Gene therapies are opening up possibilities that were once reserved for science fiction.

At Harvard University, Professor of Genetics David Sinclair says he believes it’s possible to unlock the fountain of youth, and gene therapy is the key.

Sinclair spent two years trying to correct the vision of a mouse using gene therapy, and finally succeeded in doing it.

Although these discoveries are encouraging, Sinclair cautions that people set their expectations realistically.

“Many people are eager to use the research for their own health benefit,” he said. “But I’m hoping that the public will realize that it does take a long time and we can’t just jump from a mouse to a human tomorrow.”

Aging researcher Dr. Nir Barzilai is studying clinical trials that use the diabetes drug metformin to directly target aging.

Cellular senescence, a state of permanent growth arrest, has emerged as a hallmark and fundamental driver of organismal aging. It is regulated by both genetic and epigenetic factors. Despite a few previously reported aging-associated genes, the identity and roles of additional genes involved in the regulation of human cellular aging remain to be elucidated. Yet, there is a lack of systematic investigation on the intervention of these genes to treat aging and aging-related diseases.

How many aging-promoting genes are there in the human genome? What are the molecular mechanisms by which these genes regulate aging? Can gene therapy alleviate individual aging? Recently, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have shed new light on the regulation of aging.

Recently, researchers from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Peking University, and Beijing Institute of Genomics of CAS have collaborated to identify new human senescence-promoting genes by using a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screening system and provide a new therapeutic approach for treating aging and aging-related pathologies.

Gene-editing method shows promise for premature aging syndrome.

Scientists have fixed a genetic mutation in mice with progeria, a rapid aging disease. The treatment could one day be used in humans who would otherwise die in childhood.

Approximately 1 in 4 million children are diagnosed with progeria within the first two years of birth, and virtually all of these children develop health issues in childhood and adolescence that are normally associated with old age – including cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes), hair loss, skeletal problems, subcutaneous fat loss and hardened skin.

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Two or three meters of DNA are packed into each of your cells, but that careful arrangement gets muddled over time, which is one reason we grow old.

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