The battle against aging and its deleterious effects is expanding scientifically as well as commercially. For anyone concerned about premature aging, this is welcome news. The idea of “turning back the clock” has always fascinated people. More than a decade ago, Researchers Shinya Yamanaka and John B Gurdon discovered that mature lab cells could undergo “reverse aging” (they were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2012). In more recent news, another group published “an age reversing cocktail.” A recent study1 revealed “the global Anti-Aging market size was worth around USD 200.12 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 422.81 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 8.61% during the forecast period (2023- 2030).” The global anti-aging market spans across multiple products and services with the aim of preventing, delaying or even reversing the visible signs of aging. Innumerable products and techniques have been created and implemented to specifically focus on cellular aging. Most recently, Harvard-MIT scientist David Sinclair published a paper on a mix of chemicals capable of reversing cellular aging in human cells2. The study revealed an age reversing combination of six chemical cocktails “which, in less than a week and without compromising cellular identity, restore a youthful genome-wide transcript profile and reverse transcriptomic age,” Sinclair and a team of 17 other researchers published in the journal Aging3.” The results went viral, generating both widespread interest as well as debate. The main question being, could a chemical cocktail literally turn back the clock outside of the lab environment ?
As mentioned, reversing the aging process (at least in the laboratory) was successfully accomplished by Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon via their ground-breaking work on Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, and KLF4). By activating these factors Yamanaka and Gurdon converted mature adult cells back into embryonic-like stem cells. In other words, they completely reversed aging to such an extreme, the cells reverted back to their dedifferentiated “precursor” form. Dedifferentiation can occur when epigenetic factors (in the form of external stimuli such as the chemical cocktail discussed earlier) cause reprogramming of cell gene activity and loss of specialization. The production of stem cells via this method was a revolutionary discovery. It opened up an entirely new field of science as well as concerns – cancer is also well-known for its ability to dedifferentiate and metastasize. Ultimately, the real question is whether or not this anti-aging strategy can work in humans without causing significant harm, cancer or worse. If so, perhaps Ponce de León’s mythical search for the fountain of youth isn’t as outlandish as once thought.
References:
- https://www.fnfresearch.com/anti-aging-market
- https://www.sciencealert.com/harvard-scientist-says-hes-found-a-cocktail-that-can-reverse-aging-in-human-cells
- https://www.aging-us.com/article/204896/text