🧬 Scientists just got FDA approval to literally rewind your cells

Remember when "turning back time" was just something Cher sang about? Well, science just said "hold my petri dish" and got actual FDA approval to test cellular age reversal in humans. This week, we're also covering silicone bakeware that's been secretly adding bonus ingredients to your baked goods, bamboo making its case as the next kale, quantum mechanics inside proteins (yes, really), and the discovery that your chronotype has more flavors than a craft beer menu. Let's get into it.

NEWS

In what might be the biggest "we're living in the future" moment of 2026, the FDA has approved the first human clinical trial of a therapy designed to literally rewind the biological clock of your cells.

Life Biosciences, the Boston startup co-founded by Harvard geneticist David Sinclair, will begin testing their gene therapy ER-100 on patients with glaucoma and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) - conditions where retinal cells are dying. The goal? Convince those cells they're younger than they actually are.

The technique is called partial epigenetic reprogramming. Back in 2006, Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize for discovering that four proteins could turn any cell back into an embryonic-like state. The problem was that fully reprogrammed cells forget what they're supposed to be doing (becoming a liver cell is hard when you've been Benjamin Button'd back to stem cell status). Sinclair's team found that using only three of the four Yamanaka factors - OSK, excluding the cancer-linked c-Myc - could reset epigenetic markers while keeping cells committed to their jobs.

The therapy gets injected directly into the eye, and here's the clever safety feature: the reprogramming genes only activate while patients take the antibiotic doxycycline. Stop the antibiotics, and the genes go quiet. In mouse studies published in Nature in 2020, the approach restored vision to blind mice by regenerating crushed optic nerves. Non-human primate studies showed the therapy was well-tolerated with no systemic toxicity.

"It's an incredibly big deal for us as an industry," Life Biosciences COO Michael Ringel said. "It'll be the first time in human history of looking for something that rejuvenates." The company will enroll patients over the next couple of months, with results expected by late 2026 or early 2027. Meanwhile, competitors like Altos Labs (backed by Bezos) and Retro Biosciences (backed by Altman) are watching closely. If this works, the eye is just the beginning - the company is already working on liver applications.

RESEARCH

Remember when silicone bakeware was supposed to be the safe, non-stick, non-toxic alternative to everything? Turns out those flexible muffin tins have been silently seasoning your baked goods with up to 25 different siloxane chemicals.

Health Canada researchers tested 25 silicone bakeware products and found total siloxane concentrations ranging from 680 to 4,300 micrograms per gram of silicone, which is a pretty wide range for something that's supposed to be inert. When they baked a sand-and-oil mixture designed to mimic fatty foods at 177°C (350°F), the chemicals migrated into both the food simulant and the surrounding air.

The aerial exposure is what caught researchers' attention. During baking, airborne siloxane concentrations hit an average of 646 micrograms per cubic meter - meaning you're breathing this stuff while waiting for your cupcakes to rise. Certain siloxanes, particularly D4 and D5, have been linked to endocrine disruption, fertility impairment, and effects on the reproductive and immune systems in animal studies.

Before you toss your entire baking collection, here's the good news: the chemical leaching dropped by 95% after just three baking cycles. Your well-loved, well-used silicone loaf pan is actually safer than a brand-new one. Products with larger surface areas (think multi-cup muffin trays) transferred more siloxanes than simpler shapes.

"This is not a moment to panic," said Jamie Alan, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University. If you're concerned, glass bakeware remains the safest option, though it carries its own risk of shattering with temperature changes. For new silicone items, the researchers suggest washing before first use and perhaps running them empty through a few baking cycles before making food.

RESEARCH

The world's first academic review of bamboo as human food is in, and it turns out pandas have been onto something this whole time. Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University combed through all available research on bamboo consumption and found evidence it could help with everything from blood sugar control to cancer prevention.

Bamboo shoots are packed with protein, moderate in fiber, low in fat, and contain amino acids, selenium, potassium, plus vitamins A, B6, E, thiamine, and niacin. Human trials showed improvements in glycemic control (good news for diabetics) and lipid profiles (good news for hearts). Lab research demonstrated strong antioxidant and probiotic effects, suggesting it could support gut health by promoting beneficial bacteria.

Perhaps most interesting: bamboo compounds can inhibit the formation of furan and reduce acrylamide production - two potentially carcinogenic chemicals that form when certain foods are fried or roasted. This means bamboo extracts could potentially make other cooked foods safer.

The caveat? Bamboo contains naturally occurring compounds that can release toxic substances if eaten raw. "Bamboo is already commonly eaten in parts of Asia, and it has huge potential to be a healthy, sustainable addition to diets worldwide, but it must be prepared correctly," said Professor Lee Smith. Pre-boiling is essential.

