Everyone wants to look younger, to find that fountain of youth. Countless products are touted as ‘miracle’ cures to reverse aging, but for some  people, especially children, have a more serious problem: a very serious and rare genetic disease known as progeria. Progeria normally effects children within their first year, and causes premature aging.

A new study has indicated that a very common fish tank cleaner may be the key to reverse aging. Researchers at the University of Maryland have discovered that methylene blue, a common fungal infection treatment for fish, and common cleaner in freshwater aquariums, may be the cure. This is a very readily available and inexpensive product, often used in hatcheries to help prevent fungal infections in fish eggs while being very safe for fish and fish eggs.The study has indicated that small doses of methylene blue completely repaired the defective cells. Associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics Kan Cao said,  “We tried very hard to examine the effect of methylene blue on all known progeria symptoms within the cell. It seems that methylene blue rescues every affected structure within the cell. When we looked at the treated cells, it was hard to tell that they were progeria cells at all – it’s like magic.” Dr Zheng-Mei Xiong added: “This is such an exciting result with so much potential, both for progeria and normal ageing.”