New intranasal and injectable gene therapy for healthy life extension

Using CMV as a gene therapy vector we illustrated that CMV can be used therapeutically as a monthly inhaled or intraperitoneally delivered treatment for aging-associated decline. Exogenous telomerase reverse transcriptase or follistatin genes were safely and effectively delivered in a murine model. This treatment significantly improved biomarkers associated with healthy aging, and the mouse lifespan was increased up to 41% without an increased risk of cancer. The impact of this research on an aging population cannot be understated as the global aging-related noncommunicable disease burden quickly rises.