Using advanced tools to map out DNA architecture and measure real-time gene activity, the research team studied older mice that had been given additional SIRT6, which silences genes associated with inflammation and aging.<\/p>\n
The scientists found they could \u201crewind\u201d age-related changes in cells within the liver tissue, said research supervisor Prof. Haim Cohen, director of the Sagol Healthy Human Longevity Center at Bar-Ilan University.<\/p>\n
To put it simply, Cohen said, \u201cWe took an old liver and restored its DNA organization toward a much younger state.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Doctoral students Ron Nagar and Zacharia Schwartz led the study, which, said Cohen, showed that by upping SIRT6, \u201cwe may eventually be able to preserve tissue function, reduce inflammation, and improve health during aging.\u201d<\/p>\n \t The importance of SIRT6<\/p>\n Cohen\u2019s lab explores the basic biological mechanisms underlying the aging process and how to delay and prevent aging-associated diseases.<\/p>\n In a 2012 breakthrough, Cohen was the first<\/a> researcher in the world to increase life expectancy in mice by augmenting their SIRT6 levels.<\/p>\n SIRT6, which is found primarily in the cell nucleus, helps the body repair DNA, control metabolic processes, and regulate aging.<\/p>\n \t Reversing age-related changes<\/p>\n SIRT6 can also influence chromatin, a structure that carefully folds and arranges the DNA to fit inside the cell\u2019s nucleus.<\/p>\n In mammals, aging causes this chromatin packaging to become loose and disorganized, leading to inflammation and possible diseases. The research team wanted to see if the addition of SIRT6 could successfully direct the chromatin to reorganize its packaging once again.<\/p>\n For the experiment, the researchers took normal mice and allowed them to age naturally, to about 24 months, which is the equivalent of about 70 to 80 years in humans, and then increased the levels of the SIRT6 protein.<\/p>\n The researchers activated SIRT6 directly in the liver in one group. In the control group, they activated another gene that was not expected to affect aging, serving only as a benchmark.<\/p>\n The study found that by heightening the SIRT6 levels in the old mice, many of these age-related chromatin changes didn\u2019t just slow down \u2014 they reversed.<\/p>\n The researchers also identified a specific marker, H3K9ac, a chemical switch that tells the chromatin structure when to close or open.<\/p>\n As the lab mice got older, their inner switch got stuck in an open position,\u00a0 accidentally turning on the genes that cause harmful inflammation.<\/p>\n The SIRT6 protein repaired this by closing these specific switches, forcing the DNA structure to tighten back to a healthy, youthful state.<\/p>\n \t \u201cThis is the hidden language of longevity,\u201d Cohen said.<\/p>\n The current research builds on Cohen\u2019s previous discoveries on the importance of SIRT6 in the process of longevity and healthy aging.<\/p>\n He established biotechnology and longevity company SirTlab at Bar-Ilan to find \u201cways to increase or restore the level of SIRT6 because as we age, there is a decline in its activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Nir Barzalai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and president of the Academy of Geroscience, told The Times of Israel that his own research focuses on how aging has \u201cdistinct biological drivers that can be targeted to prevent age-related diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n Barzalai was not involved in Cohen\u2019s study.<\/p>\n Barzalai, who has studied \u201chundreds of centenarians,\u201d said he found a few of them with mutations in Sirt6, associated with slowing their aging.<\/p>\n \t \u201cThe discovery of Sirt6 in animals and humans shows [the possibility of improving] healthspan and longevity,\u201d Barzalai said. \u201cThis is probably the most important discovery in human biology.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that SIRT6 therapy is part of a new science that treats \u201cour health, not our diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n Cohen said that as humans, \u201cwe believe that we are at the top of evolution. But the truth is that when we speak about longevity, there are mammals like whales that live longer than us.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that his lab is \u201ctrying to find ways to steal the idea of what evolution gave to whales, and take it to humans to extend our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is exciting because it suggests that aging may be more plastic than we once believed,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cThe SIRT6 protein affects longevity in mice, so we have a good, solid argument to say that whatever we find in mice, we will also find in humans.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tDoctoral students Ron Nagar, left, and Zacharia Schwartz in the lab of Prof. Haim Cohen at Bar-Ilan University\u2019s Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/iStock-1173329540-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIllustrative image: DNA (iStock via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/F110421MA14-e1377563295954-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIllustrative photo of an elderly couple taking a walk in the Jerusalem Forest. (Miriam Alster\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Close-up-1-Barzilai-251-300x480.jpg\")
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\n\t\tDr. Nir Barzilai, Director of the Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and President of The Academy of Geroscience. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n
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