The tree · The cell's settings
Partially resetting cells reverses ageing in a living animal
Every cell carries chemical marks that say which of its genes to read, and the marks drift with age so that cells slowly forget what they are. Four genes can wipe the marks and turn an adult cell back into something like an embryonic one; switched on briefly and then off, in a live animal, they turn back some of the marks of age without erasing what the cell is. In 2016 mice with a premature-ageing disease lived longer when this was done to them, and in 2020 old mice regained sight after the nerve from the eye was reset. It is the most direct attempt yet to reverse ageing rather than slow it. The first person was given it, in one eye, in June 2026. On 2026-10-08 the company announced interim results from the first three people with glaucoma: no serious side effects by day 56 and a preliminary improvement in the visual field in two of them. It is a company announcement of an open-label safety trial, not a peer-reviewed report, and it measures sight and not a marker of biological age; a separate entry holds the dose.
What would count
A living animal given a brief, controlled dose of reprogramming genes afterwards has a measured marker of biological age (a clock read from the chemical marks on its DNA, a restored tissue function) moved towards youth, compared with untreated controls, in a peer-reviewed report. The first-human rung needs the same in a person. For the clinic rung: a regulator approves a cell-resetting treatment for any condition, so a doctor can give it outside a trial.
Who settles it: Peer-reviewed reports; the trial registry and report for the first person treated; the regulator's approval record for the clinic rung.
Where it stands
Shown in animals. Reached 15 December 2016, on the record of Ocampo and 21 others, 15 December 2016 (doi.org). Next rung within 5 to 20 years.
This is one of the 5 treatments shared with the sister site The Upgrade Tree, which keeps its own record of it at the same test and the same stage. The weekly reading checks that the two stages agree.
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 2041, no earlier than 2033 and no later than 2075; 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 | 2027 | 2029 | 2040 | |
| In clinical use | 2033 | 2041 | 2075 | feeds the year at the top |
Why. The first trial in people began in June 2026 in two eye diseases, following participants for up to five years, with visual function among its measures. The likely year for the first-human rung assumes that trial or its successor reports a measured reversal in an eye around 2029; the clinic rung assumes an approval for one eye disease in the early 2040s after a late-stage trial, since a gene therapy to the eye has a known regulatory path. The earliest assumes the first trial's early groups show a reversal and a fast approval route; the latest allows for the safety question that hangs over the field (the same genes make tumours if left on) closing it for a generation.
Changes to this record
- 17 October 2026, description: reverse ageing rather than slow it. The first person was given it, in one eye, in June 2026, with no result yet reported; a separate leaf holds that dose. became reverse ageing rather than slow it. The first person was given it, in one eye, in June 2026. On 2026-10-08 the company announced interim results from the first three people with glaucoma: no serious side effects by day 56 and a preliminary improvement in the visual field in two of them. It is a company announcement of an open-label safety trial, not a peer-reviewed report, and it measures sight and not a marker of biological age; a separate entry holds the dose.. [reading 2026-10-17] The sentence 'with no result yet reported' was out of date from 2026-10-08. The announcement is a company release of preliminary, uncontrolled data on sight, not the peer-reviewed report of a measured reversal that the first-human step asks for, so the stage stays at shown in animals. Source: Inc., 8 October 2026.
The last readings
- 17 October 2026 Left for the author
On 2026-10-08, two days before the window, Life Biosciences announced interim first-in-human data from the ER-100 trial (the eye-delivered reprogramming therapy this leaf tracks): preliminary visual-field improvement in two of three open-angle glaucoma participants, with greater than 4 decibel gains at at least 28 per cent of tested points, and safety through Day 56. This is a company press release, not the peer-reviewed report the first-human rung requires, the signal is preliminary and uncontrolled, and it reports visual function rather than a biological-age marker, so it does not meet the test and does not move the leaf. It is flagged because the record, written 2026-10-16, says of the June 2026 dose that there is no result yet reported, which the 2026-10-08 announcement predates and contradicts. No new peer-reviewed animal reversal was found; the shared web-search budget was exhausted before two dedicated fresh searches for this leaf could be run. Left for the author, resolved on 17 October 2026: The description line that the June 2026 dose has no result yet reported is out of date as of 2026-10-08; consider noting the interim readout. I would not move the stage: the readout is a press release, not peer-reviewed, the signal is preliminary and uncontrolled, and it measures visual function, not a biological-age marker, so it fails the first-human test. Correcting a record written 2026-10-16 is the author's call. To log in the publications log once its page has been read, as the reading's rule asks: Life Biosciences Announces First-in-Human Data from Ongoing Phase 1 Trial Evaluating ER-100 in Optic Neuropathies (Company press release; data presented at Eyecelerator at AAO 2026, 2026-10-08; https://www.lifebiosciences.com/life-biosciences-announces-first-in-human-data-from-ongoing-phase-1-trial-evaluating-er-100-in-optic-neuropathies/).source 1, source 2
What the story so far says about it
On the record
- 15 December 2016In Vivo Amelioration of Age-Associated Hallmarks by Partial Reprogramming
- 8 October 2026Life Biosciences Announces First-in-Human Data from Ongoing Phase 1 Trial Evaluating ER-100 in Optic Neuropathies
- 2 December 2020Reprogramming to recover youthful epigenetic information and restore vision
Notes
The Upgrade Tree keeps the same leaf at shown in animals under the same test, and recorded on 2026-10-16 that if John would rather count the June 2026 dose as a first human, the stage moves on the company's release; here the dose has its own leaf instead, so that this one stays about the result. The weekly reading checks the two stages agree.