A group of researchers at Harvard may have found the fountain of youth, reports The Telegraph.  The scientists were able to reverse the aging process in mammals, using a mouse model.  In order to turn back the clock, the research group helped restore effective communication by cellular DNA.  After restoring these communication capabilities, the body tissue of the mice had a lower age.  The two-year-old mouse had the body tissue of a six-month-old.  In humans, such a change would be the equivalent of a 60-year-old having the body tissue of a 20-year-old.

According to Time Health & Family, Dr. David Sinclair, head of the research team, stated that cells age because there is a lack of oxygen that signals to cells that it is their time to go. Without oxygen, the energy engines known as the mitochondria become less efficient at turning physiological fuel like glucose into the energy that the cells need to function. Eventually, they shut down.

Researchers discovered that the nuclear DNA, which is found in the nucleus of a cell, and the mitochondrial DNA, which is found in other parts of the cell, stop communicating as humans age.  Over time this loss of communication reduces the cell’s ability to make energy, and signs of aging and disease become apparent.  Discovering this process is a new component of the understanding on human aging.

The team found the communication problems were down to a depletion in a protein called NAD.  When they upped the levels of NAD in the cells of mice, the ageing process reversed. The research team is now looking at the longer-term outcomes of the NAD-producing compound in mice and how it affects the mouse as a whole.  They are also exploring whether the compound can be used to safely treat rare diseases or more common diseases such as Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.  Longer term, the research team plans to test if the compound will give mice a healthier, longer life.

While reports on this study are looking at it as promising for the fountain of youth, Dr. Sinclair is more cautious.  He is not ready to say that they can create immortal cells, only that it could buy more time than people currently have on earth.  His next step is to put NAD in the drinking water of his mice, and see if they take longer to develop the typical chronic diseases linked to aging, such as inflammation, muscle wasting, cancer and diabetes. The pathway may become an important target for cancer researchers as well, since tumors typically grow in low-oxygen conditions and are more common in older patients.