AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from MIT Technology Review, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

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Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk reported that patients taking their weight-loss medications appear to age slower than those on placebo. They used molecular "aging clocks" to measure this effect, which track biological age by analyzing DNA changes or protein levels in the body. Overall, Novo Nordisk found a reduction of about two to three years in biological age for overweight or diabetic patients using GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy). Eli Lilly’s research on tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) showed similar results with epigenetic clocks that count accumulated DNA changes.

Experts at the Aging Research & Drug Discovery conference noted these findings suggest the drugs may act as geroprotectors, which are medications designed to slow or reverse biological aging. While Novo’s drug has shown significant benefits in reducing age markers for people with health conditions like diabetes and kidney issues, scientists caution that its effect on healthy individuals remains unproven. Some researchers warn of potential side effects like muscle loss, noting that current evidence does not yet support taking these drugs for anti-aging purposes if one is not overweight.

To verify these effects in healthier populations, a US agency recently funded a study in Texas to test semaglutide on people over 60. This research will examine changes in cognition, mobility, and sensory acuity while seeking to establish regulatory pathways for longevity treatments. Meanwhile, companies like Generation Lab are exploring other technologies, such as organoid tech used in "xenocortical mice," which demonstrate dramatic biological rejuvenation. The field aims to define a new therapeutic industry focused on extending human lifespan.