Breakthroughs
A short, hand-curated list of recent breakthroughs the Alliance is tracking — peer-reviewed work, registered human trials, and competition milestones. Educational only; not medical advice. Updated as the field moves.
Selected breakthroughs
Cellular reprogramming · 2024–2025
Altos Labs / Salk collaborations
Cyclic expression of Yamanaka factors (OSK) continues to show restoration of youthful gene-expression patterns and improved tissue function in aged mice, without dedifferentiation when dosed carefully. Altos Labs remains the largest privately funded effort translating this toward human biology.
Geroprotector trial · Published 2024
AgelessRx / Dr. Sajad Zalzala et al.
The PEARL (Participatory Evaluation of Aging with Rapamycin for Longevity) randomized trial reported improvements in lean tissue, pain, and quality-of-life measures in healthy adults taking weekly rapamycin, with an acceptable safety profile over 48 weeks. First large decentralized human geroprotector trial of its kind.
Biomarkers of aging · 2023–2025
Horvath lab / Levine lab / TruDiagnostic
DunedinPACE and GrimAge2 have matured into the field's most responsive biological-age measures, now used as primary or secondary endpoints in human longevity trials (caloric restriction, rapamycin, lifestyle). They are how trials are starting to prove an intervention actually slowed aging.
Senescent-cell clearance · Ongoing 2024–2026
Mayo Clinic / UT Health San Antonio
Dasatinib + quercetin and fisetin continue in human trials for diabetic kidney disease, Alzheimer's, and frailty. Early readouts confirm senescent-cell burden can be reduced in humans; efficacy on hard clinical endpoints is what the next wave of trials is built to prove.
$101M competition · May 12, 2025
XPRIZE Foundation
XPRIZE Healthspan named its Top 40 Milestone-1 teams from 600+ entries. Teams must demonstrate a therapeutic that restores ≥10 years of muscle, cognitive, and immune function in older adults. Alliance council member Dr. Howard Leonhardt's Lionheart team is among the qualified competitors.
Regenerative cardiology · 2024–2025
Lionheart / Leonhardt Ventures
Bioelectric stimulation combined with autologous stem-cell and exosome delivery is being advanced in heart-failure and post-MI patients, with the goal of restoring contractile function rather than only slowing decline. Part of the Lionheart submission to XPRIZE Healthspan.
Have a breakthrough we should track? Email info@atlaspower.ai with the citation and we'll review it for the next update.