Woman's Skin Cells De-Aged By 30 Years In Trial, Claim Scientists

Scientists have been able to find a way to reverse the ageing process in human skin. Through a breakthrough research, a team of Cambridge scientists claims to have made the skin cells of a 53-year-old woman 30 years younger.

This is longer reversal of the ageing clock than any other previous studies without damaging the cells. A study detailing the method has been published in eLife magazine. 

The team told the BBC that it can do the same thing with other tissues of the body. Their ultimate aim is to develop treatments for age-related diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and neurological ailment.

"This work has very exciting implications. Eventually, we may be able to identify genes that rejuvenate without reprogramming, and specifically target those to reduce the effects of ageing,” Professor Wolf Reik, a group leader in the Epigenetics research programme, told Sky News.

The findings are still in early stages and if more research is done, the method could revolutionise regenerative medicines, said the scientists.

It is built on the technology used to clone Dolly the sheep more than 25 years ago.

Dolly the sheep

The researchers at Roslin Institute in Scotland cloned Dolly by developing a method that turned the mammary gland cell taken from a sheep into an embryo. The gland was taken from six-year-old Finn Dorset sheep and an egg cell taken from a Scottish Blackface sheep.

Dolly was born on July 5, 1996.

The technique was aimed to create human embryonic stem cells, which could be grown into specific tissues, like muscle, cartilage and nerve cells. These tissues could be used to replace old body parts.

The technology used by Cambridge scientists

It is the gradual decline in the ability of the cells to function optimally, which leads to tissue dysfunction and disease. Regenerative biology aims to repair these old cells.

The team in Cambridge used the Maturation Phase Transient Reprogramming (MPTR) method, which overcomes the problem of erasing cell identity, allowing the researchers to find the balance of making cells younger while still retaining their specialised cell function.