Cells & DNA
Telomeres, mitochondria, senescence and NAD , aging at the cellular level.
65 answers, from 465 studies
Last updated: September 2026
Key questions
What do mitochondrial mutations mean for how quickly you age?
Mitochondrial mutations and dysfunction likely contribute to faster biological ageing. You cannot control the accumulation of…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Can you repair DNA damage, or can you only prevent it?
Your body actively repairs DNA damage through multiple well-studied mechanisms, but that repair is not always perfect and…
Yes · Strong evidence
What exactly does senescence do to your cells as you age?
Senescent cells stop dividing, accumulate with age and cause damage throughout the body through a constant stream of…
Yes · Strong evidence
Can epigenetic reprogramming reverse ageing?
Epigenetic reprogramming consistently and convincingly rejuvenates cells and tissues in animal and laboratory research, but no…
Preliminary evidence
Do senolytics already work in humans, or only in mice so far?
Senolytics no longer work only in mice: there is now first concrete evidence in humans, but the studies are small and lack…
Preliminary evidence
Does gene therapy with klotho or follistatin work against ageing?
Gene therapy with Klotho shows promising results in mice and cells, but there are no human clinical data yet. The available…
Preliminary evidence
Does sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts work against ageing?
Sulforaphane has impressive effects on ageing processes in laboratory and animal research, but whether this also holds true in…
Preliminary evidence
Does fasting help your cells clean themselves up?
Fasting demonstrably increases the self-cleaning function of your cells, but watch out for muscle breakdown during prolonged…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does chronic inflammation accelerate the ageing of your cells?
Chronic inflammation demonstrably accelerates cellular ageing through a negative spiral that is difficult to break. The best…
Why do some cells stop dividing as you age?
Cells stop dividing as a protection against damage and cancer, but the accumulation of such stopped cells contributes over the…
What do zombie cells do to your ageing?
Zombie cells accumulate as you age and accelerate ageing through inflammatory signals; how to tackle them is promising but…
Can an epigenetic age test really tell you how old your body is?
An epigenetic age test provides a meaningful indication of biological ageing, but is not yet a definitive verdict on your…
Moderate evidence
What does a vitamin D deficiency do to your DNA?
A vitamin D deficiency is associated with greater DNA damage, especially in people with an additional risk factor. Make sure…
What is the relationship between cancer and senescent cells?
Senescent cells initially protect against cancer, but when they accumulate they can actually promote tumour growth through…
What are the hallmarks of aging, exactly?
Aging follows nine recurring biological patterns, from telomere shortening to disrupted cell communication, which together…
Why do cells lose their ability to repair themselves over time?
Cells lose their repair capacity through a combination of declining energy stores, impaired DNA repair and the accumulation of…
What does caffeine do to your cells and their repair process?
Caffeine disrupts the guardians and repair mechanisms of DNA damage in cells, but what this means for ordinary daily coffee…
Can eating too little actually damage your cells?
Eating moderately less does not damage your cells - it actually protects them through a cellular clean-up mechanism. However,…
Moderate evidence
Why do damaged cells sometimes continue to divide instead of eliminating themselves?
Damaged cells escape elimination through multiple, well-documented mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms is valuable…
Does dehydration make your cells age faster?
There are biologically plausible indications that dehydration harms cells, but whether simply not drinking enough accelerates…
What is the difference between cell division and cellular ageing?
Cell division and cellular ageing are two sides of the same biological story: every division costs a small piece of telomere,…
Can certain fungi or bacteria in your gut influence your cellular ageing?
Certain gut bacteria produce substances that accelerate cellular ageing, while a diverse microbiome rich in fibre-fermenting…
Can meditation do anything about ageing at the cellular level?
There are cautious indications that meditation favourably influences the activity of the telomere-repairing enzyme, but…
Preliminary evidence
Does red light therapy really have an effect on your cells?
Red light therapy has a biologically plausible effect on cells, but whether that is clinically relevant in your body has not…
How does air pollution damage your cells from the inside?
Air pollution damages your cells from the inside through oxidative stress: fine particulate matter causes an excess of harmful…
What is apoptosis and why is it beneficial for cells to clean themselves up?
Apoptosis is an indispensable clean-up mechanism that keeps your body healthy, but balance is everything: too little increases…
Why do damaged proteins accumulate in your cells as you age?
As you age, several systems that clear away damaged proteins weaken simultaneously and amplify each other's failure. This is…
What does alcohol do to your cells and DNA in the long term?
Prolonged alcohol use damages cells and DNA in multiple ways simultaneously, from oxidative stress in the liver to broken DNA…
Can diet protect your DNA from damage?
Diet has a real effect on DNA protection: a plant-based eating pattern and adequate folate and selenium demonstrably help,…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What is the role of inflammation in cellular ageing?
Inflammation and cellular senescence reinforce each other in two vicious cycles, leading to tissue damage and age-related…
Does resveratrol really help protect cells against ageing?
Resveratrol protects cells impressively in the lab, but whether that also works in practice for you is uncertain: the body…
Preliminary evidence
What are senescent cells and why are they bad for you?
Senescent cells are damaged cells that stop dividing but continue to live and chronically inflame their surroundings. They…
What does chronic stress do to your DNA?
Chronic stress accelerates the wear of your DNA protectors (telomeres) in a way that corresponds to years of extra cellular…
Why are cells damaged when you don't get enough oxygen?
Oxygen deprivation damages cells through a chain of mechanisms: energy deficit, overstimulation of nerve cells, and an assault…
What is glycation and how does sugar damage your cells from the inside?
Sugar damages your cells through a chain of chemical reactions that affect proteins, power plants, and small blood vessels.…
Can fasting really rejuvenate your cells?
Fasting has clear cell-rejuvenating effects in animal research, but in humans the evidence is still limited to small studies…
Preliminary evidence
What is the Horvath clock and why is it so well known?
The Horvath clock was the first biological age measure that worked broadly across virtually all tissues, and that is what…
Can smoking permanently damage your DNA?
Smoking damages your DNA in multiple ways simultaneously and leaves recognisable mutation patterns in at least 17 types of…
What are free radicals and what do they do to your cells?
Free radicals are unavoidable by-products of your metabolism that are useful in small amounts but, in excess, damage DNA,…
How does a cell know when to stop dividing?
Cells stop dividing through built-in emergency brakes that respond to damage, stress, or viruses. This system is protective in…
Does caloric restriction actually make your cells younger?
Caloric restriction slows ageing processes in cells, but whether your cells actually become younger as a result has not yet…
Can DNA damage in your cells repair itself?
Your cells repair DNA damage constantly and on a large scale, but this capacity is not unlimited: complex or repeated damage…
What does autophagy do for ageing and disease?
Autophagy is a genuine part of the ageing process and plays a role in many age-related diseases, but the translation into…
Can you measure autophagy in your body?
There is no reliable, simple method yet for measuring autophagy in your body. Scientists use combinations of indirect markers,…
Does exercise activate autophagy?
Exercise activates autophagy in muscle cells through well-described mechanisms, but most of the evidence comes from animal and…
Yes · Moderate evidence
How do telomeres protect your DNA?
Telomeres protect your chromosome ends through a system of proteins that simultaneously prevents false alarms and harmful…
What does telomerase do to the length of your telomeres?
Telomerase keeps telomeres intact for longer by compensating for shortening during cell division, but in most body cells the…
Why do your telomeres get shorter as you age?
Telomere shortening is part of life: every cell division costs a piece. But smoking, chronic stress, and sleep deprivation…
What is hormesis (what doesn't kill you makes you stronger)?
Hormesis is a well-described biological principle: a low dose of stress can make your cells more resilient, provided the dose…
Do sirtuins actually do anything against ageing?
Sirtuins play a clear role in ageing in animal research, but whether they are of any benefit to humans (through supplements or…
Preliminary evidence
What is mTOR and why does it matter in ageing?
Inhibiting mTOR strongly extends lifespan in mice, but whether you can achieve that as a human through drugs or diet has not…
What does insulin do to the ageing process?
Chronically too much insulin is probably bad for healthy ageing, but science does not yet know precisely what the ideal…
Does fisetin from strawberries really work as a zombie-cell cleaner?
Fisetin demonstrably clears zombie cells in lab and mouse research, but whether this also works in humans and is safe has not…
Preliminary evidence
Can you have your telomeres measured, and is there any value in doing so?
A telomere test is technically possible but currently provides little actionable information for you as an individual, because…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Do I inherit my life expectancy from my parents?
