What is the secret behind everyone's interest in longevity and fighting aging?

As research into life extension advances, scientists are finding new ways to test the once-hypothetical idea that aging itself may become a target for medical treatment. Scientists are investigating whether it is possible to measure and influence the biological changes that occur in our bodies as we age.

The goal will be to intervene in the biological processes of aging before they contribute to disease, so that people not only live longer but also enjoy more years of good health, known as “healthy lifespan.” Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, told Ofoq News: “Aging has its own biology, and it is this biology that leads to diseases.”

Instead of waiting for diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer to appear and then treating them individually, Barzilai believes that medicine may in the future be able to target biological processes associated with aging, which contribute to the emergence of several diseases at the same time. Daniel Belsky, an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Robert N.

Butler University School of Aging, said this hypothesis has not yet been tested in humans. “We don't know yet if we can actually do that,” Belsky added.

But we have a consistent body of evidence that suggests it is possible. "There is also now a mobilization of resources to actually test it."

In laboratory experiments, researchers have been able to manipulate the biology of aging in organisms ranging from roundworms to mice. Belsky noted that medications, exercise, calorie restriction and other interventions can slow the accumulation of cellular changes associated with aging, extending the lives of animals.

He added: “For humans, we do not yet have evidence from clinical trials that proves that interfering with this biology can extend healthy lifespan. However, we see a shift that paves the way towards conducting these clinical trials in humans.”

Reading the body Scientists are looking beyond chronological age, the number of years a person has lived, and are focusing on biological indicators that reflect how the body is aging. Their mission is not only to measure biological aging, but also to identify measurable changes within the body that may reveal how this process develops.

One approach focuses on epigenetics, that is, changes in the way genes are regulated without changing the underlying DNA sequence. By examining chemical markers known as methyl groups attached to DNA, researchers can "trace the passage of time within the human body," Belsky said.

Belsky's work also involves analyzing multiple types of biological data. His project, called Finding Biomarkers of Aging by Searching Based Trials (FAST), collects what researchers call “multi-omics” data, that is, integrating different layers of information about the body, including proteins, metabolites and epigenetic marks on white blood cells.

The goal is to identify biomarkers that respond to different interventions, and could help future researchers measure how those interventions affect the biology of aging. However, the definitive link between manipulating these biomarkers and extending healthy lifespan has not yet been proven, Belsky said.

The difficulty is that the results that researchers want to measure may take decades to appear. Belsky noted that a trial designed to test whether an intervention administered at age 40 or 50 can prevent chronic disease may need to follow participants for 20 or 30 years.

Therefore, researchers are trying to determine whether biomarkers of aging can be used in the future to predict long-term health outcomes. If a biomarker is shown to reliably predict whether a particular intervention will prevent disease or prolong healthy life, it may be used as a “surrogate endpoint” in clinical trials, that is, a measurable marker that indicates the likelihood of an important health outcome being achieved later.

Organization of longevity medicine With the development of this scientific field, specialized longevity clinics began to appear, where patients are offered traditional medical assessments along with a much wider range of examinations designed to form a detailed picture of the health status of each individual. In the United States, the Mayo Clinic launched a “Healthy Longevity Clinic” in 2023, and the National University Health System in Singapore has created a similar program that combines detailed assessments with medical or lifestyle interventions tailored to each person.

But as life-extension clinics become more common, some scientists warn that the field needs better regulation. In the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, the Department of Health has granted life prolongation medicine official status within the healthcare system.

In October 2024, it launched a licensing framework for Centers for Healthy Longevity Medicine, which it described as the first of its kind globally, creating a specific clinical category and setting standards that facilities must meet to be able to operate within this field. It also licensed the Healthy Living Institute in Abu Dhabi as the first center specializing in healthy longevity medicine in the world to obtain an official classification from a government body.

Alan Boston, director of operations at the institute, believes that understanding aging at the cellular level could revolutionize medicine. “All the cells in your body are constantly aging,” he said.

In the past, we thought it was just an inevitable stage of life. There are things we can now start doing about it.

“This changes the entire concept of medicine.” He added, “The better we understand what is happening at the cellular level, the more we can design treatments, drugs, other immunotherapies, and technologies that can change, slow, and perhaps even reverse this process.” But, Belsky noted, when it comes to influencing the biology of aging, there are many steps people can take without the need for advanced medical innovations or a visit to a specialized clinic.

“The things we know work are available in some form to most of us, like sleep, exercise, social relationships, and diet,” Belsky said. “These are things that almost all of us can make progress on,” he added.

"We can add healthy years to our lives even without these new medications."