Ageing could soon be treated as a reversible medical condition, with the first evidence of successful age-reversal therapies emerging within months and healthcare systems facing radical change within two decades, according to a leading Harvard scientist.
Professor David Sinclair, one of the worldâs foremost longevity researchers, said advances in biotechnology are bringing humanity to the brink of its most significant health transformation since the discovery of clean water and vaccines. He was speaking during a session titled âThe Science of Living Longer and Betterâ on the final day of the World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai, reported WAM news agency.
Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical Schoolâs Blavatnik Institute, said scientists are rapidly gaining the ability to control and reprogram human biology, shifting medicine away from treating individual diseases towards preventing â and potentially reversing â ageing itself.
Within the next 10 to 20 years, he said, modern healthcare systems could look outdated as longevity-focused therapies take centre stage. Sinclair added that early proof of age reversal in humans could appear far sooner, possibly within months, marking the start of a new medical era centred on extending healthy lifespan rather than merely prolonging life.
âFor many years, we ignored ageing,â Sinclair said, adding that ageing should no longer be accepted as inevitable.
âAgeing is a medical condition that is increasingly treatable.â
He explained that most age-related diseases emerge simultaneously as people grow older. By the age of 80, more than half of the population suffers from at least five chronic illnesses.
Sinclair said targeting individual diseases such as cancer would only marginally extend lifespan. Eliminating all cancers, he noted, would increase average life expectancy by just 2.5 years, because other diseases would still develop.
Instead, Sinclairâs research focuses on slowing or reversing ageing itself, the root cause of many major illnesses.
In a major scientific milestone, Sinclair revealed that his team is preparing to launch human clinical trials aimed at reversing the ageing process.
The trials, expected to begin soon, will test epigenetic programming therapies designed to restore cells to a more youthful state.
âWe are about to test, for the first time in history, whether we can reverse ageing and cure diseases,â he said.
The research builds on findings that ageing is driven by chemical changes in DNA rather than irreversible damage.
Sinclair likened the process to scratches on a CD, where DNA holds the original âmusicâ of youth but becomes disrupted over time.
âScientists have found ways to âpolishâ the biological system and restore cellular function.â
Using modified Yamanaka genes, a set of genetic factors known to reprogram cells, Sinclairâs team has already demonstrated the ability to reverse ageing in animal tissues by up to 75 per cent within weeks.
The method has successfully restored vision in animal models suffering from blindness.
The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first human trial of epigenetic reprogramming therapy, initially targeting eye diseases such as glaucoma, with potential future applications across the body.
Beyond health benefits, Sinclair highlighted the massive economic implications of slowing ageing. "In the US, extending a healthy lifespan by one year could generate an estimated $38 trillion in economic value by improving productivity of people,â he said.
He also linked his research to global challenges, noting that declining fertility rates are reducing workforce numbers.
âThere are two solutions, replace them with robots or keep them alive and healthy,â he said. âOur greatest asset is human productivity.â
Send us your companyâs news today and they could be featured on ABCâs Community News tommorow.
