How partial reprogramming may become one of the most powerful tools in the quest for healthspan extension
What if we could rewind the biological clock—not in a metaphoric sense, but in a real, molecular way? What if the cells in your body, worn down by decades of wear, could regain their youthful vigor without losing their identity or function?
This idea is no longer confined to science fiction. In the hands of leading scientists like Dr. Vittorio Sebastiano, co-founder and head of science at Turn Biotechnologies, it’s quickly becoming science fact.
At the heart of this work is a process called partial cellular reprogramming, and its potential is nothing short of transformational. Rather than trying to treat age-related diseases one by one, this approach aims to rejuvenate the root of the problem: aging itself.
In a conversation rich with insight, Sebastiano shares how his work at Turn Bio is harnessing the power of epigenetic reprogramming—reversing cellular aging while preserving what makes each cell unique.
The Science of Rejuvenation: What Is Partial Reprogramming?
To understand Turn Bio’s work, let’s start with a quick primer. In 2006, a breakthrough in biology changed how we view the life cycle of cells. Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese stem cell researcher, discovered that four specific transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, now known as the Yamanaka factors—could turn any adult cell into a pluripotent stem cell.
This meant that skin, liver, or heart cells could theoretically be reset to a more primitive, embryonic-like state. While exciting, this total reprogramming also carried risks—erasing a cell’s identity and increasing the potential for cancer.
What Sebastiano and his team pursue instead is partial reprogramming: exposing cells to these factors briefly enough to rejuvenate them—reducing their biological age—without fully reverting them to stem cells.
The result? Cells that look and act younger, retain their function, and appear far less susceptible to age-related deterioration.
From Bench to Biology: A Lifelong Fascination
For Sebastiano, the work is deeply personal and intellectually driven. “I’ve always been fascinated by the question of whether aging is inevitable,” he says. “Biology seems to suggest it isn’t—not completely, at least.”
After training in developmental biology and working with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), Sebastiano turned his focus to how the same mechanisms used to reset cell fate could be carefully controlled to restore youthful function without damaging cellular identity.
This pivot eventually led to the founding of Turn Bio in 2018, with a clear mission: to develop safe, effective therapies based on transient reprogramming—initially for skin, muscle, and immune tissues, but eventually applicable throughout the body.
What Makes Turn Bio’s Approach Unique?
While other labs and companies are working with OSK (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4) and full or partial reprogramming protocols, Turn Bio distinguishes itself with its method of delivering these factors and controlling their expression.
Instead of using DNA-based vectors, which can integrate into the genome and pose long-term risks, Turn Bio relies on mRNA-based delivery. This approach is:
- Transient (meaning it doesn’t linger and change the genome)
- Repeatable (you can safely reapply it without cumulative damage)
- Targeted (allowing application to specific tissues or cell types)
This mRNA technology is already well understood, having been safely used in COVID-19 vaccines, and offers a non-permanent, tunable way to initiate rejuvenation without risking uncontrolled cell growth.
From Skin to System: The First Targets for Rejuvenation
Turn Bio’s initial focus is on skin aging—an area that is both visible and scientifically strategic.
“We wanted to start with something accessible, something where we can clearly measure results in a clinical setting,” Sebastiano explains. Their preclinical data shows that transient OSK reprogramming:
- Improves collagen production
- Enhances cellular proliferation capacity
- Reduces inflammatory signals
- Restores a youthful gene expression profile
But skin is just the beginning.
Other targets in the pipeline include:
- Immune cells, particularly T cells and macrophages, which age rapidly and drive chronic inflammation
- Skeletal muscle cells, where aging contributes to frailty and sarcopenia
- Cartilage and joint tissues, where degeneration causes osteoarthritis
“Ultimately, we believe this technology can be applied across nearly every tissue,” Sebastiano says. “Aging is universal—but so is the machinery that maintains youthful function.”
