Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Fashion designer Peter Nygard hopes to encourage stem cell research in the Bahamas 
 
 A billionaire fashion designer says scientists have found a way to reverse his ageing process, it seems. 
 
 Bahamas resident Peter Nygard says he is receiving stem cell therapy and that a study from the University of Miami suggests he is getting younger, the Bahamas Tribune reports. "They are looking at me, and my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my ageing and getting younger," the 70-year-old says. 
 
 He adds: "I am taking perhaps more stem cell treatment than anybody else in the world. I have been doing it for four years now, so I am sort of a testimonial that this stem cell really works." 
 
 Nygard has reportedly been advocating for stem cell research in the Bahamas. A recent change in the law would allow medical centres to open there, though the country's attorney general denies Nygard was involved in the drafting of the legislation, The Bahamas Weekly reported. 
 
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 And his plan to save humanity? Use stem-cell research to cure diseases and live forever, just as you would expect a billionaire tycoon to declare in a Bond movie. 
 
 The great man in question is none other than Peter Nygård, the Helsinki-born, Manitoba-raised fashion magnate best known as the founder of Nygård International. 
 
 "Since the dawn of time, great men have challenged the status quo and dared to dream," an off-screen female narrator says in a sultry British accent while images of Leonardo da Vinci, Martin Luther King and other great historical figures parade across the screen. 
 
 The video begins like a clip from a James Bond movie, where the billionaire tycoon announces his plan to save humanity. 
 
 Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/2/2014 (1793 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. 
 
 Hey there, time traveller! 
 
 This article was published 27/2/2014 (1793 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. 
 
 The video begins like a clip from a James Bond movie, where the billionaire tycoon announces his plan to save humanity. 
 
 "Since the dawn of time, great men have challenged the status quo and dared to dream," an off-screen female narrator says in a sultry British accent while images of Leonardo da Vinci, Martin Luther King and other great historical figures parade across the screen. 
 
 The great man in question is none other than Peter Nygård, the Helsinki-born, Manitoba-raised fashion magnate best known as the founder of Nygård International. 
 
 And his plan to save humanity? Use stem-cell research to cure diseases and live forever, just as you would expect a billionaire tycoon to declare in a Bond movie. 
 
 In a 10-minute YouTube video titled Bahamas Stem Cell Laws: The Peter Nygård Breakthrough, the 70-year-old former Winnipegger claims to be at the forefront of scientific and legislative efforts to further the achievements of stem-cell research. 
 
 Nygård claims to have lobbied the Bahamian government to further stem-cell research, though the Bahamas Weekly reported the island nation's attorney general denied the billionaire was involved in drafting legislation. 
 
 That alone is fascinating, but Nygård isn't just a stem-cell advocate. He says he's personally involved in the research by receiving injections of his own cells grown in Peter, or rather, petri dishes. 
 
 Yes, Nygård claims he is actually getting younger. In his video, he calls stem-cell research a game-changer for humanity. 
 
 "This could eliminate all disease. This perhaps is immortality," he breathlessly states in a video that appears entirely serious. 
 
 "Ponce de Leon had the right idea. He was just too early," Nygård continues, referring to the 16th-century conquistador who searched for the fountain of youth. "That was then. This is now." 
 
 In the video, the septuagenarian is seen dancing with young women in a nightclub, leaning out of a sailboat, playing volleyball and otherwise "living a life that most could only dream of," according to the off-screen British female narrator. 
 
 Apparently, the reason Nygård can dance and sail and play at his age is not just due to copious quantities of money. 
 
 YOUTUBE Clothing tycoon Peter Nygård has been getting stem-cell treatments for four years. 
 
 Nygård claims his stem-cell injections have reversed the aging process to the point where he's become something of a Finnish-Canadian superman. 
 
 "Stem cells are being used for anti-aging and the University of Miami is doing a study about that to prove that it is true. They are looking at me, and my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my aging and getting younger," Nygård told the Bahamas Tribune. 
 
 "I am taking perhaps more stem-cell treatment than anybody else in the world. I have been doing it for four years now, so I am sort of a testimonial that this stem cell really works." 
 
