# Gene therapy (in longevity context)

Gene therapy delivers genetic material to add, silence, or edit your genes. It usually uses AAV viral vectors for stable, long-term gene expression. Or it uses lipid nanoparticles for temporary delivery (like mRNA or gene-editing components). In longevity, the popular targets include telomerase (TERT), follistatin, Klotho, and partial reprogramming via OSK. OSK is three Yamanaka factors: Oct4, Sox2, and Klf4. (They leave out c-Myc to lower cancer risk.) The rodent data are strong for some of these. But human use is still pre-clinical. Some runs as small offshore or pay-to-play programs outside FDA oversight (like BioViva and Libella). The risks are real: immune reactions, cancer, and off-target edits. No anti-aging gene therapy is approved.

## Sources

- Yu C, Li J, Sun Y, Pan X, Liu J, Hou L. (2023). Gene therapy strategies targeting aging-related diseases. Aging and Disease. https://doi.org/10.14336/ad.2022.00725
- López-Otín C, Blasco MA, Partridge L et al.. (2023). Hallmarks of Aging: An Expanding Universe. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.001

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_Canonical: https://longevity-switzerland.com/en/glossary/gene-therapy-longevity · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-06-22_