Wonder vitamin reverses aging

A DRUG that could reverse the aging process and make space travel possible will be trialled on humans this year and may be on the market in 2020.

Australian scientists have found the vitamin nicotinamide mononucleotide helps cells repair DNA damage – and it’s so good they are taking the pill themselves.

Middle-aged mice given the vitamin lived 20% longer and were able to run faster.

“The cells of the old mice were indistinguishable from the young mice after just one week of treatment,” said Professor David Sinclair, of the University of New South Wales School of Medical Sciences and Harvard Medical School Boston.

“This is the closest we are to a safe and effective anti-aging drug that’s perhaps only three to five years away from being on the market if the trials go well.”

In a paper published yesterday in Science, the researchers identified a critical step in the molecular process that allows cells to repair damaged DNA.

Research by UNSW scientists Prof Sinclair and Dr Lindsay Wu into the substance won NASA’s iTech competition in December last year because of its potential use in the planned 2025 mission to Mars.

Accelerated aging caused by cosmic radiation, mental impairment and increased risk of cancer are pitfalls of space travel. On a trip to Mars, 5% of the astronauts’ cells will die, affecting their mental and physical capacity.

It’s hoped this vitamin might be able to reverse that damage, Dr Wu said.

Back on Earth the medicine promises to help every human defy the aging process and stay healthy and it has the potential to overcome the terrible side effects of cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

It’s also been found to treat type 2 diabetes and restore vision following eye damage in animals.

A separate Japanese study showed mice given the vitamin gained less weight with aging even when they consumed more food, perhaps because their boosted metabolism used more energy.

Dr Wu, aged 33, is not old but has been taking the vitamin pill for a year.

“I am taking it,” he said. “I’m not supposed to take it but I feel just fine, there are no side effects. I take it out of intellectual curiosity.”

Dr Wu said, however, the general population should not use the vitamin until it had been tested in clinical trials.

When trials are complete it is likely to be used to treat the side effects of cancer radiotherapy.