Turning the skin of a 53-year-old woman into a 23-year-old woman thanks to the technique of cloning the sheep Dolly

Cambridge scientists have reversed time up to 30 years in a woman's skin cells and say they can do the same with other cells in the body using a technology involving sheep. Dolly.

The technology builds on the techniques used to create the cloned sheep Dolly over 25 years ago.

Speaking to BBC News, Professor Wolf Reik from the Babraham Institute (University of Cambridge, UK), the study's lead author, said he hopes the technique will help people stay healthy for longer as they age.

Magnified image of the skin cells of a 53-year-old woman who already possesses the structure and function of a person 30 years younger

The origins of this technique can be traced back to the 1990s, when researchers at the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh, UK) developed a method to turn an adult skin cell taken from a sheep into stem cells. embryo. It led to the creation of the cloned sheep Dolly.

The aim of the team from the Roslin Institute is not to create sheep or clone humans, but to use the technique to create so-called human embryonic stem cells. They hope that they can be developed into specific tissues, such as muscle, cartilage and nerve cells to replace body parts damaged by disease or time.

The famous Dolly the sheep 25 years ago

The Dolly technique was simplified by Professor Shinya Yamanaka from Kyoto University (Japan) in 2006. The new method, called IPS, involves the addition of chemicals to mature cells for about 50 years. day. This leads to genetic changes that turn adult cells into stem cells.

Professor Reik's team used the IPS technique on 53-year-old skin cells. But they shortened the chemical bath time from 50 days to about 12. So these cells didn't turn into stem cells, but rejuvenated enough, into the skin cells of a 23-year-old girl.

The technique is unlikely to advance to clinical trials right away because of data showing that IPS increases the risk of cancer. But Professor Reik is confident that once they know how to rejuvenate cells, they will easily adjust to find a safe path.

"The aim of the method is to prolong youth, not longevity, so that people can age healthier," emphasized Professor Reik.

The technology could lead to the development of drugs that rejuvenate the skin in people with injuries or burns to speed up healing, or with other tissues in the body to help develop treatments for related diseases. to aging such as diabetes, heart disease, neurological disorders .