Humanin (HN) is a peptide (21 or24 amino acids) derived from mitochondria (the battery of each cell). Humanin was discovered by professor Nishimoto in early 2000 as an anti-aging peptide. Humanin is an anti-apoptotic agent meaning that it inhibits cell death, in mouse models they showed therapeutic effects of Humanin in Alzheimer’s disease. At the same time, they found Humanin in cancer cells as an agent to promote cancer cell growth and inhibit cancer cell death such as glioblastoma and breast cancer. You may call it a double-edged sword. Picture courtesy of science direct