A recent study proposes the “Information Theory of Aging”. It discusses how all living organisms experience an increase in entropy, resulting in a loss of genetic and epigenetic information. Overall, the research suggests that the loss of epigenetic information is a crucial factor in the aging process and that reversing this loss could potentially lead to interventions that extend lifespan and improve healthspan.

The researchers used a system called “ICE” (inducible changes to the epigenome) to investigate the effects of DNA repair on aging. The study reports that not only can they age mice on an accelerated timeline, but they can also reverse the effects of that aging and restore some of the biological signs of youthfulness to the animals at physiological, cognitive, and molecular levels. That reversibility makes a strong case for the fact that the main drivers of aging are miscues in the epigenetic instructions that somehow go awry, the result of losing critical instructions that cells need to continue functioning.

These findings are consistent with the information theory of aging, which suggests that a loss of epigenetic information is a reversible cause of aging. The researchers also found that this aging process could be reversed by cellular rejuvenation.

Aging is driven by miscues in the epigenetic instructions that are in charge of turning on and off genes in cells, rather than mutations to the DNA. The researchers developed an aging clock that can speed up or reverse the aging of cells and used it to age mice on an accelerated timeline. They were also able to restore some of the biological signs of youthfulness to the animals. To reboot cells and restore their epigenetic instructions, the researchers used a gene therapy involving three genes that instruct cells to reprogram themselves, leading the cells to restart the epigenetic changes that defined their identity as, for example, kidney and skin cells, two cell types that are prone to the effects of aging.

While rejuvenating cells in mice is one thing, the researchers hope to test the process in humans in the future.

Could it be true that our genetic instructions get out of whack as we age—and that we can be re-booted like a computer with a fresh set of instructions? If so, this line of research could have a big payoff in anti-aging therapies in the future.