AI accelerated the launch of cell rejuvenation by 50 times

It would seem that cell rejuvenation is a science fiction story. But reality is already catching up with dreams. The OpenAI team, together with the biotech company Retro Biosciences, has applied artificial intelligence to develop new proteins that trigger the process of “returning time” inside cells.

The experiment is based on Yamanaki factors, proteins for which their creator received the Nobel Prize. They are able to reprogram mature cells back into stem cells, restoring their flexibility and ability to renew themselves. The scientists decided to test whether it is possible to make these proteins even more effective with the help of AI.

The result exceeded expectations. New variants of the factors created using the GPT-4 model showed a more than 50-fold increase in the signs of reprogramming compared to the original ones. The cells literally started behaving as if they had become much younger.

I was particularly impressed by the fact that the altered proteins helped the cells to better cope with DNA damage. This means not just rejuvenation for the sake of rejuvenation, but a real improvement in the quality of cells and their resistance to failures that inevitably accumulate with age.

The researchers tested the work of the new proteins on cells from different donors and found that the effect was reproducible. Moreover, the stem cell lines created were stable and retained normal chromosomes. This is critically important for science: we are not talking about a short-term effect, but about a full-fledged and safe process.

Why is this important? Because cell rejuvenation is the key to slowing down the aging of the body as a whole. If such methods can be safely applied, it will be possible to treat age-related diseases, renew tissues and maintain health for longer than we used to think.

Retro Biosciences does not hide its ambitions. The company has already stated that the purpose of its work is to prolong a healthy human life for at least a decade. AI here does not act as an assistant in a routine, but as a full-fledged co-author of a scientific breakthrough, capable of finding solutions that a person himself would not have come up with.

Scientists note that so far this is only the beginning of the path. But the fact that artificial intelligence has managed to speed up cell reprogramming dozens of times shows that biology and technology are entering into a new alliance. And, perhaps, it will be the key to making aging no longer a sentence.