Purging retired cells from the body has been shown to undo the ravages of old age in a study that raises the prospect of new life-extending treatments .

When mice were treated with a substance designed to sweep away cells that have entered a dormant state due to DNA damage their fur regrew, kidney function improved and they were able to run twice as far as untreated elderly animals.

The team are now assessing whether the mice also live longer and are planning a series of safety studies in humans with the ultimate goal of testing whether getting rid of so-called senescent cells could help reverse a range of age-related disorders.

The discovery adds to a wave of new findings hinting at the possibility of a future in which doctors can treat ageing itself, rather than trying to combat the host of diseases that come along with it.