On February 24, 2017, BBC News spotlighted research by 2013 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research recipient Valter D. Longo, PhD. Longo’s research found that a fasting-diet regenerated a diabetic pancreas in mice models.
Cautioning that such a sophisticated diet should not be tried at home, Longo explains the potential for human application, as BBC News notes:
Dr. Longo said: "Medically, these findings have the potential to be very important because we've shown - at least in mouse models - that you can use diet to reverse the symptoms of diabetes.
"Scientifically, the findings are perhaps even more important because we've shown that you can use diet to reprogramme cells without having to make any genetic alterations."
Read the full BBC News story here.
The research was originally published in the January 4, 2017 issue of Cell journal.
Dr. Valter Longo is the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California, Davis.
For more information on the theory behind calorie restriction and aging, explore AFAR’s expert-edited InfoAging Guide to Caloric Restriction.
