[NYPOST] Israeli scientists have found a way to increase the life expectancy of mice by 23 percent, in groundbreaking research that they hope to replicate in humans — who could then reach an average age of 120 years old.
The researchers boosted the life expectancy of 250 rodents by increasing the supply of SIRT6, a protein that normally wanes in the aging process, the Times of Israel reported.
In the peer-reviewed research published in the journal Nature Communications, the scientists also said the protein-enriched animals were less prone to cancer.
"The change in life expectancy is significant when you consider that an equivalent jump in human life expectancy would have us living on average until almost 120," Prof. Haim Cohen of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan told the news outlet.
Israeli scientists extend mice’s lives by 23 percent, humans could be next
"The changes we saw in mice may be translatable to humans, and if so that would be exciting," added Cohen, whose lab is working on identifying drugs that may allow the SIRT6 to safely be spiked in people.
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