TL;DR
A skin cream that works on the tiny power plants inside cells, rather than on the surface, now has a peer-reviewed paper behind it. The cream carries urolithin A, a compound the gut makes from ingredients in pomegranates and walnuts, and in lab-grown human skin it switched on the cells' routine for clearing out worn-out mitochondria, the parts that make a cell's energy. In placebo-controlled studies on people, it made the wrinkles around the eyes shallower after 8 weeks. If that holds up in independent trials, people could one day buy an anti-aging cream that targets one of the reasons skin ages, not just how it looks, and it could arrive as an ordinary consumer product rather than a prescription drug. The caveats are real: the wrinkle results were first shown in 2023, and nobody has reported how many people took part or how big the effect was.
Below the line, for paid subscribers: The full story: where it stands, how we got here and what's dated next; our Odds board on 5 milestones, starting with "A urolithin A skin cream with independently replicated wrinkle results is on the market by 2029"; our labeled speculation on what it adds up to; and every source.