Vox
We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer
Ovaries age faster than the rest of the body. Figuring out how to slow menopause might help all of us age better.
by Celia Ford
Aug 12, 2024, 7:30 AM EDT
Yousin Suh, a reproductive aging researcher at Columbia University, has led her research team in studying cells from human ovaries, sampled from people in their 20s through their early 50s. In a preprint currently undergoing peer review, they reported that ovarian cells from people between 49-54 showed signs of aging that are usually seen in the organs of much older people, including DNA damage and overactive mTOR.
For the past year, Suh and Zev Williams, chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, have been running a clinical trial in women between 35 and 45 years old to test whether low-dose rapamycin can slow ovarian aging. The Validating Benefits of Rapamycin for Reproductive Aging Treatment (VIBRANT) study is still actively recruiting participants, but preliminary data from the first 34 participants is “very, very exciting,” Suh told The Guardian.