The researchers also noted that the fastest-growing plant on Earth (some species grow up to 90cm per day) could be particularly valuable in low-income regions where it grows naturally. The main limitation? Only four human studies met the review's criteria, so while the promise is there, we need more rigorous trials before we start prescribing bamboo shoots. Still, "we call on the academic community to further investigate this crop for its high potential for improving human health." Pandas, as always, unavailable for comment.

RESEARCH

For years, quantum effects in biology were treated like that weird cousin at family reunions… acknowledged to exist, occasionally discussed at dinner, but never really put to work. Researchers at the University of Oxford now changed that by engineering the first proteins that can interact with magnetic fields and radio waves through deliberate quantum mechanical processes.

The study, published in Nature, introduces magneto-sensitive fluorescent proteins (MFPs) - biomolecules that glow when hit with light (like regular fluorescent proteins), but whose brightness can be tuned by applying magnetic fields and radio frequencies. The quantum interactions happen via a bound flavin cofactor within the protein structure, allowing the protein's "glow" to become sensitive to its quantum spin state.

The team used directed evolution - essentially steering bacterial evolution through thousands of generations - to create proteins with dramatically improved sensitivity to magnetic fields. "We don't yet know how to design a really good biological quantum sensor from scratch," said first author Gabriel Abrahams, a PhD student at Oxford, "but by carefully steering the evolutionary process in bacteria, Nature found a way for us."

Why does this matter? The researchers have already built a prototype imaging system that can locate these proteins using principles similar to MRI, but with a key difference: it could track specific molecules or gene expression inside living organisms. Imagine monitoring how a drug moves through tissue in real-time, or watching genetic changes develop inside a tumor. That's what this technology could enable.

"Our study highlights how difficult it is to predict the winding road from fundamental science to technological breakthrough," said senior author Associate Professor Harrison Steel. "Our understanding of the quantum processes happening inside MFPs was only unlocked thanks to experts who have spent decades studying how birds navigate using the Earth's magnetic field." The starting proteins? They came from the common oat. Sometimes science is weird like that.

RESEARCH

If you've ever wondered why your "night owl" friend thrives while another one struggles, new research from McGill University has an answer: there are actually five distinct chronotype subtypes, and they come with very different health profiles.

Using AI to analyze brain imaging, questionnaires, and medical records from over 27,000 adults in the UK Biobank, researchers identified three types of night owls and two types of early birds. One early bird group had the fewest health problems overall, while the other was closely tied to depression. Among night owls, one group scored better on cognitive tests but struggled with emotional regulation, another showed tendencies toward risk-taking and cardiovascular problems, and a third was more likely to have depression, smoke, and face cardiovascular disease.

"Rather than asking whether night owls are more at risk, the better question may be which night owls are more vulnerable, and why," said lead author Le Zhou. This helps explain why previous research on chronotype and health outcomes has been frustratingly inconsistent. Lumping all night owls together was masking crucial differences.

Two of the subtypes showed strong sex associations: one female-dominant early bird pattern linked to depression and hormonal fluctuations, and one male-dominant night owl pattern associated with testosterone levels and cardiovascular risks. The researchers validated these findings in 10,550 US children from the ABCD Study, finding that the sex-associated patterns held even in pre-teens - suggesting these chronotype subtypes may have biological roots from birth.

"These subtypes are not defined only by bedtime or wake-up time," said senior author Danilo Bzdok. "They reflect a complex interaction of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors." The team is now investigating whether these patterns have genetic origins. In the meantime, this could eventually inform more personalized approaches to sleep, work schedules, and mental health support. One-size-fits-all sleep advice? Officially outdated.

So there you have it. Your cells might be reversible, your bakeware is seasoning your food, pandas were right about bamboo, quantum mechanics just entered the chat in biology, and your chronotype has more personality than previously thought.

The week in biotech continues to blur the line between "that's incredible" and "wait, that's actually happening?" We're here for it.

Hit reply and let us know: are you going to pre-season your new silicone bakeware before making actual food? Or does the "your muffin tins have been microdosing you with chemicals" news hit different when you've already eaten approximately 1,000 items from them?

Forward this to someone who's still convinced they're just "not a morning person." Turns out they might be one of three specific flavors of not-a-morning-person, and science can now tell them which one.

Keep questioning everything (especially your bakeware's neutrality),

Prateek & Jere

P.S. If Life Biosciences succeeds, "you don't look a day over your epigenetic age" might become a real compliment.