UCSD - University of California - San Diego

06/04/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/04/2026 10:19

Electrical Pulses Reverse Aging in Sea Squirts

Published Date

June 04, 2026

Article Content

Key Takeaways

  • Brief pulses of electrical current dramatically reverse stem cell damage in sea squirts, significantly extending their lifespans.
  • The treatment triggers a two-phase molecular response the researchers call "reboot and rebound," mirroring what happens in the human body after vigorous exercise.
  • The findings could point toward new approaches for slowing age-related decline in humans, treating infertility, and boosting the resilience of marine species.

A new study by researchers at the University of California San Diego, Stanford University and other institutions has found that tiny sea creatures might hold the secret to reversing the aging process. The team found that when treated with a brief series of electrical pulses, sea squirts experience dramatic and long-lasting health improvements that can significantly extend their lifespans.

The findings, published in PNAS, open new possibilities for protecting marine species from warming waters, learning what causes stem cells in our own bodies to degrade, and potentially finding new ways to use these cells to treat medical conditions.

"In the same way electricity can help reboot the heart into a regular sinus rhythm, we found that electricity triggers a reboot in sea squirts at the gene expression level," said co-corresponding author Debashis Sahoo, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine and of computer science and engineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. "Gene activity reduces, but then comes back even stronger, similar to what happens in humans after a hard workout."

Though sea squirts, which live in colonies attached to rocks or other hard surfaces, don't look much like humans, they share about 70% of our genetic material as the result of a common ancestor from roughly 500 million years ago. Researchers commonly study sea squirts to answer questions about the immune system and stem cells because they rebuild their bodies roughly every week, making stem cell activity easy to observe.

Since every individual in a sea squirt colony has its own heart, which works together with other sea squirts to maintain blood flow throughout the colony, the researchers hypothesized that boosting the heart's pace could affect colony cycle and growth in sea squirts. To test this, the researchers used a pacemaker - a device that is used to treat abnormal heart rhythms by delivering an electrical current.

Debashis Sahoo is a professor of pediatrics and computer science at UC San Diego.

As the pacemaker's electrical pulse increased, the sea squirt colony's heart rate sped up and blood moved more freely through its circulation. In the days following treatment, the individual sea squirts grew larger and lighter in color and appeared visibly rejuvenated. The sea squirts also grew faster and became more fertile, both of which are characteristic of youthful physiological states.

"Something very unexpected is happening here," co-corresponding author and Stanford stem cell scientist Jos Domen, PhD, recalls thinking at the time.

Among the sea squirts that received the treatment, about 75% were alive and healthy a year later, while fewer than 20% of their untreated counterparts made it to that point.

They also found that the treatment caused the sea squirts to temporarily shut down gene activity before significantly ramping it back up. By analyzing gene expression immediately following treatment and 24 hours later, the researchers saw that the pulse led to a "reboot and rebound" of many genes. This effect is similar to what happens to people's genes after a hard workout or a long run: initial signs of stress and inflammation followed by signs of strengthening and repair.

The researchers hypothesize that these dramatic effects may be a product of the electrical current's impact on the sea squirts' mitochondria and metabolism, systems likely essential for physical rejuvenation. Just as an external electrical current can shock a stalled human heart back into a regular sinus rhythm, a precisely tuned bioelectric pulse can act like a jumper cable to rejuvenate depleted mitochondria.

In the future, the researchers imagine small, wireless devices could one day deliver the same kind of electrical boost to coral reefs, making them more resilient in warmer, more acidic waters. However, the researchers caution that it will take additional experiments to demonstrate the potential of the approach in humans, as well as to understand its underlying biology.

UC San Diego researchers collaborated with colleagues at Stanford University and found that brief electrical pulses can dramatically reverse aging, offering new possibilities for protecting marine species and reversing human aging.

"This treatment recharges stem cells," added study co-corresponding author Ayelet Voskoboynik, PhD, an assistant professor of biology in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. "Understanding this mechanism is the key to unlocking how we might one day slow stem cell aging and trigger rejuvenation pathways."

Read the full study: Electrical stimulation promotes longevity and regeneration in a colonial chordate | PNAS

Additional co-authors on the study include Yotam Voskoboynik at UC San Diego, Tom Levy, Katherine J. Ishizuka, Karla J. Palmeri, Chiara Anselmi, Thomas Rolander, Irving L Weissman and Kimberly Gandy at Stanford University and Norma F. Neff and Angela M. Detweiler at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (grant 5RO1 AG0769086); the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at the University of California, San Diego; the Chan Zuckerberg San Francisco Biohub; a Gruss Lipper Postdoctoral Fellowship; a Big Ideas for Oceans grant from the Oceans Department and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability; Bio-X; and the ISCBRM Collaborative Seed Grant Program of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

The authors declare no competing interests.

This story was adapted from a press release published by Stanford University.

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