A New Benchmark for De-Aging Comes From Slowly Turning Back Cells’ Clocks

“You don't want to have a pluripotent cell in your body, because it can become all types of cells,” says Oliver Brüstle, a professor who studies stem cells at Germany’s Bonn University.

Additionally, the few key genes involved in the stem cell conversion process can drive the formation of cancer if left active. That’s why Brüstle and his team have looked for other ways of de-aging cells without going through a pluripotent state. In their recent study published in Aging Cell, the researchers started with blood cells from people of various ages, including an infant and a 101-year-old donor.

They guided these cells into a younger state but not all the way toward becoming embryonic-like stem cells.