Genetics explains roughly one third of how long you live, so your parents give you a biological starting point, not a…
What are mitochondria, and can you make them younger or more energetic?
Regular exercise is by far the best-supported means of keeping mitochondria healthy; NAD+ supplements sound appealing but have…
Yes · Strong evidence
Can you counteract DNA damage from ageing through your lifestyle?
Quitting smoking, exercising regularly and eating plenty of vegetables demonstrably reduce DNA damage; antioxidant supplements…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does clearing senescent cells with senolytics help against ageing?
Senolytics show impressive results in mouse studies, but in humans the evidence is too thin for use outside clinical trials.…
Preliminary evidence
Do my stem cells run out as I get older?
Your stem cells do gradually decline in number and function, affecting muscle repair, brain function and other tissues. There…
What is epigenetics and can you influence your genes?
Epigenetics determines which genes are active and is in principle open to influence. In medicine, epigenetic mechanisms are…
Yes · Strong evidence
What is oxidative stress and how serious is it really?
Oxidative stress is a real biological process that causes damage to cells and contributes to ageing, but how large a role it…
Can you clear out "zombie cells" to slow down ageing?
In animal research, clearing zombie cells is impressively effective, but in humans the evidence is still very preliminary.…
Preliminary evidence
What are "zombie cells" and how do you get rid of them?
Zombie cells clearly play a role in ageing, but no proven treatment yet exists for humans. Keep an eye on the field, but for…
Yes · Strong evidence
What is autophagy and can I activate it myself?
You can promote autophagy yourself through fasting or temporarily eating significantly less, and probably through exercise as…
Yes · Strong evidence
Can you tell from your DNA which diseases you are at greater risk of, and how is that measured?
Your DNA and certain proteins in your blood provide a useful picture of your predisposition to heart disease and other common…
Yes · Strong evidence
Latest articles
11 SepTargeting cell metabolism to clear aging cells
Senescent cells accumulate in the body over time and fuel chronic inflammation. Researchers have now found a new way to…
1 min
Measuring biological age: which tests actually mean something, and which don't
Epigenetic clocks, saliva tests, blood chemistry: which measure of your biological age is reliable, what can your doctor offer…
3 min
Some aging diseases may be biologically unavoidable
Eat well, exercise, manage stress. We know the advice. But what if some diseases of old age are unavoidable no matter how well…
1 min
APOE gene destabilises DNA packaging and drives cell aging
A gene long linked to Alzheimer’s disease does something else too: it destabilises how DNA is packaged inside cells,…
1 min
Engineered blood vesicles improve memory in Alzheimer mice
What if tiny packages from young blood could be modified to reach the brain more effectively?
1 min
Blocking growth hormone in midlife extends mouse lifespan
What if switching off a single hormonal signal in middle age could add years to your life? Researchers did exactly that in mice.
2 min
Brain cell reprogramming reverses Alzheimer’s in mice
What if you could replace damaged brain cells with new ones, made from cells already present in the brain?
2 min
Insulin signalling controls gene reading in kidney cells
Kidney cells that cannot process insulin properly lose more than their metabolism. They also lose the ability to read genes…
1 min
Aged brain immune cells secrete a damaging protein
The brain’s own immune cells can become damaged with age. When they do, they release a protein that disrupts surrounding brain…
1 min
Brain regions age unequally in Lewy body dementia
Not all parts of the brain decline at the same rate in Lewy body dementia.
2 min
Sleeping ribosomes reveal how stressed cells age
Every cell needs ribosomes to make proteins. But under stress, those ribosomes enter a kind of sleep mode.
1 min
Ageing cells get a precision medicine roadmap
Senescent cells accumulate as we age. They contribute to inflammation and tissue damage. Now researchers have drawn up a joint…
1 min
Psilocybin shields nerves during chemotherapy
A common but poorly addressed side effect of chemotherapy is lasting nerve damage in the hands and feet.
1 min
Aging brain immune cells leak damaging protein
The immune cells that protect your brain can grow old and start secreting something harmful to their neighbours. A newly…
1 min
One immune switch slows aging across organs
A single molecular switch in the immune system may help drive aging throughout the body.
1 min
Protein errors unexpectedly extend female fly lifespan
When proteins are built with the wrong components, cells usually suffer for it. Yet female fruit flies with exactly that kind…
1 min
Fatty liver disease starts with a damaged membrane layer
Millions of people have a fatty liver without knowing it. When that fatty liver tips into dangerous inflammation, the trigger…
1 min
SIRT1 keeps the genome’s jumping genes in check
Our own DNA can damage itself. Segments of genetic code copy themselves and insert elsewhere in the genome. With age, the body…
2 min
Brain cell senescence spreads through shared signals
Aged cells in the brain behave like a slow infection. They send out signals that push neighboring cells into the same aging state.
1 min
Aging eggs ignite inflammation in surrounding cells
Why does female fertility decline with age? A new study points to a specific inflammatory process deep inside the ovary. And…
1 min
A bacterial enzyme boosts cell energy in aging animals
An enzyme borrowed from bacteria makes the energy factories inside cells run more cleanly. In worms and mice, this reduced…
2 min
Leaking DNA in egg cells drives ovarian aging
Ovaries age faster than most organs, but the reason has remained unclear.
1 min
Restoring cell cleanup protects eyes from glaucoma
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.
1 min
Aged brain cells spread damage through five routes
Senescent cells, cells that stop dividing but refuse to die, accumulate in the brain as we age.
1 min
Disrupted body clocks may drive age-related muscle loss
There are still no approved drugs for sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength. A new analysis suggests a…
1 min
Stiffer tissue surroundings drive cell aging
As we age, the protein-and-fibre network surrounding our cells becomes stiffer. New research suggests that stiffness alone is…
2 min
Losing a DNA sensor accelerates cell inflammation
A protein that protects cells from their own DNA turns out, when lost, to cause inflammation and accelerated aging.
2 min
Aging unfolds in fixed phases across cell types
Not every cell ages at the same time. Researchers found that aging in the body follows a fixed sequence of phases, with…
2 min
Implanted muscle tissue boosts metabolism in aged mice
What if you could slow aging by placing a small piece of muscle tissue under the skin? Researchers did exactly that in mice…
1 min
Immune cells clear aged cells but also cause harm
Our immune system has its own category of cells that can directly clear out senescent cells. But the same cells also play a…
1 min
DNA sensor protects cells but speeds up aging
Our body has a system that detects and attacks unwanted pieces of DNA inside the cell nucleus.
1 min
Ozempic alternatives: what's out there and what actually works
From retatrutide to NMN, from metformin to electrolyte powders: a rundown of the best-known Ozempic alternatives and what the…
3 min
Cancer drug found to silence aging cells’ harmful signals
A class of drugs already used in breast cancer treatment may also act on a core mechanism of biological aging. Not by…
2 min
Aging brain cells infect neighbours via five pathways
Senescent brain cells do not stay quiet. They emit chemical signals that push neighbouring cells into the same dysfunctional…
1 min
Cell-cycle protein drives inflammation in aged cells
Senescent cells keep the body in a state of chronic inflammation. New research shows that a protein normally involved in cell…
1 min
Multiple gene strategies extend lifespan in worms
There is not one single way to live longer. New genetic research in small roundworms shows that at least three different…
2 min
Mitochondria produce their own immune weapon
Mitochondria do more than generate energy. They also produce a peptide that directly attacks bacteria and reprograms immune…
2 min
Brain immune cells turn inflammatory with age via metabolism
Microglia, the brain’s immune cells, change their behavior as you age. New research explains how shifts in their metabolism…
2 min
Aged fat cells fuel inflammation via blood protein
Fat cells that have become senescent release a protein that circulates through the blood. That protein appears to promote…
1 min
An aging immune system lets old cells run loose
Your body constantly produces cells that have done their job and stop dividing. Normally, the immune system clears them out…
2 min
Skin inflammation in aging tied to a shifted protein pair
Older skin is chronically mildly inflamed, even without any wound or infection.
