Human Mitochondrial Transplantation Is Upon Us. Will It Reverse Ageing?

A highly ambitious experiment is about to begin. A small number of volunteers will receive injections of lab-grown mitochondria – the tiny ‘cellular organs’ that power our cells – in the hope that they might slow or even reverse some aspects of the ageing process. This informal clinical trial is being run by Mitrix Bio and is expected to begin today (1st of August, 2025). But just what is mitochondrial transplantation and how is it expected to work? Will it work?

The Theory

Mitochondria are tiny structures within our cells that process nutrients like glucose (sugar) to produce ATP, the cell’s universal fuel. Mitochondria are also heavily integrated into many cellular functions such as apoptosis, the process in which damaged cells self-destruct. As we age, mitochondria accumulate significant levels of damage that degrade their function, with severe consequences for the entire cell. Damaged mitochondria produce less ATP, and also release harmful metabolic byproducts called reactive oxygen species that damage DNA and important proteins. Mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to be one of the primary drivers of ageing.

But what if we could replace old, damaged mitochondria with healthy and youthful ones? That task might not be quite as hard as it sounds. Cells readily take up mitochondria from their surroundings. Research has shown that this is a process that occurs all the time in the human body, as mitochondria can be distributed to cells via the bloodstream, transported in microscopic membrane packages called mitlets. Replacing old, damaged mitochondria in human cells might be as simple as finding a source of healthy mitochondria, packaging them up, and injecting them into the blood or into aged organs.

The Practice

Mitrix Bio’s plan is to harvest mitochondria from the stem cells of participants. These mitochondria should be in much better shape than those found in non-stem cells due factors like lower metabolic activity and tighter ‘quality control’ during division. Mitochondria derived from cultured stem cells can then be wrapped in a special coating containing receptors that will allow the targeting of specific organs. These mitochondria will then be injected into the participants from whom they were harvested.

The participants are over 55 and will have to cover their own expenses – this is no normal, formalised clinical trial, but rather a small selection of high profile ‘early adopters’ essentially offering themselves as guinea pigs. That’s not to say there’s no existing evidence base – there are animal studies suggesting that transplanting young mitochondria can improve immune function, and also provide some benefit in mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases. This experiment will give us the first indication of whether the treatment will produce health benefits in humans, though the main goal will be to test safety as well as to assess how many of the transplanted mitochondria actually make their way into the target cells.

In the event that mitochondrial transplantation is successful, the biggest challenge will be scaling production to provide enough mitochondria to supply more than just a handful of people. Currently, manufacturing processes are designed to produce mitochondria as needed for animal experiments.