A lab study found that the synthetic peptide Vilon can loosen certain tightly packed DNA structures in immune cells taken from older people, which may turn on some genes that are usually silent. However, this effect was seen only in cell cultures, not in real humans, and the study didn’t test any doses or health outcomes.

The effect of the synthetic peptide bioregulator Vilon on structural and facultative heterochromatin of cultured lymphocytes from old people has been studied. The data obtained indicate that Vilon (a) induces unrolling (deheterochromatinization) of total heterochromatin; (b) activates synthetic processes caused by the reactivation of ribosomal genes as a result of deheterochromatinization of nucleolus organizer regions; (c) releases the genes repressed due to the condensation of euchromatic regions forming facultative heterochromatin; (d) does not induce decondensation of pericentromeric structural heterochromatin. Our results indicate that Vilon causes progressive activation (deheterochromatinization) of the facultative heterochromatin with increased aging.