1 min
Brain organoids matured for over five years like real tissue
In a Harvard laboratory, miniature brains survived for more than five years. During that time they developed in ways…
2 min
Senescent cells drive aging inflammation, but measuring it remains hard
As we age, certain cells accumulate that can no longer divide. Rather than staying quiet, these cells continuously release…
2 min
Stem cell therapy shows promise but lacks consistency
Stem cell therapies are offered globally, including in clinics with little regulatory oversight. They can temporarily reduce…
2 min
Immune memory trains aging blood stem cells to inflame
Aging blood stem cells drive chronic inflammation. But what pushes those stem cells into that state in the first place? A…
2 min
Aging cells link lung disease and metabolic decline
Chronic lung diseases and metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes seem unrelated. But aging cells that accumulate in lungs…
2 min
Tau protein disrupts energy supply in brain cells
A protein that clumps together in Alzheimer’s disease also directly damages the energy-producing structures inside brain…
2 min
Aging blood stem cells ignite chronic inflammation
Your immune system remembers past threats so it can respond faster next time. But with age, that memory can go wrong.
1 min
Gut stem cells age through an inflammation signal
The lining of your gut is renewed constantly by stem cells. But with age, those stem cells falter.
1 min
One drug combination clears senescent and cancer cells
Senescent cells and cancer cells seem like opposites. But they share a key survival trick. A new drug combination exploits…
1 min
Blood stem cells can be rejuvenated several ways
The immune system weakens as blood stem cells in the bone marrow age.
2 min
A protein in cartilage drives joint aging
Older cartilage behaves differently from young cartilage, and researchers now partly know why. A protein that naturally…
1 min
Thyroid slowdown may be a built-in survival response
Sometimes the thyroid produces less of its key hormone even when the gland itself is perfectly healthy. New research suggests…
2 min
Molecular switch controls mitochondria movement in neurons
Neurons are long cells with an unusual energy problem: they need to move their power generators (mitochondria) over large…
1 min
A vascular protein keeps blood pressure in check with age
High blood pressure is one of the most common health problems in older adults. But why do some people develop it early, while…
2 min
Blood vessel cells respond to low oxygen via over a hundred factors
When cells receive too little oxygen, they activate a broad genetic programme.
1 min
Skin tumors traced to long-lived hair follicle stem cells
Skin cancer is often thought to begin in surface skin cells damaged by the sun or chemicals.
1 min
Tau protein reverses energy flow in brain cells
The tau protein has long been a prime suspect in Alzheimer’s disease.
2 min
Meal timing preserves muscle in aging mice
Could simply shifting when you eat help keep your muscles stronger as you age?
2 min
Less protein slows aging, but the story is nuanced
Eating less protein extends lifespan in animals and shows promising signals in humans. Yet official guidelines recommend the…
2 min
Muscle stem cell protein drives repair in aging muscle
Muscles gradually lose their ability to repair themselves with age. A new study identifies a protein that drives this repair…
1 min
Energy molecule FAD keeps aging immune sensors in check
A molecule normally known for transporting energy inside cells also controls whether the immune system raises the alarm. That…
1 min
Tau protein disrupts mitochondria in brain cells
Tau has long been a prime suspect in Alzheimer’s disease. Now it turns out the protein can also directly sabotage the…
1 min
Exosome therapy limits heart scarring after attack
After a heart attack, the heart heals poorly. Damaged tissue forms scar tissue, permanently weakening its pumping function.
1 min
New aging clock reads gene activity, not DNA
Measuring biological age is hard. The best-known methods look at chemical marks on DNA.
1 min
Brief stress can skew your biological age test
Biological age tests based on DNA methylation are often called the gold standard of aging measurement. But a new study…
1 min
Ageing lysosomes share a metabolic pattern with rare disease
Every cell contains a tiny recycling plant called the lysosome. As we age, these structures begin to fail.
1 min
Ageing cells fuel inflammation through their mitochondria
Senescent cells stop dividing but do not go quiet. They continuously send inflammatory signals to surrounding tissue. New…
1 min
A three-drug mix clears aging cells at lower doses
The accumulation of senescent cells in tissues is one of the recognised drivers of aging. A new three-drug combination appears…
1 min
Aging and disease leave marks in a single organelle
What if aging and disease could be read from a single component inside a cell?
1 min
Aging clocks misread biological age in mixed-ancestry groups
Tests that estimate biological age using chemical marks on DNA perform poorly in people with mixed genetic ancestry.
1 min
A cellular brake on blood pigment protects aging cells
The regulation of haem, the iron-containing molecule that gives red blood cells their oxygen-carrying ability, is tighter than…
1 min
Blood cell cloning accelerates biological ageing
Some people carry a silent time bomb in their blood: stem cells with a small genetic mutation that gradually multiply and take…
1 min
Immune cells fail against cancer due to energy collapse
Immune cells tasked with attacking tumours burn out before completing the job. New research points to an energy deficit as the…
2 min
Blood stem cell mutations quietly drive aging
A small population of blood stem cells with a growth advantage can silently take over. This process, known as clonal…
2 min
New cell atlas maps aging across tissues and species
Where exactly do senescent cells accumulate in the body? A major new project is mapping them systematically across organs,…
2 min
Aging cells are finally getting a classification system
Not all senescent cells are alike. A new framework gives them an ordered classification for the first time, based on their…
1 min
Aging skin weakens bones through a secreted protein
Bones weaken as we age. That much is well known. But that the skin plays an active role in this process is new.
1 min
Woman dies after NAD⁺ infusion at wellness clinic
A 27-year-old woman in New York City died after receiving an intravenous infusion at a local wellness clinic. The treatment…
2 min
Single-cell atlas maps how DNA folds across the body
Every cell in your body carries the same DNA, but folds it differently. That folding determines which genes are switched on or…
1 min
Blood stem cell mutations accelerate biological aging
Your blood cells may be biologically older than your calendar age. New research links a common age-related mutation pattern in…
2 min
Heart cell DNA is exquisitely sensitive to one protein
A small shift in the amount of a single protein can reshape how heart cells organise their DNA. New research shows this may be…
1 min
Mapping the cell nucleus to understand aging
Inside every cell sits a nucleus containing three metres of DNA, folded with precision. How that folding changes with disease…
1 min
Mini brains predict who benefits from Alzheimer’s treatment
Not every Alzheimer’s patient responds to treatment the same way. That has long been known, but there was no reliable method…
1 min
How immune cells reshape DNA to make better antibodies
The immune system learns from every infection it encounters. That ability depends on a process in which immune cells…
1 min
Fat droplets in aging brain cells may drive Alzheimer’s
Aging brain cells accumulate fat. That might sound trivial, but researchers now link this fat buildup directly to Alzheimer’s…
2 min
A father’s diet shapes his children’s early development
What a father eats before conception influences how his children develop.
1 min
Cell stress sensor IRE1 reveals how cells survive damage
When cells produce too many damaged proteins, they come under stress. A built-in emergency programme helps them survive.
1 min
3D brain map shows how Alzheimer’s disrupts DNA
The DNA inside our cells is not simply coiled up randomly. It has a precise three-dimensional structure that determines which…
1 min
What alcohol does to your DNA: the damage is worse than you think
Long-term alcohol use damages your DNA through oxidative stress, epigenetic changes, and direct harm to brain cells and sperm.…
2 min
Mitochondrial cleanup in Parkinson’s is more complex than assumed
In Parkinson’s disease, specific brain cells die preferentially. Researchers long believed a well-known mitochondrial quality…
2 min
A mitochondrial protein guards aging cells but can backfire
A protein deep inside mitochondria maintains the genetic material of these energy organelles. With age, it falls out of balance.
1 min
Proteins that shuttle in cells may drive aging
Cells are filled with proteins that continuously shuttle between the nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm. With age, that…
2 min
Restoring cell cleanup may protect aging kidneys
Older mice survive kidney poisoning far worse than young ones. The difference comes down to a cellular maintenance process…
2 min
Plant mitochondria from food reach the ageing brain
We eat plants, and the energy-producing structures inside those plants may reach our brain.
2 min
Ageing cells rewire their nucleus to change behaviour
When cells age, more changes than their appearance. Deep inside the cell nucleus, a reorganisation takes place that determines…
1 min
A telomere protein shapes aging from within cells
The well-known enzyme that maintains telomeres turns out to do far more than previously thought. It regulates a broad range of…
1 min
Gene activity mapped across cohorts reveals aging risk
Which genes are active in whom, and when? A large-scale analysis charts genetic variants that drive gene activity. The…
1 min
Stem cell vesicles restore liver function in aging mice
Aging quietly damages the liver long before symptoms appear. Tiny vesicles derived from stem cells appear to partially reverse…
2 min
Peroxisomes and mitochondria age together in cells
Tiny cell structures that rarely make headlines turn out to play a key role in aging. When they disappear, the cell’s energy…
2 min
Engineered enzyme reverses protein damage linked to aging
Proteins that persist in the body for decades slowly accumulate sugar-linked damage. This damage has long been considered…
2 min
Blood stem cells drive chronic inflammation in aging
Chronic low-grade inflammation is one of the defining features of aging. But where does it originate? New research points to…
2 min
Cells age via far more routes than previously known
Senescent cells (cells that stop dividing and begin secreting harmful substances) were long treated as a single, uniform…
2 min
Mediterranean diet boosts protective proteins from mitochondria
Older adults who closely follow a Mediterranean diet have higher blood levels of two small proteins linked to heart and brain…
1 min
Repeated ageing clock readings predict mortality better
A single ageing clock measurement tells you relatively little.
