Your body\u2019s cells are aging<\/a> right now, making you more susceptible to disease<\/a> and injury that can shorten your lifespan<\/a>. But what if science could reverse that decline?<\/p>\n Researchers say<\/a> they\u2019ve found a way to stop the buildup of compounds that make us vulnerable to harmful inflammation<\/a>. The key is an enzyme. <\/p>\n The enzyme – a protein that helps speed up chemical reactions in the body – works to clear advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, from human tissue. <\/p>\n AGEs are compounds that build up in tissue and are hallmarks of aging. Cleansing AGEs can repair tissue and has the potential to help cells act younger.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a small step in this bigger direction, because aging is very complicated,\u201d Aaron Cravens, a founder and chief executive of San Francisco biotech company Revel Pharmaceuticals, which developed the new enzyme, told The New York Times <\/a>earlier this month. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the first time, I think, that anyone in the field has shown at the structural level that you can actually reverse some of these changes,\u201d Cravens, the lead author of the study announcing the findings<\/a>, said.<\/p>\n To find the enzyme, the team used artificial intelligence, analyzing DNA in more than 50,000 microbes to pick candidates that could clear AGEs from human tissue.<\/p>\n The enzyme, known as CMLase, was then tested on donated human skin and arterial tissue. <\/p>\n That\u2019s how the scientists found it was able to reduce levels of AGEs for 75-year-old human skin back to that of a 31-year-old.<\/p>\n “What we’ve shown is that [AGE] damage in human tissue can, in fact, be reversed under laboratory conditions,\u201d Cravens explained in a statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cMore work is needed, but these results alter the starting assumption for how we think about this fundamental aspect of the aging process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Future tests are expected to be conducted to help treat inflammatory eye disease, including several related to diabetes, Cravens told The Times.<\/p>\n The findings build on previous research, including some recent research<\/a> on tissue regeneration.<\/p>\n Improving the quality of aging – which occurs from the time we are conceived but happens at different rates for different people<\/a> – could not only lead to longer lives, but reduced medical expenditures, the American Association of Retired Persons<\/a> says.<\/p>\n Researchers say drugs that may be able to do that are already on the market.<\/p>\n Popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs taken by millions of Americans may be reprogramming cells to boost immune health<\/a> and reduce inflammation, slowing the body\u2019s decline at a cellular level, a June study from the University of California at San Diego showed.<\/p>\n But lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise<\/a>, or getting enough vitamin B12<\/a>, are also incredibly important in preventing inflammation and other risk factors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[277],"tags":[718,18,135,789,19,17,508,7176,9222],"class_list":["post-602999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-drugs","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-horizontal","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nutrition","tag-obesity","tag-pharmaceutical"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Exercise](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1135644501.jpeg\")
Exercise and fitness are important factors in slowing our body\u2019s aging. Now, researchers say they\u2019ve found a way to stop building compounds that lead to harmful inflammation (Getty Images for Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon)<\/p>\n![\"Millions](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2266973572...jpeg\")
Millions of Americans take popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs. New research shows the drugs may be helping to reprogram cells and boost immune health (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n