Feb 2026

Scientists think we could ‘recharge’ our cells—and rewind the aging clock

Think of cells as the biological answer to battery-powered electronics. Mitochondria are the batteries that supply them with enough energy to keep going. Unfortunately, just like the two standard AAs in your remote control, they eventually run out of power and die—but (much like actual batteries) they can also be recharged and replaced.

Breakdown of mitochondria causes cells to glitch. Wear and tear can happen with age, usually from years of exposure to free radicals that cause oxidative stress and inflammation, but can also be caused by injury from degenerative diseases or mitochondrial toxicity from certain drugs and other harmful substances. When there is damage to the cell, mitochondria begin to lose their capacity to generate energy. Losing mitochondria is detrimental to cell function. This is why biomedical engineer Akhilesh Gaharwar and his research team at Texas A&M University have come up with a way to regenerate them.

There is a repair mechanism already built in. While healthy cells can transfer some mitochondria to replace what was lost in ailing cells, much like an emergency run to the hardware store, this process is far from efficient when it comes to replacing all the dead batteries. Dysfunctional mitochondria are not only the result of neurodegenerative, cardiovascular or metabolic disorders, but can also be part of the cause. Gaharwar was able to fast-forward intracellular mitochondrial transfer by creating nanostructures which were then implanted into human mesenchymal stem cells.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15KTZBaZsk/