Chemically induced reprogramming to reverse cellular aging was published 2 days ago. It examines using small molecule cocktails to achieve the same results as complicated genetic interventions in reducing aging. There are 6 cocktails examined.
There are a lot of ideas in the paper. Some of the small molecules might be candidates for incorporating into this protocol. I see that alpha ketoglutarate is mentioned as increasing iPSC efficiency. Forskolin and valproic acid were mentioned as being "likely to work in the early stages of CiPSC formation", where work means "achieve age reduction without altering cell identity".
In the discussion section, the authors had this to say about forskolin:
I don't think this post is that far off topic and therefore I will leave it here. People can use the link and go to the new discussion if they want to discuss cellular reprogramming as a stand alone topic.
Thanks to everyone for thinking about the flow of this discussion and suggesting ways to make it continue in a productive manner.