A team at UC Berkeley has developed a new “organ-on-a-chip” platform that can simulate the aging of human tissues in a very short time. In a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the researchers showed they could reproduce changes equivalent to around 40 years of aging in just four days.
The system uses fat and liver cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, placed inside a miniature device with microchannels. The setup recreates how substances move between organs, mimicking key aspects of human physiology. A key part of the experiment was the use of blood serum from donors of different ages, ranging from 21 to over 60.
Cells exposed to serum from older donors showed typical hallmarks of aging – chronic inflammation, disrupted fat and glucose metabolism, and cellular senescence, where cells stop dividing. These changes usually take decades to develop, but in this system they appeared within days.
The researchers also used a machine learning model to analyze gene expression. The system was able to estimate the biological age of samples with 90 to 97% accuracy, supporting the idea that the observed effects reflect real aging processes in human tissue.
The platform also made it possible to test potential anti-aging treatments. Among the approaches tested, oxytocin showed the strongest effect, reducing inflammation and improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic function. Rapamycin, often studied in the context of longevity, did not show a meaningful rejuvenation effect in this model.
The system also pointed to new mechanisms behind aging. The researchers showed that the process may be influenced by circulating factors in the blood, and that aging in one organ can affect others through biochemical signaling. They also identified 11 new biomarkers of aging that could become targets for future therapies.
The study is experimental and based on a laboratory model rather than direct clinical testing. Still, it could help speed up drug development. More than 90% of therapies currently fail in clinical trials, and annual spending on drug development in the U.S. exceeds $130 billion. If the technology continues to develop and scales up, it could become an important tool in aging research and in the development of therapies aimed at extending healthy lifespan.