The Power of Epigenetics: Aging as a Software Problem
One of the most profound shifts in longevity science is the reframing of aging not as a simple accumulation of damage, but as a loss of epigenetic fidelity—like a software system gradually accumulating glitches.
Sebastiano embraces this view: “The genome doesn’t degrade that much with age. What really changes is how the genes are expressed, and that’s largely controlled by epigenetics.”
In this model, aging results when cells lose their sense of identity—when genes that should be off switch on, and those that should be active are silenced. Reprogramming offers a way to reset that code, restoring healthy gene expression and cellular behavior.
“This is like rebooting your computer after years of sluggishness,” Sebastiano explains. “We’re not replacing hardware. We’re cleaning up the operating system.”
Safety First: The Challenge of Control
Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. Turning back the cellular clock must be done carefully—too much, and you risk erasing identity or inducing tumorigenesis. Too little, and the effects may be negligible.
Turn Bio addresses this with rigorous dose-response studies, advanced mRNA kinetics, and time-controlled pulses of reprogramming factors—achieving just enough epigenetic resetting to produce youthful function without crossing the line into instability.
In mouse models, Turn Bio’s approach showed reduced signs of fibrosis and inflammation, better tissue regeneration, and no evidence of teratoma formation or abnormal cell behavior.
“We’re committed to making this as safe as it is effective,” Sebastiano affirms. “That’s the only way this becomes a tool for real medicine.”
The Near Horizon: Human Trials and Beyond
Turn Bio is now moving into clinical trial preparation, aiming to test their skin rejuvenation program in humans by the end of 2025.
Early results in ex vivo human tissues have been encouraging, and the team is optimistic that mRNA-based delivery will speed regulatory pathways compared to viral or DNA-based therapies.
“We see this as a platform technology,” Sebastiano says. “Once we prove it in skin, we can scale to other tissues—and eventually, systemic delivery.”
That could mean a future where age-related decline in muscle, immunity, or even brain function could be treated with cyclic reprogramming protocols, maintaining youthful function well into advanced age.
From Silicon Valley to the Global Stage
Turn Bio is part of a broader ecosystem of longevity-focused biotech companies, many headquartered in the Bay Area. But Sebastiano emphasizes that the implications go far beyond venture capital.
“This is not about elite access,” he says. “The promise of this work is to make healthspan extension a normal part of everyday healthcare. That means safety, affordability, and broad reach.”
He envisions a future where regenerative reprogramming protocols are used preventively—administered in middle age to delay chronic disease, or in later life to reverse functional decline.
“That’s the vision,” he adds. “Not just longer life, but longer vitality. That’s what everyone wants.”
Reprogramming and You: Why It Matters
While Turn Bio’s therapies are still in development, the underlying science offers hopeful lessons right now:
1. Aging Is Not Set in Stone
Emerging research shows that biological age can be reversed at the cellular level. Your lifestyle choices and future therapies may meaningfully alter your trajectory.
2. Gene Expression Is More Malleable Than Genes
You don’t have to edit your genome to experience age reversal. Many interventions—from sleep and exercise to fasting and future mRNA treatments—work by modulating gene expression.
3. The Future of Medicine Is Regenerative
Rather than just treating symptoms, medicine is moving toward restoring function—not just in injuries, but in age-related decline.
Final Thoughts: The New Frontier of Youthful Aging
Dr. Vittorio Sebastiano and Turn Bio represent the quiet revolution happening in longevity science—a shift from managing decline to engineering vitality.
Reprogramming may not be a silver bullet. But as a powerful tool in a broader arsenal—from senolytics to NAD+ boosters, AI-guided diagnostics, and microbiome tuning—it’s helping to reimagine what aging can look and feel like.
This is not about erasing the signs of life well lived. It’s about ensuring that the later chapters of that life are as clear-minded, energetic, and joy-filled as the early ones.
And thanks to visionaries like Sebastiano, that future is now within reach.