2 min
Targeting senescent cells cuts post-chemo inflammation
Chemotherapy saves lives but accelerates biological ageing in the body.
1 min
Cellular stress structures are packed with circular DNA
Cells form temporary storage hubs during stress, called stress granules. Researchers assumed these contained only proteins and…
1 min
Immune cleanup cells slow organ aging
Organs age faster when old immune cells linger too long. New research shows that tissue-resident macrophages, the body’s…
1 min
Diet barely changes the burden of aging cells
Calorie restriction, omega-3 fats, metformin: nutrition is often pitched as a brake on aging. But does it actually work at the…
2 min
Underground lab tests cosmic rays and DNA aging
What if part of aging is caused by cosmic particles shooting through us every second?
1 min
Senescent brain immune cells cluster in white matter
In the aging brain, damaged immune cells accumulate in a very specific region: the white matter.
1 min
Blood filtering and cellular reset target aging differently
Two very different anti-aging strategies target completely separate layers of the aging process. Researchers now propose…
1 min
SIRT3 protein slows spinal disc aging in mice
Back pain from degenerating spinal discs is one of the most common age-related complaints worldwide. Signs can appear before…
2 min
Cilia protein map reveals causes of lung disease
Tiny hairs on your lung cells keep your airways clean. When those hairs stop moving properly, chronic disease follows. New…
2 min
Clearing aged cells may boost stem cell therapies
Stem cell therapies often underperform in clinical trials. A new mouse study suggests that the hostile environment of aging…
2 min
Clearing senescent cells rejuvenates aging kidneys in mice
Two cheap, widely available compounds can clear out damaged, ‘zombie’ cells from aging kidneys and partially restore organ…
2 min
Senescent cells disrupt heart repair after a heart attack
After a heart attack, the body launches a repair response. But that response can turn against itself.
2 min
Cell-level gene mosaics are linked to Alzheimer’s
Not all cells in your body read their genes the same way. Even in healthy tissue, neighboring cells can activate different…
2 min
Centenarians carry a gene that slows cell aging
People who live to one hundred are rare. But their cells may hold a clue.
2 min
Lab-grown cell clusters regrow tiny heart vessels
After a heart attack, small blood vessels in heart tissue are lost permanently.
2 min
Mitochondria self-regulate energy production via pH
Mitochondria are the cell’s power plants. But how they adjust their own output to changing demands was largely unknown. New…
1 min
Stem cells repair damaged retinas in aging eyes
Blindness caused by retinal damage affects millions of people worldwide. Scientists have now used stem cells to grow new blood…
2 min
Fixing calcium signals extends mouse lifespan
Cells use tiny calcium pulses as switches for hundreds of processes. When those signals go wrong with age, the body…
2 min
AI cell model spans 1.5 billion years of aging biology
One model that understands the biology of virtually every cell on Earth. That sounds far-fetched, but researchers have built…
1 min
Immune cells maintain the pancreas repair niche
The pancreas does not repair itself alone. A specific group of immune cells turns out to play a key role in sustaining the tissue.
1 min
Lifestyle slows biological aging on the clock
Twelve weeks of exercise, dietary guidance and probiotic yogurt, and a biological aging clock moved. Can a simple lifestyle…
2 min
Blood vessel cells fuel inflammation by clearing mitochondria
When blood vessel cells clear out damaged energy units, they release signals that ramp up immune activity.
1 min
Silencing DNA stress signals restores aging blood cells
When protective caps on DNA strands grow too short, cells fire off stress signals that damage surrounding tissue.
1 min
Small molecule slows nerve damage in ALS mice
ALS kills nerve cells fast, and no treatment stops the process.
1 min
Lab-grown kidney tissue gets better structure
Scientists have guided kidney tissue into a more organised structure by using synthetic signal sources. The advance offers…
1 min
Why mice age fast and humans age slowly
Mice and humans both age, but the underlying process differs fundamentally. Researchers have now built a mathematical model…
2 min
Trained muscles age differently at the molecular level
People who exercise regularly have muscle cells that look molecularly younger, even in old age.
1 min
Gene therapy for aging: why progress is so slow
Dozens of genes are known to influence ageing. Yet gene therapies targeting them remain nearly absent from clinical practice.…
2 min
Age spots are full of senescent skin cells
Those dark spots on ageing skin are more than a cosmetic issue.
1 min
Blood stem cells age, but their successors do not
Blood stem cells become less reliable with age. But a layer of intermediate cells appears to compensate for that decline, and…
1 min
Synthetic cell divides and copies its own DNA
Scientists have built an artificial cell that can divide and copy its DNA. Whether it counts as truly alive is debated, but…
1 min
Blood test maps senescent cells tissue by tissue
Senescent cells accumulate in the body and cause damage. Until now, measuring which tissues are most affected has been difficult.
2 min
Blood protein clock predicts disease two decades early
A blood test that predicts chronic disease up to twenty years before diagnosis. New research published in Nature Aging…
2 min
Protein labelling keeps the gut lining healthy
Your gut lining renews itself constantly. Two proteins that help cells manage their own building blocks play a larger role in…
1 min
A molecular signal keeps blood cells young
As we age, our blood-making system weakens. Researchers have now identified a single molecular brake that drives that decline…
1 min
Longevity contest tracks who ages slowest
What if hundreds of people could simultaneously test who is best at rolling back their biological age? That is the premise…
2 min
Stem cell therapy edges closer to real rejuvenation
Stem cells are considered one of the great promises of anti-aging medicine. But how realistic is that promise?
2 min
Exercise slows brain aging through mitochondria
Regular exercise keeps the brain healthy for longer. But how exactly does that work? New research turns the spotlight on the…
2 min
One protein blocks muscle growth with age
Older adults who exercise build less muscle than younger people following the same programme. New research points to a…
2 min
CRISPR edits embryos more precisely than before
Genetic editing of human embryos is entering a new phase. A more precise version of CRISPR causes less damage than earlier tools.
1 min
Immune cells get reprogrammed in first human trial
Exhausted immune cells that accumulate as we age. One company thinks it can reprogramme them to behave like young cells again.…
2 min
Barely-aging butterflies reveal cellular secrets
Most butterflies live only a few weeks. But the Heliconius butterfly lives several times longer than closely related species…
1 min
Vitamin B12 keeps your cell’s power plants running
Everyone knows vitamin B12 as an energy vitamin. But researchers are now finding that a deficiency strikes early, before…
2 min
Iron-driven cell death in algae illuminates aging biology
When algae die en masse, it is not random. They coordinate their own death through a lightning-fast iron-catalyzed chain reaction.
2 min
Oxygen sensor in cells also controls cell division accuracy
Cells continuously measure how much oxygen is available. That turns out to matter not just during oxygen shortage, but also…
2 min
Heart valve atlas links birth defects to aging disease
A detailed cell map of the human heart captures how the aortic valve forms, and shows that molecular signatures from embryonic…
2 min
Brain cells are surprisingly tough when self-cleaning stops
What happens when brain cells lose their self-cleaning mechanism? Researchers long assumed the consequences would be swift and…
1 min
41 interventions that lower your biological age
Semaglutide, caloric restriction, omega-3, and even ketamine all appear on the same list: interventions that measurably lower…
2 min
DNA tags reveal how aging differs across body tissues
Your skin ages differently from your liver. Your muscle tissue follows a different pattern than your brain. But there are also…
2 min
Old drugs, new tricks: targeting the aging network
What if drugs already approved for other diseases could also slow aging?
2 min
Centenarians carry a younger protein signature in their blood
People who live to 100 aren’t just older versions of 80-year-olds. Their blood tells a different biological story.
2 min
Brain organoid reveals Parkinson’s cell mechanism
Parkinson’s disease has long been difficult to study in the lab: animal models only partially replicate the human condition.
