David Sinclair, a Harvard professor who promotes ways to extend life, thinks aging has a simple explanation and can be reversed. Clinical trials will start soon, MIT Technology Review reports (open copy). The trial will test a cell reprogramming treatment called ER-100 from Life Biosciences, a company Sinclair helped start. The US Food and Drug Administration has now approved it for the first human tests aimed at reversing age-related changes.
The reprogramming treatment resets epigenetic controls, which are like switches that turn genes on or off in cells, to make them act younger. Reprogramming is powerful but risky, as it can cause cancer in animals. Life Biosciences uses partial reprogramming, a limited version that avoids full reset and reduces dangers. It passed safety tests in animals.
The trial will test ER-100 on about a dozen people with glaucoma, an eye condition where high pressure damages the optic nerve. Viruses carrying three reprogramming genes will be injected into one eye. To control the process, the genes activate only when patients take a low dose of doxycycline, an antibiotic. The patients will take it for two months while doctors monitor effects.
A New Era for Rejuvenation?
Company leaders call this a big step, the first time humans test something to rejuvenate tissues. Partial reprogramming aims to make cells healthier without tumors.
Sinclair believes losing correct epigenetic information causes aging. However, not all experts agree reprogramming truly reverses aging. Sinclair has promoted other longevity ideas before, like sirtuins - proteins thought to extend life - and resveratrol, a compound in red wine, but some say he overstates progress.
Life Biosciences shifted focus to this eye trial after earlier efforts. Other companies, like Altos Labs and New Limit, funded by tech investors, also study reprogramming but say they need more time before human tests. Risks include immune reactions to the gene switch, made from bacteria and virus parts, or cells reverting too far. For now, the trial is a proof of concept for eye treatment, not a full anti-aging cure.