By blocking the action of a single protein, scientists have extended the average life span of the mice in their experiment by around 25%. This recent finding has raised the question of whether such a treatment could ever work for people, and so far, there are some promising early hints that it might.
In the new study, scientists injected middle-aged mice with an antibody that blocks the action of interleukin-11, a protein that spurs inflammation and has been tied to aging processes in human cells.
At the beginning of the experiment, these mice were about 17 months old, which is roughly equivalent to being 55 in human years. The mice received injections every three weeks until they died, while a comparison group of mice was left untreated.
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