Researchers in a lab study converted human blood cell precursors into induced neural stem cells, observing significant epigenetic de-aging that continued for several weeks.
Source: Lab study, Human erythroid progenitors from donors aged neonatal to 101 years. The result is in cells or tissue in a dish. It shows a possible mechanism, not an effect in people.
What was found
Researchers generated induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) from human erythroid progenitors using two reprogramming factors, SOX2 and cMYC. They found that iNSCs derived from aged donors showed pronounced epigenetic de-aging.
The iNSCs preserved approximately 13% of the original donor age at low passages and 5% at high passages. This de-aging process was protracted, continuing for several weeks, even when cell proliferation was inhibited.
Transcriptomic differences between iNSCs from young and old donors also diminished with extended time in conversion. Established iNSC lines lacked age-associated cellular hallmarks, similar to induced pluripotent stem cells.
How it was done
Scientists used overexpression of the reprogramming factors SOX2 and cMYC to convert erythroid progenitors from human donors, ranging from neonatal to 101 years old, into iNSCs. They used an epigenetic aging clock algorithm to measure epigenetic de-aging.
They also performed time course analysis of DNA methylation and RNA sequencing data to study the dynamics of epigenetic de-aging and the acquisition of a neural stem cell signature.
What it does not show
This was a lab study using human cells, not a human trial. The findings are from cells in a dish and do not show effects in living humans.
Who was talking about it
- The Times of India on the news (2026-10-15): The Times of India reported that scientists turned blood-cell precursors from an 80-year-old donor into neural stem cells with epigenetic age reversal. See the post
- r/Biohackers on Reddit (2026-10-23): ScienceDaily reported that the team directly reprogrammed blood precursor cells into neural stem cells, skipping the usual pluripotent stem cell stage, and the rejuvenation unfolded gradually and could be tracked for over 100 days. See the post
- SSBCrack on the news (2026-10-21): SSBCrack reported that German scientists have reversed 60 years of cellular aging in blood cells. See the post
The source
This is news, reported from the source above. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before you change any medicine or supplement.