2 min
RNA-DNA structures in aging cells drive body-wide inflammation
Aged cells cause inflammation throughout the body. Now researchers have identified a specific mechanism that drives this process.
2 min
Gene therapy keeps aging organs healthier in mice
What if a single injection could keep your organs healthier into old age? In mice, that principle now works in practice.
2 min
First human senescence atlas maps aging cells in detail
Which cells in the human body ‘stall out’ as we age, and exactly where? For the first time, researchers have mapped this…
2 min
Antioxidants selectively clear aged muscle cells
Antioxidants are known for protecting cells. But new research shows they can also eliminate senescent cells under certain…
2 min
How innate immune memory rewires cell metabolism
Your immune system remembers more than just infections. Immune cells can learn from earlier activation and respond more…
2 min
Can trauma be inherited? Science pushes back
Can a parent’s experiences alter the biology of their children? The idea of inherited trauma has attracted enormous attention…
1 min
Clearing aged cells first boosts stem cell therapy in mice
Clearing out worn-out cells before a stem cell treatment produces better outcomes. That is what a mouse study found when…
2 min
Aging slows down via three separate genetic routes
Scientists long assumed there was one universal pathway to slow aging. New research in worms suggests there are at least…
2 min
A longevity drug that mimics exercise effects
Exercise is good for you. Everyone knows that. But what if a pill could replicate its biological effects? That is exactly what…
2 min
An antidepressant extends lifespan in aging mice
A long-established antidepressant gave aging mice not just a longer life, but a healthier one. The mechanism behind it is…
2 min
Early adversity and age reshape the epigenome across tissues
How deeply does early life stress shape your biology decades later? A study in macaques offers a detailed answer, and it…
2 min
Senolytics reshape immunity and metabolism in aged mice
What happens inside the body after senescent cells are cleared? A new study maps the answer in unprecedented detail, and the…
2 min
Biology’s speed limits can be broken
Evolution has capped the speed of biological processes for billions of years.
1 min
How cells handle physical stress depends on their nucleus
Cells constantly sense and respond to mechanical forces from their surroundings.
1 min
Naked mole-rats age without metabolic decline
The naked mole-rat lives up to ten times longer than comparably sized rodents.
2 min
R-loops exported from the nucleus drive inflammaging
Senescent cells are known to fuel chronic inflammation, but the precise molecular trigger has been elusive. New research…
1 min
DNA reorganization drives breast cancer forward
Cancer is not only a disease of faulty genes. It is also a disease of a rearranged genome.
2 min
Senescent cells fuel blood vessel growth in bowel cancer
In bowel cancer, senescent cells in the surrounding tissue help tumours grow new blood vessels. That makes certain tumours…
2 min
GLP-1 drug measurably slows biological aging
A widely used weight-loss drug does more than shed pounds. Researchers found that semaglutide also slows biological aging, as…
2 min
First patient receives cell-rejuvenation therapy for the optic nerve
Life Biosciences has become the first in the world to dose a patient with a gene therapy that rejuvenates aging cells in the…
2 min
Reprogramming pulls in hundreds of millions, again
One technique in ageing biology is absorbing nearly all investment. That raises questions about what gets left behind.
2 min
A fat molecule reverses cellular energy decline
Mitochondria, the energy generators inside your cells, work less well as we age. Researchers found that falling levels of a…
1 min
A tiny RNA fragment unlocks longer life
A small piece of RNA released when a cell is under stress turns out to play a direct role in aging. Without this molecule,…
1 min
Parkinson’s fought by restoring protein cleanup
In Parkinson’s disease, one damaging protein accumulates inside nerve cells. Researchers have now uncovered a mechanism that…
1 min
Primate guts reveal ageing at the single-cell level
The small intestine ages, and that process has now been mapped in detail at the level of individual cells for the first time.
1 min
Two strategies dominate the longevity field
How do you treat ageing? A new review in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy maps the landscape into two broad camps:…
2 min
IFNAR1 loss links the immune system to Parkinson’s
A protein in brain cells turns out to be critical for Parkinson’s disease.
2 min
NAD in the placenta sets when labour starts
Why does labour begin when it does? The answer turned out to lie in a molecule familiar from ageing research: NAD.
1 min
Nerve signals protect cells under oxidative stress
When cells encounter damaging molecules like free radicals, they normally activate protective programmes. But who gives the…
1 min
An open contest to find better aging clocks
We already know that biological age differs from chronological age. But how do you measure it reliably? Scientists disagree.…
1 min
Damaged mitochondria fuel aging inflammation
The chronic low-grade inflammation that comes with old age has long been linked to dementia, heart problems and muscle loss.
2 min
Hibernators reveal how muscles survive months of rest
A bear lies motionless for months and emerges in good physical shape. How that works is one of the questions that fascinate…
2 min
Cell size decides how easily a cell dies
Large cells die differently from small ones. In a specific form of cell death driven by iron and fat oxidation, bigger cells…
2 min
Blocking PAI-1 may slow down aging
A small group of people with a rare inherited mutation live on average seven years longer than others. They lack a working…
2 min
A brain alarm system misfires as we age
In healthy brains, an alarm system stands guard against invaders. In aging brains, that same system fires continuously,…
2 min
Eggs reset biological age at every generation
A newborn is biologically zero years old, even if its mother is fifty. The egg cell does something no other cell in the body…
2 min
Escaped DNA inside cells fuels aging inflammation
As we age, more and more of our own DNA ends up in the wrong place inside our cells. The immune system reads this as an…
2 min
What Bats Can Teach Us About Living Longer
Bats live remarkably long lives for their size. Some species reach thirty to forty years, while similarly sized mammals die…
2 min
TORC1 links chromosome errors to cell growth
Errors in how chromosomes are divided during cell division seem unrelated to metabolism.
1 min
Neurons clean up proteins in their own way
Brain cells dispose of waste proteins differently from other cells in the body. A newly discovered system turns out to be…
2 min
Melatonin shields the liver from alcohol damage
Chronic alcohol use damages the liver in multiple ways at once. Melatonin, best known as a sleep hormone, appears to block…
1 min
MRI can now directly image collagen in the body
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. For decades, doctors could not see it on an MRI scan. That has now…
1 min
Severe obesity reshapes the heart’s muscle proteins
In severe obesity, the heart works differently at the molecular level. A study in Science now shows exactly what changes…
1 min
CO₂ in your blood opens hidden cell channels
Every time you breathe out, CO₂ levels in your blood briefly shift.
1 min
Why exercise stress actually protects your cells
Exercise damages your cells. But that damage is precisely what makes you healthier. A protein called HMGB1 appears to be the…
2 min
One protein makes fruit flies live longer
A little-known protein has been shown to extend the lifespan of fruit flies by improving how their cells produce energy.
2 min
Altos Labs algorithm predicts cell responses to interventions
What if you could test how a cell responds to a genetic intervention before running a single experiment?
2 min
A blood test for aging built on amino acids
Scientists keep producing new tools to measure biological aging. The latest uses amino acid levels in blood. But does it…
2 min
One protein complex controls how long you live
There is a molecular brake on your DNA repair system. The more active that brake, the faster cells accumulate errors, and the…
2 min
Single amino acid swaps alter how much protein cells make
One changed letter in a protein’s code can alter everything. New large-scale research maps how amino acid substitutions affect…
2 min
Longevity researchers map the field’s open questions
Science moves on the right questions. A gathering of leading aging researchers tried to define those questions from scratch.…
2 min
Why people age so differently remains largely unsolved
Some people reach a hundred in reasonable health. Others decline sharply in their seventies. A new review asks why, and the…
2 min
Mitochondria lose a key membrane lipid with age
Mitochondria, the energy-producing structures inside cells, decline with age.
2 min
MORC2 Protein Silences Genes via Liquid Condensates
Cells have ways to permanently silence certain genes. One of those guardians is the protein MORC2.
2 min
Physics Models Reframe How Aging Is Studied
What if aging is not a biological puzzle but a physics problem? A growing group of researchers is applying the laws of physics…
2 min
Identical cells randomly choose their developmental fate
Genetically identical cells in identical environments still make different choices about what they become.
1 min
Stem cells successfully guided to tendon fate
Tendons heal poorly. They have limited blood supply, repair slowly, and in older adults that repair is even slower.
