Study record
AAV-TERT gene therapy delays aging and increases mouse lifespan (Bernardes de Jesus et al., 2012)
Animal lifespan study
Two caveats govern every page on this site. (1) Telomere length is a contested aging biomarker — it is measured differently by different methods, varies between tissues, and "longer" is not straightforwardly "healthier"; changing a telomere-length or telomerase-activity number in a trial is not the same as slowing human aging. (2) Activating telomerase is not risk-free — telomerase is silenced in most somatic cells and reactivated in most cancers, so its activation raises an unresolved cancer-risk question. Tellingly, the only FDA-approved telomerase drug — imetelstat (RYTELO, 2024) — inhibits telomerase to treat cancer (lower-risk MDS), the opposite direction from the anti-aging "activation" narrative.
○ Evidence tier 5 — Animal lifespan study
Record
| Design | Preclinical AAV-TERT gene-therapy lifespan study (mouse) |
| PMID | 22585399 |
| DOI | 10.1002/emmm.201200245 |
| Citation status | doi + PMID verified via Crossref 2026-07-12 (EMBO Mol Med 2012;4(8):691-704, Bernardes de Jesus, Vera, Schneeberger, Tejera, Ayuso, Bosch, Blasco, 'Telomerase gene therapy in adult and old mice delays aging and increases longevity without increasing cancer'; PMID 22585399). |
Five-qualifier claim
| Species / population | Adult (1-year) and old (2-year) mice. |
| Exposure, route, schedule | Single intravenous dose of an AAV9 vector expressing mouse TERT (AAV9-Tert). |
| Comparator / duration | AAV9 empty-vector / untreated controls; followed to end of life. |
| Endpoint / numeric result | Median lifespan increased ~24% when treated at 1 year of age and ~13% when treated at 2 years, with delayed aging markers and NO reported increase in cancer incidence. |
| What it did NOT establish | A mouse result. Mouse telomere biology differs from human; there is no human lifespan, disease, or safety evidence, and the human cancer-risk question is unresolved. |
Interventions
Primary reference
https://doi.org/10.1002/emmm.201200245
Exact identifier confirmed against the primary record via Crossref/ClinicalTrials.gov where stated in the citation status; anything marked needs_primary_fulltext is not yet confirmed.