Scientists from Germany rejuvenate human cells by reversing their biological age

Scientists from the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen University have learned how to obtain young neural stem cells from ordinary blood. The study was published in the journal Aging Cell.

Researchers took blood from 15 donors aged from 0 to 101 years and introduced two genes, SOX2 and cMYC, into erythrocyte precursor cells. This directly converted the blood cells into neural stem cells, from which neurons and brain support cells were then grown.

The biological age of the resulting cells averaged about 13% of the donor's age, and with prolonged cultivation, it dropped below 5%. Other signs of aging, including differences in gene activity, also nearly disappeared. The rejuvenation did not depend on cell division, and its mechanism remains unknown.

It is too early to discuss anti-aging therapy: the experiment was conducted only in the laboratory. The authors see the main benefit in studying brain aging and diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.