1 min
Stem cell dynamics explain mammalian epigenetic aging
Why do humans, mice, and whales show the same epigenetic aging patterns, despite living completely different lives? A new…
2 min
How ABT-263 rejuvenates wound healing capacity in aged skin
Aged skin heals more slowly. That has long been known. But a new experiment shows that removing damaged cells can…
1 min
Stress response inhibition extends fly lifespan
Cells under stress temporarily halt protein production. That sounds like a useful defence. But researchers found that chronic…
1 min
ABT-263 speeds up wound healing in aging skin
Aging skin heals more slowly -- that much has long been known. But a new experiment shows that clearing out damaged cells can…
1 min
Blocking the stress response slows aging in flies
When cells come under stress, they temporarily shut down protein production. That sounds like a useful trick. But researchers…
1 min
Lysine modification links cell metabolism to gene activity
A small chemical tag on an amino acid turns out to play a surprisingly large role in cell biology.
2 min
Sirtuin 1 links exercise to metabolic benefits
Exercise improves metabolism in dozens of ways, but pinpointing which molecule causes which benefit is genuinely hard.
2 min
Share AI models not patient data for research
European health data sits locked in national systems. A new proposal in Science argues for a different approach: instead of…
2 min
Metformin targets ATP synthase in cancer cells
Metformin has been the most prescribed type 2 diabetes drug for decades. New research now shows it also inhibits cancer cells…
2 min
Blue zones data problems behind the longevity myth
Blue zones are held up as proof that certain environments make people live longer. But how solid is the data behind that idea?
2 min
Aging muscle stem cells lose glutamine metabolism
Muscle stem cells in older animals struggle to activate. A new study pinpoints the reason: a specific metabolic pathway fueled…
2 min
Tumors hijack stem cell signals in surrounding tissue
Tumors damage surrounding tissue. That has long been known. But a new study shows they also actively block the renewal of…
2 min
Urine test tracks tissue senescence after injection
Measuring tissue aging usually requires a biopsy or imaging scan. A newly developed probe could make it as simple as…
2 min
Fitness leaves epigenetic clocks nearly unchanged
People in excellent physical condition score almost identically to sedentary peers on most mainstream epigenetic aging clocks.…
2 min
Social structure predicts mammal lifespan across species
Mammals that live in organized social groups tend to live longer than solitary species. The pattern holds across dozens of…
2 min
Urine reveals tissue senescence non-invasively
Detecting the buildup of aging cells in the body has always required invasive tissue samples. A new study suggests a simple…
2 min
Aging quietly prepares lungs for disease
Lung disease kills more people than most realize. And aging is the silent driving force behind nearly all of it, even when the…
2 min
Tissue stiffness blocks regeneration with age
Aging tissue is stiffer than young tissue. It turns out that stiffness is not just a symptom of aging, it may be one of the…
2 min
Aging brains store less
Older people often say time seems to pass faster than it used to. A new theory links this to a concrete mechanism: the energy…
2 min
Microgravity mirrors aging patterns in the body
Astronauts returning from space look as though they have aged by years. That is not coincidence.
2 min
Seven million cells, twenty-one organs: the most detailed map of aging ever made
A researcher at Rockefeller University has mapped how aging unfolds across nearly seven million cells from 21 mouse tissues at…
2 min
Could an electromagnetic switch turn on cellular rejuvenation? Researchers are testing exactly that
Inject genetic code into cells, then switch it on from outside the body using an electromagnetic device. It sounds like…
2 min
Your aging muscle stem cells aren’t worn out, they’re being held back
Age-related muscle loss has long been blamed on stem cells that simply wear out over time.
2 min
Sugar-damaged proteins are quietly accelerating your aging, here’s what the science says
Your body is full of proteins that have been chemically modified by sugar, not because of what you eat, but because of basic…
2 min
This shark lives for centuries, scientists are finally asking how
A shark older than five hundred years, swimming through waters it has known since before the Industrial Revolution.
2 min
How being in a study changes your biology before the experiment even starts
Imagine a trial on a dietary intervention finding that participants become biologically younger.
2 min
Naked mole-rats age without showing it, and their skin holds clues
A three-year-old mouse is near the end of its life. A thirty-year-old naked mole-rat looks barely different from how it did at…
2 min
The scaffold that ages us: how the molecular framework around cells drives aging
Every cell in your body lives inside a kind of scaffolding, a web of proteins that provides structure, relays signals, and…
2 min
April in the Rejuvenation Field: What Moved, What Stalled, and What It Means
April 2026 was a busy month for researchers treating aging as a biological problem to be solved.
2 min
A protein deficiency that should weaken cancer cells actually makes them grow faster
When a key energy-producing protein is reduced in cancer cells, the tumors don’t slow down, they accelerate. New research…
2 min
When repair isn’t enough: the scientists betting on replacement to beat aging
Most aging researchers focus on fixing the body’s damage. But a growing faction argues that some things are simply too broken…
2 min
Replace, Don't Repair: A New Direction in the Fight Against Aging
What if the human body eventually becomes too damaged to fix?
2 min
A widely used tool for mapping gene activity in tissue gets it wrong, sometimes badly
Spatial transcriptomics, the technology that maps which genes are active where inside a tissue, is one of the most exciting…
2 min
The HIV/AIDS epidemic may have left a permanent mark on human DNA
One of the twentieth century’s most devastating epidemics may have done something extraordinary: triggered a measurable…
2 min
A popular anti-aging drug combination causes brain damage in mice
Millions of people are already experimenting with senolytic treatments to slow aging.
2 min
Longevity in April 2026: what moved the field forward
April 2026 was a busy month for longevity science. New findings, clinical progress and policy shifts, a look at where the…
2 min
How kangaroos evolved thicker enamel, and what that reveals about our own teeth
Kangaroos independently evolved thick tooth enamel, just like several other large mammals did before them.
2 min
Scientists built working proteins with one fewer building block, using AI
Life on Earth uses twenty amino acids to build every protein in every living thing. Researchers wondered whether all twenty…
2 min
The tiny structures inside cells might explain why some animals barely age
Naked mole rats live thirty years. Ordinary mice barely manage two.
2 min
Can a precision molecular tool reverse damage in one of the world’s most common lung diseases?
COPD, the lung disease that slowly robs people of their breath, has long been considered irreversible.
2 min
Fix it or replace it: a growing faction in aging research is choosing the latter
What if the key to fighting aging isn’t repairing damaged cells and organs, but simply replacing them?
2 min
A Tiny Worm Uses Its Nose to Hunt Down the Best Protein, and It May Tell Us Something About Aging
A worm barely a millimeter long can sniff out bacteria enriched with a specific amino acid it cannot make itself.
2 min
Blood Vessel Walls in Adult Mice Can Still Produce Blood Stem Cells
The textbook account of how adult blood is made has a clean simplicity to it: bone marrow stem cells do the job, period.
2 min
A Fat Molecule Your Body Makes Less of as You Age Is Quietly Undermining Your Cells
Mitochondria, the structures inside every cell that generate energy, are known to decline with age. What is less understood is…
2 min
Reprogramming Heart Cells Could Limit the Damage of a Heart Attack
Heart muscle cannot grow back after a heart attack. The dead tissue becomes scar tissue, and that scar gradually undermines…
2 min
A Popular Anti-Aging Treatment Damages Brain Cells in Mice
Dasatinib and quercetin, the most widely used senolytic combination in longevity circles, causes damage to specific brain…
2 min
The rejuvenation field is growing fast, but how close is it to delivering?
Conferences are filling up, startups are raising money, and the first human trials of treatments aimed at reversing biological…
2 min
A protein in blood stem cells appears to drive immune aging
Researchers have identified a molecular switch inside the body’s blood-forming cells that gets triggered by stress and appears…
2 min
Two old cancer drugs outperform a newer rival at clearing the body’s worn-out cells
In a mouse model of spinal disc degeneration, a cheap, decades-old drug combination beat a newer and more expensive competitor.
2 min
Why ant colonies slow down as they age, and what it tells us about biological aging
Not all ant colonies build at the same pace. New experiments show that the age structure of a colony, how many young versus…
2 min
A longevity conference in Lisbon: what does the agenda tell us about where the field is heading?
On June 4, 2026, a full-day longevity event in Lisbon will bring together scientists, clinicians, investors, and founders. The…
2 min
How your lifestyle switches your genes on and off
Your DNA doesn’t change, but the way your genes are read does.
2 min
Young wounds heal faster. The reason is counterintuitive
Cells that have stopped dividing and are normally considered a hallmark of aging turn out to play a crucial role in wound healing.
2 min
Epigenetics: how your lifestyle switches your genes on and off
Your DNA doesn't change, but the way your genes are read does.
2 min
Young wounds heal faster, and the reason is surprising
Cells that have stopped dividing and should arguably be gone turn out to play a key role in wound healing in young animals.
2 min
Longevity Science in Spring 2026: What’s Advancing and What’s Still Missing
A roundup from the Lifespan Research Institute surveys what happened in rejuvenation science over the first months of 2026.
2 min
Europe Has Thousands of Aging Researchers, They’re Barely Talking to Each Other
Aging research in Europe is well-funded and growing fast. But scientists in different countries are largely working in…
2 min
Reading a cell’s full blueprint for the first time
Every cell in your body carries nearly identical DNA, yet a liver cell and a brain cell look and behave completely differently.
2 min
Rejuvenation is booming. How far is the science really?
In longevity science, the word ‘breakthrough’ gets used a lot. A recent roundup from Lifespan.io surveys the state of the field.
2 min
Red blood cells have a hidden backup route for making hemoglobin
When the blood-making system comes under pressure, the body has a fallback plan.
2 min
How chromatin and gene activity work together during early embryo development
Which genes a cell switches on and which it keeps locked away is determined by more than DNA sequence alone.
2 min
Engineered blood stem cells could produce protective proteins for a lifetime
Scientists have reprogrammed blood stem cells to generate a continuous supply of protective proteins, potentially for the…
2 min
Chronic inflammation and the biological aging clock are more intertwined than we thought
Two of the most discussed phenomena in aging research, chronic low-grade inflammation and the biological clock of cells, are…
2 min
Chronic inflammation and biological aging are more deeply intertwined than we thought
Two of the most talked-about phenomena in aging research, chronic low-grade inflammation and the biological clock of cells,…
2 min
Inflammation and biological age are intertwined, but which one drives the other?
Two of the most discussed processes in aging science, chronic low-grade inflammation and epigenetic changes in DNA, turn out…
2 min
Ribosomes differ between people and that may help explain why we age so differently
Ribosomes are the molecular machines inside every cell that build proteins. They were long thought to work identically in…
2 min
New genetic switches make precision experiments in living animals actually precise
Scientists studying how genes drive aging have long faced a frustrating problem: the tools to switch genes on and off in…
2 min
Engineered blood stem cells become lifetime antibody factories against HIV, malaria and flu
What if your immune system could be programmed once and then protect you for life, without ever needing a booster?
2 min
Mildly stressing your cells could slow aging, the hunt is on for smarter ways to do it
It sounds counterintuitive: slightly damaging your cells to make them stronger. Yet that’s precisely the principle behind one…
1 min
An old cancer drug can kill the zombie cells linked to aging
A drug used for decades to treat a rare blood cancer turns out to also clear senescent cells, the so-called zombie cells…
1 min
Cells keep changing their internal makeup, yet something always stays the same
Bacterial cells can radically shift their internal molecular composition in response to changing conditions. Yet something…
2 min
Lung stem cells have a hidden self-repair switch they activate after injury
After damage, lung stem cells produce their own molecular signal that tells them when to start regenerating.
2 min
A classic aging intervention stops working when mitochondria are damaged
Suppressing IGF-1, a growth signaling pathway that has been studied for decades as a key to longer life, barely extends…
2 min
How Farming Turbocharged Human Evolution
Ten thousand years ago, humans started growing crops and raising animals.
2 min
Scientists Filmed Protein Production Inside Living Cells, and Found an Unexpected Partnership
Every cell in your body is constantly building proteins, the molecules that do nearly everything. But exactly how that…
2 min
Why Salamanders Regrow Limbs and We Don’t: Oxygen Sensing May Hold a Clue
A salamander loses a leg and grows it back. We lose a fingertip and it’s gone forever.
2 min
Scientists Turned Blood Stem Cells Into Lifelong Protein Factories
A one-time treatment that makes your body produce its own medicines, for life.
2 min
Fear your grandparents experienced may have reshaped your sense of smell
When mice are trained to fear a specific odor, the structure of their offspring’s smell system changes, even though those…
2 min
Ancient viral leftovers in your DNA are waking up, and that may be aging you
Nearly half of the human genome consists of remnants from ancient viral infections. In youth, cells keep these sequences…
2 min
Boosting NAD+ works better when you also block its breakdown
NAD+ supplements have attracted enormous attention as potential anti-aging interventions.
2 min
Scientists punched tiny holes in DNA to reverse signs of cellular aging
A fragment of a protein that normally helps organise the cell’s genetic material can create small, temporary gaps in DNA, and…
2 min
The fatty layer around cells is secretly controlling one of biology’s most important switches
Cells are wrapped in a thin membrane made mostly of fat. For decades, that membrane was treated as a passive scaffold.
2 min
Topping up a key energy molecule isn’t enough, you have to stop it breaking down too
A molecule central to how cells make energy drops sharply as we age. Scientists have known for years that supplements can…
2 min
Oxygen turns out to be the switch that explains why humans can’t regrow limbs
Some animals simply grow a new leg when the old one is gone. Humans don’t.
2 min
A new tool can finally map which proteins live next to specific genes, and aging research will never be the same
Every cell contains millions of proteins that must be in exactly the right place at the right time.
2 min
The first trial to reprogram human cells younger: is the FDA finally treating aging as a disease?
Life Biosciences is about to become the first company to test a therapy that makes cells biologically younger, not as a…
2 min
Fingertips can grow back, and the secret involves a molecule found in face creams
Salamanders can regrow entire limbs. Humans can’t, with one exception: the tip of a finger.
2 min
The FDA just opened the door to biological rejuvenation
The FDA doesn’t officially recognise aging as a disease. Yet this year, for the first time, a therapy designed to make cells…
2 min
NAD+ combination treatment restores muscle and bone in old mice
Topping up a single supplement helps a little. But what if you also stopped the leaking?
2 min
NAD+ combination treatment restores muscle and bone in old mice
Topping up one supplement helps a little. But what if you also plug the leak at the same time? Researchers put that…
2 min
Turning back the clock on cells -- the FDA says yes
The US drug regulator does not officially recognise ageing as a disease. Yet this year, for the first time, a therapy designed…
2 min
Growing new organs starts with building something that behaves like an embryo
To eventually grow replacement organs, or even whole bodies, scientists first need to understand how an embryo does it.
2 min
Artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of protein design
Proteins are the machinery of life, and designing new, artificial ones was a slow and expensive craft for decades. AI has…
2 min
Growing new organs starts with building something that looks like an embryo
To one day grow new organs, or even entire bodies, scientists first need to understand how an embryo pulls it off. The latest…
2 min
Mapping the DNA inside our energy factories, one cell at a time
Mitochondria have their own DNA, and errors in it accumulate as we age.
2 min
How cells that refuse to die are slowly turning lungs to scar tissue
Pulmonary fibrosis is one of the most devastating age-related diseases, the lungs stiffen progressively, with no effective cure.
2 min
A drug that clears ‘zombie cells’ has been tested in humans for the first time
Ageing cells that refuse to die accumulate in our bodies and cause widespread damage. A new drug can now selectively eliminate…
2 min
The first human trial of cell reprogramming starts this month, and it begins with the eye
A small biotech company is about to test whether ageing cells can literally be ‘rewound’ in living humans. If it works in the…
2 min
Penguins that get fat and lazy age faster. Sound familiar?
King penguins that move from the wild into a zoo suddenly find themselves living a life of unlimited food and complete rest.
2 min
How mitochondria distribute their DNA, and why getting it wrong drives aging
Mitochondria, the energy generators inside our cells, carry their own DNA, separate from the cell’s nucleus.
2 min
The enzyme that keeps fat tissue young, and what goes wrong when it disappears
Fat tissue ages just like the rest of the body. But why does it deteriorate faster in some people?
2 min
Jumping DNA That Sleeps in Young Cells Wakes Up as We Age, and May Drive Decline
Nearly half the human genome consists of ancient ‘parasitic’ DNA, sequences that once copied and pasted themselves throughout…
2 min
The tiny power plants in your cells are key to fighting cancer, and they weaken as you age
Mitochondria have long been known as the cell’s energy generators.
2 min
Longevity Science in March 2026, Progress and Problems
From a vital aging research database that risks disappearing for lack of funding, to promising animal experiments with plasma…
2 min
When This Enzyme Fades, Fat Ages Faster
Body fat has a reputation problem, but it also ages, and often faster than the rest of us.
2 min
Fat cells age faster when this enzyme disappears
Body fat is hardly celebrated as a hallmark of good health, but it ages too, and faster than you might think.
