Scientists Say the Clock of Aging May Be Reversible

Scientists Say the Clock of Aging May Be Reversible 

Impaired muscle repair in mice, left, compared with improved muscle regeneration seen after reprogramming. CreditThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Scientists reveal that they have used a technique, now 10-years old, that had been shown to reset cells to stem cell state to rejuvenate aged cells. Original research using this technique had led to disastrous consequences with some test animals dying due to cells loosing their identity (stem cells can become any cell in the body) and others due to cancer (cancer is essentially rapid, runaway cell growth). 

Since those disastrous tests scientists have realized that cells don't use the full suite of steps in becoming stems cells but rather use a subset to prime cells for regrowth (and rejuvenation) without loosing their identity.  

See opening paragraphs below and follow the link for the entire story.

By NICHOLAS WADE NYTimes.com DEC. 15, 2016
At the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., scientists are trying to get time to run backward.

Biological time, that is. In the first attempt to reverse aging by reprogramming the genome, they have rejuvenated the organs of mice and lengthened their life spans by 30 percent. ...

More at NYTimes.com