Space- age pill to live longer and prosper
A DRUG that could reverse the ageing process and make space travel possible will be trialled on humans this year and could be on the market in 2020.
Australian scientists have found a vitamin, nicotinamide mononucleotide ( NMN), that helps cells repair DNA damage. Middle- aged mice given the vitamin lived 20 per cent 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,” Professor David Sinclair of UNSW School of Medical Sciences and Harvard Medical School Boston said.
“This is the closest we are to a safe and effective anti- ageing drug that’s perhaps only three to five years away from being on the market if the trials go well.”
In a paper published in Science today, the researchers identify a critical step in the molecular process that allows cells to repair damaged DNA.
The research, by University NSW scientists Professor David Sinclair and Dr Lindsay Wu, won NASA’s iTech competition in December last year because of its potential use in the planned 2025 mission to Mars.
Accelerated ageing caused by cosmic radiation, mental impairment and increased risk of cancer are pitfalls of space travel.
On a trip to Mars 5 per cent of the astronauts’ cells will die, affecting their mental and physical capacity.
It was 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 ageing process and stay healthy, and it has 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. However, when clinical trials are complete it won’t be on the market to treat ageing. Instead it is likely to be used to treat the side effects of cancer radiotherapy.
“The big problem is that regulatory authorities don’t recognise ageing as a disease, even though you lose memory, you lose movement and it gives you cancer,” Dr Wu said.
But that could change. A US trial is underway to test whether the diabetes drug metformin can extend human life and prevent cancer because of evidence it expands lifespan in animals.
“The makers of Metformin will be the first to push the FDA ( US Food and Drug Administration) to recognise ageing, change is in the air,” Dr Wu said.
The discovery of the vitamin developed out of research into the famed life extending qualities of the molecule resveratrol found in red wine.