 If one were to review more authoritative sources on stem-cell research than, say, a Nygård-produced promotional video, you'd quickly discover that yes, stem-cell therapy holds a tremendous amount of promise. 
 
 Stem-cell treatments may one day cure cancers, repair spinal-cord injuries and alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions. 
 
 The problem is, stem cells can be extracted from embryos and cloned, something that freaks out legislators in nations where embryonic stem-cell cloning is illegal. 
 
 "It's the word 'cloning' that creates an aura of terror in people's minds," explains Arthur Schafer, professor and director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba. 
 
 Schafer believes therapeutic cloning should be legal, as many researchers believe stem-cell cloning could be the greatest medical advance in history. 
 
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 But Schafer is concerned about the way the technology may be used. For example, a treatment that may one day cure Alzheimer's also may be used to transform a wealthy, healthy individual into a genius, just like in sci-fi movies. 
 
 "We are already a deeply divided, deeply unequal society and this has the potential to create classes of people," Schafer said. 
 
 We should be cynical about an aging billionaire's motives for pushing stem-cell technology, he added. 
 
 "I don't see him as a great humanitarian seeking to better humankind," Schafer said of Nygård, whose own statements seem to bear out that cynicism. 
 
 "I may be the only person in the world who has my own embryonic cells growing in a petri dish," boasts Nygård in his video, sounding exactly like the billionaire-tycoon Bond villain we all suspected him of being long ago. 
 
 bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca ||||| By NEIL HARTNELL 
 
 Tribune Business Editor 
 
 nhartnell@tribunemedia.net 
 
 Peter Nygard has assessed the still-closed Port Lucaya Resort and other Freeport-based sites as potential locations for a stem cell clinic, a move that has met with “100 per cent backing” from one of his biggest critics. 
 
 Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, when informed of Mr Nygard’s interest in Freeport, pledged that he would “roll out the red carpet” for the Canadian multi-millionaire should he translate this into a multi-million dollar investment. 
 
 Mr Smith who, as lead counsel for the Coalition to Save Clifton has led the legal action against Mr Nygard’s alleged “unregulated development” at his Lyford Cay home, urged the fashion entrepreneur to abandon any plans he may have had to build a stem cell facility there. 
 
 Tribune Business last year revealed that Mr Nygard and his team had held discussions with the Prime Minister’s Office about constructing a stem cell-type clinic at Nygard Cay, part of a total $50 million investment at his home. 
 
 This, though, was met with vocal opposition by both the Coalition and Lyford Cay residents, given that it would have involved inserting a commercial venture into a luxury community zoned for residential use. 
 
 And Mr Smith told Tribune Business yesterday: “Freeport needs Nygard; Lyford Cay doesn’t. 
 
 “I ask Mr Nygard the question. Why swim against the current at Lyford Cay, when you can swim with the current in Freeport.” 
 
 Mr Smith was speaking after Tribune Business sources informed this newspaper that Mr Nygard had been examining several potential sites in Freeport, in particular the shuttered Port Lucaya Resort and Yacht Club. 
 
 The property is owned by Port Group Ltd, the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) affiliate, and this newspaper was told the Canadian millionaire had been encouraged to look at the hotel by its owner. 
 
 “Nygard visited the hotel and other potential sites, but has not made a commitment,” one source with knowledge of developments confirmed to Tribune Business. 
 
 Ian Rolle, the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) president, did not return a Tribune Business phone message seeking comment. 
 
 This newspaper’s contacts also suggested that Mr Nygard had been eyeing the adjacent Port Lucaya Marina, an asset owned separately by Preben Olsen’s New Hope Holdings. 
 
 One contact told Tribune Business that Mr Olsen owned the docks around the Port Lucaya Resort, plus the access canal, meaning that any deal for the hotel would likely require a buy-out of New Hope’s assets, too. 
 
 That, and indeed, any deal, is some way off, and there is nothing to suggest that Mr Nygard looked at the Port Lucaya Marina as well. 
 
