REVERSAL OF AGING IN MICE
This month, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School announced success at resetting certain cells to an earlier age. Dr. David Sinclair’s lab has used special proteins to turn aging cells in mice back into stem cells, essentially reversing the ravages of time. This was done first in old mice with damaged retinas, returning their vision to levels they had in youth. Sinclair has had success with mouse muscles and brains, as well, and is working to reverse aging on a mouse’s entire body. While it will take years of further testing and analysis before any such treatment would be approved for humans, that is the future Sinclair envisions. “We’ve done it in a mouse,” he says. “There’s no reason I can think of why it shouldn’t work in a person, too.”
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE IN ISRAEL
Though God had disciplined the children of Israel for their disobedience and idolatry, He always had their restoration in mind. Through Isaiah, the Lord declared images of reversal, such as the ruined land once again thriving and the depleted population coming to exceed the space available inside their borders. God would bring other nations to give tribute to His people, too, once more lifting up all those who put their hope in Him.
Questions
- If science offered the chance to reverse aging on any one part of your body, which would you choose?
- What advantages and disadvantages can you foresee if humans gained the ability to stave off death indefinitely?
- In the Bible, when else did the Lord completely reverse someone’s situation?
