Scientists develop real-life “Benjamin Button” reverse aging effect in mice

Lab technician holding mouse
Lab technician holding mouse Photo credit Getty Images/unoL

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 movie starring Brad Pitt whom ages in reverse, as he was born with the appearance and maladies of an elderly man and regresses into infancy.

It was a movie filled with fantasy, but a group of scientists today are confident they can make that fantasy a reality.

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Molecular biologist David Sinclair and his team at Harvard Medical School have recently been able to develop an actual reverse-aging effect in mice.

By using proteins that can turn an adult cell into a stem cell, Sinclair and his team have reset aging cells in mice to earlier versions of themselves.

Older mice that once had poor eyesight and damaged retinas could suddenly see again, with vision that at times even rivaled their offspring’s!  Sinclair told CNN, “It’s a permanent reset, as far as we can tell, and we think it may be a universal process that could be applied across the body to reset our age.”

Sinclair knows the possibilities are endless with his team’s research.

“If we reverse aging, these diseases should not happen. We have the technology today to be able to go into your hundreds without worrying about getting cancer in your 70s, heart disease in your 80s and Alzheimer’s in your 90s,” he says.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images/unoL