Chemical effectively turns back time on ageing

The ageing process has been dramatically reversed in a new study. Scientists from the US have managed to reverse the ageing process within mice as part of new research. A chemical was found to have a rejuvenative effect within the muscle of mice, effectively turning back the clock on the tissue.

While the study, published in the journal 'Cell', was able to turn what was effectively a 60-year-old's muscle to that of a 20-year-old, there was no improvement in muscle strength. However, the research does show that certain aspects of the ageing process could be reversed.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School were able to identify a new aspect of the process of ageing and reverse it by several decades. They used a chemical called NAD, which usually experiences a drop in levels within the body as a person gets older. 

It was found that as the NAD levels decreased, function within the mitochondria of cells became largely disruptive. This led to less energy being produced by the mitochondria and resulted in ageing.

Using a number of experiments, the researchers were able to show that by boosting the NAD levels within mice, they were effectively able to reverse the ageing process. 

Researchers found that giving two-year-old mice a chemical that is naturally converted into NAD within their system, the muscles became similar to those found within six-month-old mice, after only a week of treatment. The chemical improved muscle wastage, mitochondrial function and resistance to insulin.  

According to Dr Ana Gomes, from the department of genetics at Harvard Medical School, the chemical could help strength to improve within the muscles if a longer course of treatment is given. However, it won't be a be-all-and-end-all cure for ageing as damage to DNA, telomeres shortening and other aspects won't be reversed.

Doctor Gomes told the BBC: "Ageing is multi-factorial, it's not just one component we can fix, so it's hard to target the whole thing.

"I believe there is a lot of cross-talk in cells and energy is very important in a cell and likely to be a very big component of ageing that might cause some of the other things that happen with ageing."