Harvard Researchers Reverse Aging

… in mice.

Anti-aging researchers at Harvard University note, “Current
dogma is that aging is irreversible.” But maybe that dogma is
wrong. In a new
study in the journal Cell, the researchers report that
they have found a way to manipulate a molecular pathway such they
can restore “key biochemical markers of muscle health in a
22-month-old mouse to levels similar to a 6-month-old mouse.” The
biochemical markers were inflammation, insulin resistance, and
muscle wasting. They did not observe an increase in muscle
strength.

The researchers identified how the decline of a specific
compound – nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) – results in
the disruption of molecular commication between the nuclear genomes
in cells and their mitochondrial genomes. Mitochondria are the
powerhouses of cells. Falling NAD leads to decline in mitochondrial
function that eventually produces the cellular breakdowns that are
associated with aging.

Seeking to reverse the decline in NAD, the researchers injected
the NAD precursor nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) into the mice
for one week. It worked, at least in their muscles. Now the
researchers plan to administer the treatment longer term to see if
it will give the mice longer, healthier lives.

H/T Nick Schulz