By changing a gene in mice, they can live up to 20 percent longer and protect them against cancer, scientists have discovered.
Researchers today hailed the findings as a “big surprise,” saying they have not yet found any negative side effects.
And the team from Taiwan thinks the benefits could one day extend to humans too.
Rodents were genetically engineered in a lab to have a mutated version of the KLF1 gene.
These mice ended up living longer, were unusually active in middle age and didn’t turn gray as early, experts claimed.
Researchers at Academia Sinica continued their age-defying experiment, then decided to inject a group of unaltered mice with blood from the rodents that were found to live longer.
The study showed that the genetic modification rejuvenated cells in mice and slowed the age-related deterioration of their memory and heart, liver and kidney health. The mutated stock of the protein KLF1, found in a series of blood cells, was given to mice by a team from the Institute of Molecular Biology at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan
The Office for National Statistics predicts that life expectancy for men born in 2070 in the UK will average 85 years, while women will be close to 88 when they die
Mice that received the modified protein ‘typically’ lived five months longer, an increase of about 20 percent.
Two-month-old mice are roughly equivalent to 18-year-old humans, according to New scientistwho first reported the findings.
They also remained healthy longer and their physical and mental performance began to decline later than unmodified mice.
All humans already carry the KLF1 gene, which regulates the production of new red blood cells.
The researchers said the body’s blood system is an important target for anti-aging and cancer research, so they modified this gene in hopes of extending the mouse’s lifespan and health.
The findings, published on the pre-print website, bioRxivalso found that the mice given the mutated KLF1 via a single bone marrow cell transplant “appeared to have significantly more anti-cancer potential” than normal mice.
Those with the protein also showed “reduced tumor growth” and a lower rate of “spontaneous cancer incidence,” researchers said, at 12.5 percent compared to 75 percent in mice that didn’t undergo the procedure.
The cancer resistance of KLF1 mice did not depend on their age, sex or genetic background, scientists also found.
Both young mice – about two months old – and older mice – 24 months old – were found to reduce the spread of cancer after being injected with melanoma cells, than mice in the control group.
Overall, the findings “demonstrated the feasibility” of a new approach to blood cell production “to combat disease and aging,” the researchers said.
One of the scientists, Che-Kun James Shen, said, “We haven’t found any negative side effects so far.”
Researchers later also injected modified cells that show similarities to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) into the mice.
ALS, a common form of the incurable motor neuron disease, is a rare condition that gradually damages parts of the nervous system.
This leads to muscle weakness, often with visible wasting.
Mice with the KLF1 protein were found to have significantly slower disease progression, researchers said.
Commenting on the researchers’ findings, Professor Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, a molecular biogerontologist at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘I am convinced of the life-extending properties of this mutation.’
Gene-editing blood stem cells may also have “great potential as a therapy for aging,” he added.
It’s because previous studies have also shown that infusions of young blood plasma can breathe new life into aging organs and tissues, prompting researchers to rush to produce and try plasma-based therapies.
But while studies have found benefits for rodents, there’s no evidence to date that this approach to youthfulness will help humans evade the passage of time.