Researchers, scientists, and self-proclaimed biohackers have embraced the idea that people play a significant role in how they age. Some say aging can be slowed down. Others say it could even be reversible.
Blake Byers, cofounder of biotech research company NewLimit, is taking it a step further.
“Once thought to be irreversible, the emerging science of epigenetic reprogramming has shown that aging is in fact malleable,” Byers wrote on X.
NewLimit, which was cofounded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, is working to develop medicines that target drivers of aging using AI and epigenetics—and has raised $130 million in series B funding.
Jacob Kimmel, president of NewLimit, says the last decade’s innovative progress has shown that humans have the ability to change the aging process.
“The fact that aging is malleable means that not only can you change the rate at which something occurs—that you can prevent it from progressing at the same rate you would hope—but also that even once the pathology has developed, you do have hope of setting it back,” Kimmel tells Fortune.
At NewLimit, research is underway to reprogram old cells into healthier, younger ones. However, Kimmel says that the science is not ready yet for humans and hopes to take the research to clinical trials within a few years. At the moment, treatments that turn back the clock, or reverse age, have only shown promise in rodents.
The most ‘powerful lever’
Other researchers agree that aging has malleable qualities. Many point to the available science that sheds light on the factors that contribute to people living longer, healthier lives.
“While we cannot stop time, we can strongly influence how we age,” says Dr. Andrea Maier, a professor of medicine, healthy aging, and dementia research at the National University of Singapore. “Lifestyle is a powerful lever.”
Studies have suggested that people may live up to five years longer if they have good quantity and quality sleep. Those who think positively about getting older are likelier to live longer than those who don’t. And, adhering to the Mediterranean diet, eating whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, has helped the residents of the blue zones live to be 100. Even spending time in nature, or “forest bathing,” is a proven way to support aging and improve mental health, which can therefore lower the risk of chronic conditions and early mortality, says Tamberly Conway, PhD, founder and CEO of Conservation Conexions, which provides nature therapy.
“The science is clear that lifestyle factors—nutrition, sleep, movement, stress, and social connection—can slow biological aging and improve health span,” Nichol Bradford, an investor at the forefront of human potential and AI, tells Fortune. “Genetics set the baseline, but our daily choices shape how we age.” (Health span is the number of years you have lived disease-free.)
Elissa Epel, PhD, director of the UCSF Aging Metabolism Emotions Center, and author of The Stress Prescription, says mitigating chronic stress is the key to explaining how aging can be malleable.
“We can change our perceived stress, it’s highly malleable, and thus we can change our rate of aging,” she says. “Stress has direct biological effects, and has an umbrella effect, shaping all of our lifestyle factors, including what we eat, how well we stick to health behaviors like exercise, and how well we sleep.”
Chronic stress increases the risk for heart disease, mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, and poor sleep, which can all contribute to earlier mortality and a shorter health span.
But lifestyle alone isn’t going to dramatically add decades to anyone’s life. “The effects may be modest, and currently there is no evidence that maximum lifespan can be significantly extended,” says Dr. Brian Kennedy, a gerontologist and distinguished professor of biochemistry and physiology at the National University of Singapore.
Dr. Eric Topol, cardiologist and author of the new book Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity, framed the quest to live longer a bit differently. While he touts the benefits of lifestyle factors in influencing the aging trajectory, he focuses more on their impact in reducing the risk of chronic conditions associated with older age. The science on anything further, he adds, is still evolving.
Asked whether aging is reversible, Topol says, “It may be someday.” For now, he says, by targeting the chronic conditions that can lead to early mortality, you are extending your health span and quality of life. If you can reduce sickness and live your last decades free of disease, that’s the biggest win for longevity. “We can make big inroads by preventing age-related diseases,” he says.
