Anti aging pill could cost pennies

Below is a picture showing a CR monkey vs a Ad lib monkey at 30 years. Once again, the CR monkey looks like it's still in its youth ;) Just click on it so you can view it better or to zoom in on the monkeys




The CR monkey is 32 years old, and the Ad lib is 30. You can clearly see
(try zooming for better view) that the CR monkey still has his youthful
looks, even at what is an equivalent age of 96 human years and at least from
the still image doesn't have a frail appearance. While the Ad lib monkey
looks old and frail. This seems typical of the comparison shots we've seen
from other rhesus monkeys in the study.

ARTICLE :

"It's not a matter of if, but when," said gerontologist David Sinclair of a drug that promises a long and healthy life -- not quite a fountain of youth, but perhaps a fountain of fitness.

Best of all, predicted Sinclair, you'll be able to afford it.

Speaking yesterday at a World Science Festival discussion on the science of longevity, Sinclair predicted that the drugs "could have as big an impact as antibiotics in the 20th century, and it's just around the corner."

Five years ago, Sinclair, a Harvard University professor and co-founder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, discovered the molecule resveratrol. It targets a gene activated by calorically restricted diets, which have extended the lifespans of laboratory animals from yeast to monkeys.

Despite the paucity of human testing, some people already practice caloric restriction. Most, however, are discouraged by the spartan dietary discipline required of adherents. Questions also remain about long-term side effects. Instead, scientists are shooting for pharmaceutical shortcuts that do the same thing -- namely, reinvigorating our mitochondria, fixing a lifetime of cellular wear-and-tear.

Many gerontologists believe that the so-called diseases of aging -- cancer, diabetes, heart disease, dementia and any other condition whose primary risk factor is age -- originate in damage caused to our mitochondria by free oxygen radicals. These are an inevitable byproduct of turning chemical energy into our body's fuel, but corrode mitochondrial DNA, eventually causing organs and systems to malfunction and shut down.

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