,000 individuals receive organ transplants annually and the waiting list can be lengthy. Unfortunately, many of those on it suffer from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and kidney failure and some have even passed away while waiting. Church’s “anti-ageing vaccine” could prevent or reverse such diseases while prolonging elderly lives by several years.
Church and his team aim to eventually increase the lifespan of dogs as an animal model that is easier and cheaper to study than humans. If his experiments prove successful, it would be much quicker and cheaper for bringing results of any longevity drug to market; until that point arrives he’s focused on treating conditions prevalent among older canines such as fatal heart disease and joint pain.