2 min
A molecule in urine reveals how Parkinson’s breaks the brain’s waste disposal system
Two of the most well-known genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease both disrupt the same cellular process: waste disposal.
2 min
Scientists built an almost indestructible protein using AI, and it could reshape drug design
Proteins are fragile. Heat, acid, mechanical stress, they deform and fall apart.
2 min
A drug that clears out aging skin cells passes its first human safety test
A biotech company targeting so-called zombie cells, cells that stop dividing but refuse to die and instead damage surrounding…
2 min
Scientists used red blood cells to smuggle healthy mitochondria into Parkinson’s-damaged brain cells
Parkinson’s disease begins in the power plants of cells. Researchers have now found a way to deliver healthy versions of those…
2 min
When a key metabolic enzyme fades, fat cells age faster, and take the body with them
Fat tissue ages. That much has been known for a while. But what drives the aging process inside individual fat cells has…
2 min
Packing healthy mitochondria into red blood cells: a new approach to Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease starts in the power plants of your cells. Scientists have now found a way to deliver healthy versions of…
2 min
A drug that clears out aged skin cells passes its first human safety test
A company focused on eliminating "zombie cells" -- cells that stop dividing but refuse to die and instead cause damage…
2 min
Dendritic cells as key players in tumors: mitochondria call the shots
Not all immune cells are created equal in the fight against cancer.
2 min
'Young blood' doesn't work the way we hoped -- but the search goes on
The idea that young blood can rejuvenate aging tissue has been circulating for years. A new analysis in Science throws cold…
2 min
Back Pain Is a Hallmark of Aging. A Growth Factor and SIRT1 Might Slow It Down
Spinal disc degeneration affects almost everyone as they age and is a leading cause of chronic back pain.
2 min
Nanoplastics Are Accumulating in Human Tissue. What Does That Mean for Aging?
Animal studies confirm that high doses of nanoplastic particles cause tissue dysfunction.
2 min
Partial Reprogramming Could Reverse Cellular Aging. Here Are the Five Problems Still in the Way
Brief exposure to Yamanaka factors can reset cells epigenetically toward a younger state. In mice, the results are striking.
2 min
Stem Cell Therapy for Age-Related Frailty: Promising Early Signals, Many Open Questions
Frailty in older adults, the combination of muscle loss, fatigue, and heightened vulnerability, has no effective treatment.
1 min
Partial reprogramming: the most ambitious anti-aging strategy faces five major hurdles
By briefly exposing cells to the Yamanaka factors, you can epigenetically "wind back" those cells to a younger state. In mice,…
2 min
Stem Cell Therapy for Age-Related Frailty: Cautious Optimism as New Data Emerge
Frailty in older adults -- the combination of muscle loss, fatigue and heightened vulnerability -- still has no effective…
2 min
Eating less protein reshapes your fat tissue - and your gut bacteria are doing the work
Restricting protein triggers a conversion of white fat into brown fat, a metabolically healthier tissue type. But the body…
2 min
lncRNAs and aging: a forgotten piece of DNA turns out to be key to preserving cells
Long non-coding RNAs, stretches of genetic material long assumed to do very little, turn out to play a crucial role in…
2 min
How senescence inhibitors are finally making it into clinical trials, and why it took so long
Cellular senescence has been one of the most promising targets in aging science for years. Yet the road from the laboratory to…
2 min
Psilocybin reshapes neurons -- and you can see it under the microscope
Psilocin, the active compound your body produces from psychedelic psilocybin, makes human neurons grow in a measurably…
2 min
Circular RNAs accumulate in aging cells, and that's no side effect
Aging is accompanied by a silent buildup of circular RNA molecules inside cells. Researchers long assumed this was a…
2 min
Superoxide dismutase: how stem cells keep their neighborhood clean with oxygen molecules
Stem cells produce reactive oxygen species that are normally considered harmful, but new research shows they actually use…
2 min
Rubedo's skin treatment targets senescent cells: early clinical results look promising
An AI-driven biotech company reports the first clinical results for a treatment that selectively targets senescent cells --…
2 min
Buck Institute Launches Healthspan Horizons to Close the Gap Between Lifespan and Health
People are living longer. They are not necessarily living better.
1 min
Two Natural Fatty Acids Can Kill Senescent Cells, Here’s What That Means
Senolytics, drugs that selectively eliminate aged, dysfunctional cells, are among the most closely watched interventions in…
2 min
Experts on senolytics: 'The science is mature enough to take seriously, but nowhere near ready for widespread use'
Cellular senescence has grown into one of the central themes in longevity science. But how far has the field actually come?
2 min
Rubedo's skin treatment clears its first clinical hurdle: targeting senescent cells selectively in living tissue
The first clinical evidence that senolytics can work selectively in human tissue is here, and it comes not in a pill but in a…
2 min
Healthy mitochondria in sick cells: how red blood cells could fight Parkinson's
Transplanting mitochondria into living cells sounds like science fiction, but in mice with Parkinson's it worked surprisingly…
2 min
How cells manage their own proteins outside their walls
Misfolded proteins are among the leading drivers of age-related diseases, from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's. We know more and…
2 min
Red blood cells as taxis for healthy mitochondria: Parkinson's treated in mice
Mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, have been a promising but stubbornly hard-to-reach therapeutic target for decades.
2 min
A skin-based anti-aging drug just scored its first clinical win. Here's what that means.
A biotech company focused on destroying aging cells reports positive results from a phase 1 study of a skin treatment.
2 min
Mitochondrial DNA is better protected from damage than we thought, and TFAM is the key
Mitochondria lack one of the most important DNA repair mechanisms that cell nuclei rely on. Yet mutations in mitochondrial DNA…
1 min
Rubedo's senolytic works in humans: first clinical evidence for targeted cellular rejuvenation
For the first time, a senolytic drug that specifically targets aged cells has shown positive results in a randomized,…
1 min
Muscle stem cells are losing their edge, and a protein called MG53 may be to blame
Almost everyone loses muscle mass and strength with age. That is not simply a matter of moving less -- deep inside muscle…
2 min
The telomerase blueprint: we can finally see the enzyme that keeps cells young
Telomeres wear down with every cell division, and that wear counts as a biological clock.
2 min
The smell of aging: an epigenetic blockade in brain cells erodes your sense of smell
Your sense of smell fades as you get older -- something anyone with an elderly grandparent will recognise, yet something…
2 min
The Epigenetic Clock Is Finally Growing Up -- But What Does It Actually Measure?
An epigenetic clock predicts your biological age from DNA methylation patterns. Sounds precise. But what these clocks are…
2 min
New fatty acids kill senescent cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed
Senolytics are compounds that clear out aged cells without damaging healthy ones. Until now, the options have been limited.
2 min
A memory tool for cells: scientists store the transcriptome inside living tissue
Imagine a cell that keeps its own log of which genes were active and when -- an internal record that remains readable long…
2 min
Neanderthals spent 350,000 years on the brink of extinction
Neanderthals are often portrayed as rugged survivors who only died out because modern humans showed up. But a new analysis…
2 min
Red Blood Cells as Trojan Horses: A New Way to Deliver Healthy Mitochondria Into Diseased Neurons
Transplanting mitochondria into living cells has long seemed more fantasy than medicine.
2 min
Rubedo’s Senolytic Compound Clears Phase 1, and the Implications Go Beyond Skin
A biotech company targeting senescent cells has reported positive preliminary results from its first human trial.
2 min
Mitochondria in neurons turn out to be surprisingly well organized, and it has everything to do with brain aging
A large-scale study in Science has for the first time mapped in detail the spatial and morphological organization of…
2 min
Two natural fatty acids turn out to be senolytics: they clear out aging cells
A new study has identified two polyunsaturated fatty acids that effectively eliminate senescent cells -- the so-called "zombie…
2 min
What Senescence Experts Actually Think About Senolytics Right Now
Cellular senescence has become one of the most active frontiers in longevity science.
2 min
A Fatty Acid Found in Plant Oils Can Kill Senescent Cells, Here’s What That Means
The hunt for safe senolytics, drugs that selectively eliminate aged, dysfunctional cells, has largely focused on repurposed…
2 min
Two Natural Fatty Acids Can Kill Senescent Cells, Here’s What That Means
Senolytics, drugs that selectively eliminate aged, dysfunctional cells, are among the most closely watched interventions in…
2 min
Buck Institute Launches Healthspan Horizons to Close the Gap Between Lifespan and Health
People are living longer. They are not necessarily living better.
1 min
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