October 28, 2026
Heard in AI
Daily email

A story we follow

Life Biosciences doses first patient in ER-100 reprogramming trial

Tracks human testing of partial Yamanaka-factor epigenetic reprogramming, including Life Biosciences' ER-100 optic-neuropathy trial and claims about reversing retinal disease or aging in cells.

A story page follows one specific event across podcast discussions, with an overview and a timeline of what changed. It updates when new episodes discuss the event, and you can get those updates by email or push. How our formats work

Updated

Overview

David Friedberg said in August 2026 that a Sinclair-linked company had begun dosing the human retina to reverse blindness. That went beyond the public announcement of first-patient dosing in a phase one safety trial in optic neuropathies. In a September AMA, Peter Diamandis described ER-100 as an adeno-associated virus injection of three Yamanaka factors in a phase one safety trial, with efficacy data still to come.

On 8 October 2026 Life Biosciences reported first interim data. Three open-angle glaucoma participants received the lowest dose. Through day 56 there were no dose-limiting toxicities or serious adverse events, and two of three showed visual-field improvement. The company calls these preliminary observations from an open-label safety trial, not efficacy, and its monitoring board recommended escalating to a higher dose.

On Moonshots EP #302 (15 October), Diamandis said the trial came back safe and that two of three patients started regaining eyesight. He also said it would go to an efficacy trial and called it the first human test of partial epigenetic reprogramming. His account of a next efficacy trial and of the phase differs from the company's dose-escalation description.

Recent coverage

Changes to our coverage published in the past seven days. These are site update dates; podcast discussion dates and sources are in each version.

No changes to this account were published in the past seven days.

What changed

Dates show when each podcast discussion was published.

  1. New information

    On Moonshots EP #302, Diamandis relayed Life Biosciences' first ER-100 results: safe at the lowest dose, with two of three patients showing regained vision. The company's release describes this as preliminary phase 1 data, with dose escalation next rather than an efficacy trial.

  2. New information

    On Moonshots, Peter Diamandis described ER-100 as an adeno-associated virus injection of three Yamanaka factors. He said it is in a phase one human safety trial, with efficacy data still to come. He said it was being used in NAION and macular degeneration and that David Sinclair expects it to work for other eye conditions. He suggested it to a caller with the inherited retinal disease choroideremia. The company's announcement names glaucoma and NAION, not macular degeneration or inherited retinal disease.

  3. New information

    David Friedberg said a David Sinclair-linked company had begun dosing the human retina to reverse blindness, presenting epigenetic reprogramming with Yamanaka factors as already in people. That claim goes beyond the public first-patient safety dosing reported for the ER-100 optic-neuropathy trial.

Podcast discussions

Sources

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03
  4. 04
  5. 05

Our coverage

Version history

  • Oct 15, 2026 · Version 3

    On Moonshots EP #302, Diamandis relayed Life Biosciences' first ER-100 results: safe at the lowest dose, with two of three patients showing regained vision. The company's release describes this as preliminary phase 1 data, with dose escalation next rather than an efficacy trial.

  • Sep 26, 2026 · Version 2

    On Moonshots, Peter Diamandis described ER-100 as an adeno-associated virus injection of three Yamanaka factors. He said it is in a phase one human safety trial, with efficacy data still to come. He said it was being used in NAION and macular degeneration and that David Sinclair expects it to work for other eye conditions. He suggested it to a caller with the inherited retinal disease choroideremia. The company's announcement names glaucoma and NAION, not macular degeneration or inherited retinal disease.

Your privacy

Necessary

Keep forms secure, remember your cookie choice and support editor sign-in.

Always on

With your permission, a random browser ID helps us count visits, return visits, article reading and short campaign labels. We keep these statistics on our own server for up to 180 days. Basic daily page counts may continue without this permission.

Refusing detailed analytics will not change your access to articles or the daily email.

Cookie details · Privacy