‘Anti-ageing’ jab can boost heart health

INJECTING the genes of super-agers into failing heart cells regenerates them, making them function as if they were 10 years younger, scientists have found.

It opens the door for heart failure to be treated or prevented by reprogramming damaged cells. Researchers have long suspected that people who live beyond 100 must have a unique genetic code that protects them from the ravages of old age. Previous research showed carriers of a variant of the BP1FB4 gene enjoy long lifespans and fewer heart problems.

Scientists at Bristol University inserted the gene variant into a harmless virus and then injected it into elderly mice. It rewound the heart’s biological clock by the human equivalent of 10 years. The study was published in the journal