Gene therapy against aging: Can we soon be 20 years younger?

Liz Parrish, BioViva and the new generation of rejuvenation medicine: what is possible, what it costs and what has been scientifically proven?

By Tom Parkinson · November 2, 2026

Illustration: DNA double helix
Graphic: Tom Parkinson

An injection that turns back our biological aging? People who supposedly become 20 or even 30 years younger through gene therapy? What sounds like science fiction is now the subject of real scientific research, and at the same time a lucrative market for experimental treatments.

In an interesting interview, the futurist Sven Gábor Jánszky talks about such gene therapies. He tells of an American doctor with an Olympic background, hundreds of people supposedly treated and treatment costs of around 750,000 euros or dollars.

That made me curious. So I did further research together with artificial intelligence.

What is really behind these offers?

The video: gene therapy as the medicine of the future

The excerpt starts at minute 37 and covers gene therapy, the treatment costs and the American doctor. Watch the full interview on YouTube (in German).

The interview shows impressively how optimistic some futurists are about the next ten to twenty years of medicine. But forecasts are not yet scientific proof of effectiveness.

Liz Parrish: the woman who claims to have turned back her biological age

In 2015, the American entrepreneur Elizabeth "Liz" Parrish, founder of BioViva, had herself treated experimentally with gene therapies in Colombia (MIT Technology Review).

Two approaches in particular were used:

Since then, Parrish has reported a considerable rejuvenation of her biological age. But the crucial point is: her statements are based on limited measurement data and have not yet been confirmed by independent, controlled clinical trials.

In addition, a changed biological age marker does not automatically mean that the whole body has actually become younger or that a person will live longer.

Where are such gene therapies offered?

In my research I came across two different types of providers.

1. BioViva and Integrated Health Systems: Mexico and Colombia

The company BioViva and the network Integrated Health Systems were the focus of a detailed investigation by the US magazine WIRED in 2023 (WIRED).

It described experimental treatments in Bogotá, Colombia, and Tijuana, Mexico. The offer included gene therapies with telomerase, follistatin and klotho.

The prices mentioned at the time started at about 75,000 US dollars.

The investigation criticized in particular a lack of transparency, insufficient independent evidence of effectiveness and open safety questions.

2. GARM Clinic / Longevity Advanced: Honduras

Another interesting facility is located on the Caribbean island of Roatán in Honduras.

The American orthopedic surgeon Dr. Glenn C. Terry works there. According to the clinic, he also used to work as a doctor for the US Olympic team (clinic press release).

Among other things, the facility offers experimental gene therapies with follistatin, klotho and VEGF. Unlike some virus-based methods, its commercial offers also rely on plasmid-based gene therapies (Longevity.Technology).

Dr. Terry may be the American doctor mentioned in the interview. However, this has not been clearly confirmed.

I also could not link the 400 people treated and the 750,000 euros in treatment costs to any specific therapy with verifiable published results.

What does science say in November 2026?

The development remains exciting, but with considerable limitations.

An important experimental animal study on life extension through gene therapy, in which BioViva was also involved and which was published in the journal PNAS in 2022, was retracted in August 2025 because of problems with the research data (Retraction Watch).

At the same time, new clinical studies are emerging.

One example is the CALM-AF-AI study (NCT07443826), registered in March 2026 for the GARM Clinic in Honduras. This early phase 1/2a study will initially examine about twelve participants aged 45 to 75 with age-related muscle loss (Longevity.Technology).

It uses a virus-based follistatin gene therapy, in part combined with VEGF. It cannot be equated with all commercial plasmid-based offers.

The focus is initially on safety and tolerability. Reliable results on effectiveness are not yet available.

This shows: gene therapies aimed at age-related processes are now being studied systematically in humans. But we are still far from proven general rejuvenation.

What are the risks?

Gene therapies can cause long-term biological changes. Possible problems include immune reactions, inflammatory complications and as yet unknown long-term effects.

With telomerase, possible effects on cancer risk must also be studied particularly carefully. With other methods, the risks differ depending on the gene used and the delivery method.

That is why treatment in a private clinic abroad is not automatically the same as a controlled clinical trial.

What does this mean for Parkinson's?

For me personally, this is the most interesting question.

Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disease in which, among other things, nerve cells are damaged. That is why I am particularly interested in therapies that could possibly improve cell function, slow harmful processes or promote regeneration.

Klotho, telomerase and other approaches of cell rejuvenation research are interesting from a biological point of view. But there is currently no convincing clinical evidence that the anti-aging gene therapies described here stop or reverse Parkinson's or reliably improve motor symptoms.

The current follistatin study examines age-related muscle loss and is not a Parkinson's study.

My personal conclusion

Since my Parkinson's diagnosis in December 2020, I have been studying new treatment options and international research intensively.

In the long term, I consider gene therapy one of the most fascinating developments in modern medicine.

The idea of specifically influencing the biological aging of individual cells could one day open up completely new ways of treating chronic and neurodegenerative diseases.

But I very consciously distinguish between a scientifically interesting development and an actually proven therapy.

Spending 75,000 dollars or even 750,000 dollars on a treatment whose long-term benefit and safety are not sufficiently proven does not make sense to me at present.

I will continue to follow the development of BioViva, GARM and the scientific gene therapy programs.

Because perhaps this research really does hold an important key to the medicine of the future.

Tom Parkinson

Sources and further information

Note: This article is for information only and is not medical advice or a treatment recommendation. The experimental anti-aging procedures described have no proven effectiveness against Parkinson's.