Could This Experimental Drug Slow Down Aging?

We all know how old we are.

Our birth certificates settled that question some time ago.

Our bodies, however, may have a slightly different opinion.

Scientists have developed biological aging clocks that look at the changes happening inside our bodies to estimate how quickly we may be aging.

In a new study, researchers used six of them to analyze blood samples from people taking an experimental drug.

All six clocks highlighted something very interesting: the patients appeared to be getting biologically younger.

Our Body Has More Than One Age

Our chronological age is easy. It's simply the number of years we've been alive.

Biological age is trickier.

For the new study, published in Nature Biotechnology, researchers used six different proteomic aging clocks.

Rather than checking for wrinkles or asking how our knees feel after getting off the couch, these clocks examined patterns in proteins found in our blood.

Those patterns can be used to estimate biological age.

And, this time, six independently developed clocks pointed in the same direction.

All 6 Clocks Started Moving Backward

The blood came from a clinical trial of rentosertib, an experimental drug being developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious lung disease.

The original trial included 71 patients, and 42 had the blood samples needed for the new aging analysis.

Participants received one of three doses of rentosertib or a placebo for 12 weeks.

In all six aging clocks, the treatment groups had reductions in their predicted biological age, compared to where they started. 

The placebo group showed little change or slight increases.

The results were the most consistent around week four, and among people taking 30 milligrams twice a day.

That certainly got the researchers' attention.

AI Helped Create the Drug

There's another interesting twist to the story.

Rentosertib was developed by Insilico Medicine using artificial intelligence.

The company used AI to identify TNIK, a potential drug target associated with fibrosis and aging. 

Then, it used generative AI to design the molecule that became rentosertib.

Now, we have an AI-assisted experimental drug being evaluated by six biological aging clocks.

The future has definitely decided to arrive all at once.

We Haven't Found the Fountain of Youth Quite Yet

Before we start searching for rentosertib online, there are some huge caveats.

This was one small analysis involving 42 people, all of whom had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. 

And it only lasted 12 weeks.

Also, the clocks measured changes in proteins associated with biological aging. They didn’t prove that someone's entire body literally became younger.

The researchers acknowledge that they can't yet completely separate the drug's effects on the lung disease from possible effects on aging.

In other words, this is intriguing early evidence, not an anti-aging prescription.

The Clocks May Help Scientists Find Something Bigger

Perhaps the most exciting part isn't whether rentosertib eventually becomes an anti-aging drug.

It's what these clocks could help researchers discover.

The authors of the study think aging measurements could become a regular part of trials for drugs that target age-related diseases.

That could help scientists spot unexpected effects on aging much sooner.

For now, the candles on our birthday cakes remain stubbornly accurate.

But, scientists are getting better at measuring the age of our bodies on the inside. 

And, if six different clocks all start ticking backward at once, that's worth finding out why.

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