 Mr Nygard’s interest in Freeport, and stem cell research/therapies, is well known. He was feted by both the Government and Port Authority during a highly-publicised visit to Grand Bahama last year, and also appeared at last week’s STEMSO (International Stem Cell Society) conference that was held in Freeport. 
 
 Mr Smith said yesterday: “I understand that Mr Nygard has made several visits to Freeport, and is looking at the possibility of a first class stem cell facility. 
 
 “Obviously, as a licensee of Freeport, I would back Mr Nygard with such a plan 100 per cent. Freeport is desperate for investment, and Mr Nygard is a colourful character with a lot of pizzazz and money. 
 
 “He would make an excellent contribution to making Freeport the pride of the medical tourism landscape in the Bahamas.” 
 
 Mr Smith also expressed hope that Mr Nygard’s interest in Freeport meant “his misguided and misconceived plan for a $50 million stem cell facility at Nygard Cay would be abandoned”. 
 
 “He well knows that the Coalition and Lyford Cay Property Owners Association, as well as the Lyford Cay Club, are resistant and opposed to such a plan,” Mr Smith added. 
 
 “Any attempts by him to pursue his discussions with the [Government], as disclosed in The Tribune’s previous story, would be met by various court actions against him and the Government agencies. 
 
 “But a $50 million investment in Freeport for a stem cell facility by Mr Nygard would be a fantastic opportunity and investment for Freeport, and I would roll out the red carpet for him next time he comes, just like the Port Authority did.” 
 
 Mr Smith said that if Mr Nygard’s interest ultimately resulted in a $50 million investment, it would be “one of the biggest Freeport has seen for years”. 
 
 He added: “The infrastructure is completely in place for Mr Nygard to make a showcase stem cell venture, as Okyanos and others are doing. 
 
 “So there is no need for him to push the envelope and fight the resistance at Lyford Cay, when he has a welcome from business, and the Grand Bahama Port Authority, as the regulatory agency, in Freeport.” ||||| Signs of aging have been partially reversed in mice, according to research led by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The study indicates that rejuvenation, long considered science fiction, may one day become reality. 
 
 Mice genetically engineered to replicate progeria, a disease of accelerated aging, lived 30 percent longer after receiving the treatment. And normally aged mice experienced improvement in pancreatic and muscle function, along with better wound healing. 
 
 The results suggest that aging in humans may likewise be a plastic process that can be controlled, said noted stem cell scientist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, who led the study along with Salk Institute colleague Alejandro Ocampo. 
 
 The study, published Thursday in the journal Cell, is a proof of principle, the scientists cautioned. Years of research lie ahead before any therapy can be tried in people. The complete study can be found at j.mp/belmonteaging. 
 
 The researchers accomplished this feat in mice genetically engineered to make four proteins that reprogram adult cells to an embryonic-like state. 
 
 A decade ago, the Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka used these proteins -- Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc -- to make what are called induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPS cells. These act very much like embryonic stem cells, but can be made from common adult cells such as those in skin. Pluripotent means the cells can become nearly any type of cell in the body. In 2012, Yamanaka shared a Nobel Prize for his work. 
 
 Two groups of mice were tested. One were mice that were normally aged to 12 months (most breeds of mice can naturally live to about 18 months to 2 years). 
 
 The second consisted of mice genetically engineered to model a fatal childhood disease, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. This disease is characterized by heart disease, joint stiffness, hair loss and other conditions generally experienced by older people. Those affected usually die before adulthood. 
 
 A full reprogramming would have been fatal to the mice, because the adult cells would have lost their function. However, the scientists engineered the mice to produce these “Yamanaka factors” only when given the antibiotic doxycycline, providing an on-off switch. 
 
 When the mice were exposed to the Yamanaka factors for two days a week, every week, they experienced changes in the DNA that removed some of the characteristic “epigenetic” marks of aging. These marks are chemical groups added to or removed from the core DNA molecule. These modifications or their removal turn genes off and on, but don’t change their underlying sequence. 
 
