05 / RESEARCH AREAS
The next frontiers
Regeneration, reprogramming and emerging ideas at the edge of what we know.
QUESTIONS WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND
What has been demonstrated, and in which experimental system?
Which barriers stand between a proof of concept and an intervention?
What evidence would change our confidence in the idea?
These questions describe the scope of this area. They are not findings or a list of active studies.
Research in this area
Newest published first
1–6 of 6 articles
If plasma exchange helps, is the effect from removal or replacement?
Changing the blood environment can change selected ageing-related phenotypes. The central experiments reviewed here do not uniquely attribute these changes to removing old factors, or establish how…
- Specified mouse combination and tissue outcomesModerate
- Removal/addition and feedback attributionLimited
- Human blood-proxy changesLimited
- Disease-specific clinical function/cognitionLimited
- Ordinary human healthspan and long-term safetyNot yet determinable
Can young microbiota transfer age-related traits back towards youth?
Some functions change with donor material; that does not establish transfer of a youthful state. Mouse studies support selected behavioral, inflammatory and barrier changes. A 2026 study identifies…
- Specified mouse material and behaviorLimited
- Specified mouse immune–neural pathwayModerate
- Broad healthspan and longevityNot yet determinable
- Ordinary human ageing interventionNot yet determinable
Can senolytic CAR T cells selectively remove harmful cells? Target choice and the cost of persistence
Anti-uPAR CAR T cells have produced functional benefits in mice, including improvements in some intestinal barrier, regeneration and inflammation measurements. Treatment early in life can also have…
- Target and measurementModerate
- Mouse functionModerate
- Net value of persistenceNot yet determinable
- Target-related injuryModerate
- Human healthspanNot yet determinable
Are Longer Telomeres Always Better? Repair, Replication, and Cancer Risk
Longer telomeres may allow some cells to keep dividing, while also allowing cells that have acquired mutations to persist longer. Assessing whether that change is beneficial requires considering…
- Human genetics and familiesModerate
- Mouse survival and safetyLimited
- Human lifespan benefit in healthy peopleNot yet determinable
Can a Softer Environment Restore Regeneration in Aged Cells?
Whether aged cells become active again can depend on their surroundings. For oligodendrocyte progenitor cells involved in myelin repair, the stiffness of a culture material, the matrix they contact…
- Rodent cells and lesion modelsModerate
- Lasting regeneration and human functionNot yet determinable
Partial reprogramming: what becomes younger—readouts, identity, or function?
Partial reprogramming can alter molecular readouts in cultured cells, but function, stability and human benefit require separate tests. Gill and colleagues’ 2022 maturation phase transient…
- Molecular readoutsLimited
- Cell identityLimited
- Cell functionLimited
- Stability and safetyNot yet determinable