Question: Could we ever reverse aging, slow aging or even stop aging?

Joanne Sharpe answered on 7 Jun 2018:

Good question! Aging is caused by a gradual deterioration of our tissues as we grow older, as cells slowly stop maintaining normal processes. There have been lots of studies on the processes that go wrong as we age, as aging is related to a lot of diseases, in particular neurodegenerative diseases (where brain cells slowly die off), such as dementia. Scientists now think genetics play a role, which does suggest it would be possible to change the rate at which we age. To extend our lifespan, we need a better understanding of which “cellular programs” are going wrong as we age, and then how we could intervene to stop this from happening. I think it is definitely possible to slow aging, but I don’t think we could reverse damage that has already been done. I hope this answers your question!