The first therapy directed at reversing diseases of aging by cellular rejuvenation is about to start clinical trials. Life Biosciences received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for a phase 1 trial to test their partial epigenetic reprogramming approach in people with eye disease.
Life Biosciences’ ER-100 is a gene therapy that uses a modified adeno-associated virus vector to deliver genes encoding transcription factors OCT-4, SOX-2 and KLF-4 (three of the four so-called Yamanaka factors used to reprogram adult cells into stem cells). By applying controlled expression of the three genes, the company aims to restore methylation patterns and test whether partial cellular reprogramming can reverse aged or damaged cells to a younger state.
— Source: Nature Biotechnology (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-026-03037-z)
