Scientists Create an AI-Generated Drug That Could Slow the Aging Process

A Real Longevity Drug?: AI in medicine is nothing new. Its abilities to speed up diagnostics, triage, and more have led to widespread adoption in healthcare. Now, it could play a role in developing medications directly. An experimental drug called rentosertib was created by developers at Insilico Medicine using artificial intelligence. Early data from its clinical trials show that it could slow down the process of aging.  

The Study: A study published in Nature Biotechnology looked at whether rentosertib, an AI-assisted drug originally developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, might also affect biological aging. Researchers analyzed blood samples from 42 people over age 40 who had taken part in a 12-week trial. Using six different protein-based “aging clocks,” they found that all six showed reductions in predicted biological age among participants receiving rentosertib.

Takeaway: The use of AI in medicine continues growing, with implications in direct drug development for respiratory health and aging. 

Keep in Mind: The prospect of a real “longevity drug” is intriguing. But experts caution everyone to temper their excitement. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and the author of the book Super Agers tells The New York Times that the drug “looks encouraging, but we do not yet have a definitive trial to make the final judgment.”