The tree · The cell's settings
The chemical marks on one gene are rewritten in a person, with no cut in the DNA
Wholesale resetting of a cell's settings is one route; the other is to rewrite the marks on a single chosen gene, switching it off or on for good without cutting the DNA. In 2024 a Milan group did this in mice for a cholesterol gene in the liver, with one dose, and the gene stayed silenced, with the protein in the blood almost halved, for nearly a year. The same tool, aimed at a liver-infecting virus rather than an ageing gene, has been given to people since late 2024, and the company reported in May 2026 that the virus's markers stayed down for seventeen months after one dose; that report is a conference presentation, not a peer-reviewed paper, so the leaf waits at the animal rung for one.
What would count
A person is given a treatment that rewrites the chemical marks on one chosen gene, without cutting the DNA, and the gene's product is measurably changed in the way intended for at least six months, in a peer-reviewed report or a trial registry's posted results. The animal rung is the same in a living animal. For the clinic rung: a regulator approves such a treatment for any condition.
Who settles it: Peer-reviewed reports or the trial registry's posted results; the regulator's approval record for the clinic rung.
Where it stands
Shown in animals. Reached 28 February 2024, on the record of doi.org. Next rung within 1 to 5 years.
When it reaches the clinic: the project's estimate
This is the one thing on this page that is a judgment rather than a record. The project's estimate of the year it reaches the clinic is 2036, no earlier than 2031 and no later than 2070; the model draws from that range every run, with the likely year the most probable draw. Set 16 October 2026, a first pass awaiting an outside review.
| Rung | No earlier than | Most likely | No later than | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First human | 2026 | 2027 | 2032 | |
| In clinical use | 2031 | 2036 | 2070 | feeds the year at the top |
Why. The first-human rung waits only on a peer-reviewed report of a trial that has already reported at a conference; likely 2027. The clinic rung needs an approval for some condition: the hepatitis B programme was moving to a larger trial in 2026, so an approval in the mid 2030s is likely, with the earliest a fast route on strong late-stage data and the latest allowing for the first indication failing and the tool waiting for another.
Changes to this record
None since it was written on 16 October 2026. Every change to the stage or the estimate lands here with its date, the old value, the new one and the reason, and a change to the estimate never happens because a number looked wrong: it needs a dated reason and a source.
The last readings
- 17 October 2026 Quiet
Nothing in the window. The most recent human data on the tool this leaf tracks (Tune Therapeutics' TUNE-401 epigenetic silencer) remains the proof-of-concept presented at the European liver congress on 2026-05-30, which the record already carries and which is a conference presentation, not the peer-reviewed report or posted registry results the settler requires. No peer-reviewed paper or registry-posted result appeared in the window, and no application of the tool to an ageing gene in a person was found, so the leaf stays at the animal rung.source 1, source 2
What the story so far says about it
No promise, self-experiment or logged paper names this one yet.
Notes
The company's 2026 presentation would meet the test if it were peer-reviewed or posted to the registry as results; the weekly reading should expect this leaf to move to first human soon after either happens. The gene in the human trial is a virus's, not a person's, and the test allows that on purpose: the tool is what this leaf tracks, and an ageing gene can be aimed at later.
Not yet verified
These facts in the record were written from memory or from a secondary source and have not yet been checked against the paper, the regulator's record or the registry. Nothing here is presented as settled until it is cleared, by checking it and either deleting the line or correcting the record.
- That Tune Therapeutics dosed its first person with TUNE-401 in late 2024 is not stated by any source read: the registry entry (NCT06671093) gives a study start of 2024-11-29 in Auckland, and the Hong Kong site was approved only on 2025-01-07; the company's May 2026 release (results presented 2026-05-30, markers down to 17 months) was read and matches.