Imagine taking a pill that could slow aging while protecting against diseases like heart disease, diabetes and arthritis – that would be medical holy grail – and scientists may finally be close to reaching it.
Reprogramming cells has drawn billions in investments from large tech names like Altos Labs and New Limit and Retro Biosciences; but full reprogramming may pose risks as it resets all genes.
1. Increased Lifespan
Reverse aging drugs could extend lifespan. We all know that as we get older, the likelihood of age-related diseases increases significantly – anything to reduce or delay them and thus slow aging itself would be revolutionary, not only for individuals but also the healthcare system as a whole.
Aging researchers have long pursued the dream of developing a pill to keep individuals healthy as they age, but this has proved challenging. While some scientists claim they’ve come close, most have focused their efforts on slowing aging rather than reverse it.
At this year’s Copenhagen Aging Conference, two pharmaceutical leaders from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly made headlines when they announced that their blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs may help slow or reverse the aging process. Preclinical trials conducted using Oxytocin Receptor Antagonists plus Alk5 Inhibitors have shown to improve organ and tissue functions including pancreatic, gastrointestinal, heart, blood vessel, brain, kidney, and liver health; promising reduction of all-cause mortality; as well as reversed signs of aging in frail mice.
Although these compounds appear to reverse certain aspects of aging, only certain aspects are impacted by them. Full cellular reprogramming – which would reset our bodies back to their stem cell state) isn’t possible with these molecules; however, partial reprogramming has been successfully demonstrated in mice using similar molecules. A number of companies are racing to develop this technology, with Jeff Bezos funding Altos Labs and Sam Altman from OpenAI backing Retro Biosciences respectively.
3. Increased Memory
As we age, our brains start to wear down more quickly. Tiny “fires” of inflammation start smoldering inside, making it harder to think clearly or form new memories while increasing our risk for disorders like Alzheimer’s. But researchers have now discovered an HIV drug can reverse memory loss in aged mice. NPR’s Jon Hamilton reports.
The team devised an ingenious “brain aging clock,” utilizing molecular tagging patterns of DNA in neural cells as a basis. With this tool in hand, scientists were able to identify nearly 500 compounds which rejuvenate neurons and neural progenitor cells within aged mice brains using behavioral tests such as novel object location test to assess spatial memory – eventually testing three candidates on aged mice using novel object location test as a behavioral measure – finding that treatment with drugs alleviated anxiety while increasing memory by improving spatial memory measures while increasing gene activity levels in their brains as a result of using these drugs!
GL-II-73 has already demonstrated its efficacy in laboratory studies: It restored memory function months post traumatic brain injury, reversed cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome, prevented noise-induced hearing loss and even enhanced cognition in healthy mice – but now for the first time it is being shown to reverse Alzheimer’s disease in mice, offering new hope for improving memory and delaying dementia in humans.
