Scientists Developed Gene Therapy That Could Reverse Aging

By: Ramadhani

Aging is a process of gradual disappearance of the tissue's ability to self-repair or replace themselves and maintain the structure and function normally. It makes us more vurnerable to injury (including infection) and damage repairing ability will be suffered. Moreover, the emphasis on aging is not just the visible changes, but also in function. The aging process in human is irreversible. Many people try to avoid the aging process with the emergence of products "Anti-Aging". However, now there's a good news for us. Scientists have developed gene therapy that could reverse aging.

Elizabeth Parrish is successful in doing gene therapy

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Bioviva USA Inc is a company that researches on gene therapy to make human stay young. The gene therapy was first applied on Elizabeth Parrish, its own CEO. In September 2015, Parrish received two of her own company's experimental gene therapies. In one treatment, she received injections into her muscles containing the gene follistatin, which in animal experiments is shown to increase muscle mass by blocking myostatin, itself an inhibitor of muscle growth. She also received an intravenous dose of viruses containing genetic material to produce telomerase, a protein that extends telomeres, a component of chromosomes known as the “aging clock.” ^[1]

Telomeres: how they work

There are many theories about the aging process, such as the genetic clock theory, free radical theory, wear and tear theory, etc, but we will discuss the genetic clock theory only. According to this theory, every cell in the body has a "genetic clock". This clock serves as the countdown "how many times a cell divides" marked by telomere length.

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Telomeres are distinctive structures found at the ends of our chromosomes (shown in green). They consist of the same short DNA sequence repeated over and over again. They shorten with every cell division. When the end of the telomeres are too short, the ability of cells to divide or repair is reduced, slowed down, and eventually the cell can no longer divides then dies. In other words, the shorter your telomer is, the older you are. Telomeres can be extended by using the telomerase enzyme. The problem is the production of telomerase is decreased by age. So that, telomere gets shorten and can not protect DNA from damage.

This enzyme is used by scientists to reverse aging. By using modified virus, they injected the enzime to the subject’s body. ^[2]

The basis for the success of Parrish’s gene therapy

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The basis for the success of Parrish’s gene therapy is related to the telomere scores - which are calculated based on the telomere length in white blood cells (T-lymphocytes). Higher telomere scores indicate 'younger cells'. Compared to average T-lymphocytes of the American population within the same age range, 44 year old, Parrish claims that the gene therapies she underwent worked and showed that it reversed 20 years of telomere shortening. Bioviva is still carefully monitoring Parrish’s blood and will continue to do so in the coming months, and even years, to ensure that the success it has seen in leukocytes can translate to the body’s other tissues and organs; or simply if the effects can be safely replicated in other patients. ^[3]