科学家实现老鼠衰老逆转 延长人类寿命成为可能

An end to grey hair and crows-feet could be just 10 years away after scientists showed it is possible to reverse ageing in animals.

科学家已经在动物身上实现了逆转衰老的可能，也许再过十年，灰白的头发和眼角的鱼尾纹都将成为过去式。

Using a new technique which takes adult cells back to their embryonic form, US researchers at the Salk Institute in California, showed it was possible to reverse ageing in mice, allowing the animals to not only look younger, but live for 30 per cent longer.

加利福尼亚索尔克研究所的美国研究员们用一项新技术将老化的细胞恢复到其胚胎形式，在实验鼠上实现了逆转衰老的可能，这让老鼠不仅看起来更年轻，更是延长了其本身1/3的寿命。

The technique involves stimulating four genes which are particularly active during development in the womb. It was also found to work to turn the clock back on human skin cells in the lab, making them look and behave younger.

这项技术涉及到对子宫中发育尤其旺盛的四种基因的刺激，实验中还发现它能将人类皮肤细胞的生物钟往回拨，从而看起来更年轻，行为动作也更年轻态。

Scientists hope to eventually create a drug which can mimic the effect of the found genes which could be taken to slow down, and even reverse the ageing process. They say it will take around 10 years to get to human trials.

科学家希望能发明出一种药物，能模仿这四种基因所产生的效果，减缓老化，甚至逆转整个衰老过程，实现返老还童。他们表示，这项研究可能会需要十年的时间才能运用到人体实验上。

"Obviously, mice are not humans and we know it will be much more complex to rejuvenate a person. But this study shows that ageing is a very dynamic and plastic process, and therefore will be more amenable to therapeutic interventions than what we previously thought." said Dr Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory.

索尔克基因表达实验室的教授胡安·卡洛斯·伊斯皮苏亚·贝尔蒙特先生表示：“很显然，老鼠不是人类，使人恢复到年轻状态要复杂得多。但是研究表明，衰老的过程是动态的而且具有可塑性，因此介入治疗比我们之前考虑到的更加可行。”

The breakthrough could also help people stay healthier for longer. The ageing population means that the risk of developing age-related diseases, such as dementia, cancer and heart disease also rises.

这项突破性的进展也能帮助人类保持更长久的健康状态。老龄化人群面临着患老龄化阶段疾病的风险，像痴呆，癌症等疾病，患心脏病的风险也在增加。

But if the body could be kept younger for longer then it could prevent many deadly diseases for decades.

但如果人体能保持长久的年轻状态，就能预防许多致命疾病的发生，将发病时间推迟几十年。