A team of researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center have managed to extend the average lifespan of lab mice by more than 12 percent by cultivating embryonic cells in a special way,according to Science Alert no genetic modification required.

They looked at a natural process thats linked to aging: the strands of nucleotide sequences at the end of each chromosome, called telomeres,that act as a buffer to protect the genetic material inside the chromosomes. These telomeres tend get shorter over time as we age so longevity researchers have long pondered whether increasing their length could help us live longer.

In this case, the Spanish researchers left stem cells in a petri dish to multiply on their own, giving them unusually long telomeres. Mice bred with chromosomes featuring the twice-as-long telomeres showed a significant increase of 12.74 percent in median longevity, according to the researchers paper, which was published last week by the journal Nature Communications.

They also found that the specially-bred mice showed no difference in cognitive function, retained the longer telomeres over time, and were 20 percent less likely to develop age-related tumors.

The experiment isnt quite as revolutionary as it sounds this kind of technique isnt about to make humans live longer any time soon. But it could give scientists insight into the process of aging and perhaps find ways to slow it down in the future.

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Scientists Made Mice Live 12% Longer by Hacking Their Telomeres - Futurism