Scientists reaches key milestone in learning how to reverse aging at mice

Results from a new study by Harvard researchers have successfully reversed the process of aging in mice by making DNA repairs, adding it could eventually be used on humans, according to a study published January 12 in Cell.

David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and a team of more than 60 researchers engineered mice to prematurely and quickly age.

“Our bodies hold a backup copy of our youth that can be triggered to regenerate,” said Sinclair, the senior author of a new paper showcasing the work of his lab and international scientists.

The scientific belief aging is the result of genetic mutations that undermine our DNA, creating a junkyard of damaged cellular tissue that can lead to deterioration, disease and death.

The experiments show aging is a reversible process, capable of being driven “forwards and backwards at will,” said anti-aging expert Sinclair.