 Signs of safety 
 
 Izpisúa Belmonte said the improvement in the progeria model mice is notable because the treatment didn’t repair the mutation in the DNA, but only altered the epigenetic pattern of gene activation to more closely resemble that of younger cells. 
 
 Also notably, the animals didn’t develop tumors, a known risk with cellular reprogramming, said Pradeep Reddy, another Salk researcher and study co-author. 
 
 Izpisúa Belmonte said reprogramming works in discrete stages, so a brief exposure doesn’t erase the cells’ identity, but rolls them back to a more youthful state 
 
 “We know from in vitro studies that the factors need to be there for more time to induce full reprogramming,” he said. “So the cells never go back to a pluripotent state.” 
 
 Amy Firth, a stem cell researcher at the University of Southern California, said the work is “exciting.” 
 
 “I used to work at the Salk Institute as a postdoc, so I was very familiar with Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte’s research,” said Firth, assistant professor of medicine at the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. “It’s great to see some new data.” 
 
 The study is solid, because the researchers approached the issue from several different avenues to demonstrate rejuvenation through the reprogramming factors, Firth said. 
 
 The researchers not only demonstrated rejuvenation in cells, but went to whole animals to demonstrate actual benefit, she said. 
 
 Kristin Baldwin, a stem cell scientist at The Scripps Research Institute, reacted similarly to Firth in describing the Salk team's feat. 
 
 "It's an exciting, remarkable study, showing that you can in vivo tinker with the marks of aging a little bit ... so that you do seem to improve the function of the cells," said Baldwin, an investigator at TSRI's Dorris Neuroscience Center. 
 
 Baldwin said she and colleagues approached the aging problem from the opposite direction in a study published Dec. 12 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. It’s available at j.mp/ipsaging. 
 
 That study examined epigenetic markers of age in artificial embryonic stem cells. Called induced pluripotent stem cells, they are created from adult or "somatic" cells in the body, such as from skin and blood. These IPS cells act much like human embryonic stem cells, but weren’t derived from a human embryo. 
 
 Researchers in that study found the age markers were retained to varying degrees in IPS cells, suggesting they might not be fully restored to a youthful state. This means some of these cells might not be well suited for therapy, such as replacing a patient’s injured or diseased tissues. 
 
 Baldwin said the problems can be dealt with by careful screening of IPS cells. If one lineage of cells is unsuitable, scientists can create another set of cells, and continue until they find an acceptable line. 
 
 Other factors in aging 
 
 Aging involves other changes besides the epigenetic ones, Baldwin and Izpisúa Belmonte said. These include DNA damage from radiation or mutagenic chemicals, shortening of the protective chromosome ends called telomeres, and the accumulation of cellular debris. 
 
 What the study helps demonstrate is that a substantial amount of aging appears linked to these epigenetic changes, Izpisúa Belmonte said. 
 
 "The caveat, which is what we showed in our study, is that they're not going to be able to reverse the somatic mutations that are accumulating during aging," Baldwin said. "Nobody knows how much of those contribute to the negative effects of aging.”
– A Finnish-Canadian billionaire says scientists have found a way to make him younger. Fashion designer Peter Nygard claims he is getting more stem cell treatment than anyone else is currently receiving, and scientists have found "my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my aging and getting younger," the BBC reports. The 70-year-old says he has been undergoing stem cell treatment for four years, and that the University of Miami is currently studying him. Nygard lives in the Bahamas, where he is an advocate for stem cell research and wants to open a $50 million stem cell clinic. He says his interest in the subject is about more than just a desire to be younger. "I started stem cells when I wanted to find a cure for my mother who I loved very much and Western medicine was not able to cure her, he tells the Freeport News. "If I had discovered stem cells a year before, I think that she would still be here with me." The Winnipeg Free Press notes that Nygard has released a 10-minute YouTube video ("Bahamas Stem Cell Laws: The Peter Nygard Breakthrough") that shows him "dancing with young women in a nightclub" (with a Will.i.am and Britney Spears song playing in the background), "leaning out of a sailboat, playing volleyball," and living what the narrator describes as "a life that most could only dream of." (Harvard scientists recently said they were able to reverse part of the aging process ... in mice.)