By Mary Kekatos Health Reporter For Dailymail.com
Published: 16:00 BST, 13 June 2019 | Updated: 16:00 BST, 13 June 2019
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Injecting a protein from the blood of younger mice could be the key to the 'fountain of youth' in older ones, a new study suggests.
Scientists say that the protein, called eNAMPT, is prolific in young mice, and helped keep older rodents healthier, and alive longer.
Older mice who received injections of the protein saw their cognitive function improve, had better sleep quality and had their lifespans extended by nearly 20 percent.
In humans, this is the equivalent of the life expectancy being extended from age 79 to age 91.
The team, from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, says the findings indicate that this method could be the secret to warding off age-associated diseases and be an anti-aging method for humans.
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine found that injecting older mice with a protein found in younger mice extended their lifespans by about 20%, suggesting it could be a future anti-aging intervention in humans (file image)
The protein is an enzyme known as eNAMPT, which plays a role in how cells produce energy.
As the body ages, however, cells become less efficient at making this energy, which is called NAD.
'We think the body has so
