Moonshots for the Treatment of Aging: Less Incrementalism, More Ambition

There is far too much incrementalism in the present research and development of therapies to treat aging. Much of the field is engaged in mimicking calorie restriction or repurposing existing drugs that were found to increase mouse life span by a few percentage points. This will not meaningfully change the shape of human life, but nonetheless costs just as much as efforts to achieve far more. If billions of dollars and the efforts of thousands of researchers are to be devoted to initiatives to treat aging, then why not pursue the ambitious goal of rejuvenation and adding decades to healthy life spans? It is just as plausible. There are just as many starting points and plausible research programs aimed at outright rejuvenation via repair of molecular damage, such as those listed in the SENS approach to aging, as there are aimed at achieving only small benefits in an aged metabolism. The heavy focus on incremental, low yield programs of research and development in the present community is frustrating, and that frustration is felt by many. As the global population ages, there is increased interest in living longer and improving one's quality of life in later years. However, studying aging - the decline in body function - is expensive and time-consuming. And despite research success to make model organisms live longer, there still aren't really any feasible solutions for delaying aging in humans. With space travel, scientists and engineers couldn't know what it would tak...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs