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Resveratrol, a polyphenol famously found in wine, has previously been shown to extend lifespan in some naturally unhealthy rodent strains – but unfortunately does not show the same benefits in healthy, naturally long-lived mice. Meanwhile rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug, has now become the first substance confirmed to at least moderately extend maximum lifespan in healthy mice.

Last summer, California-based LifeStar Institute assembled a panel of leaders in the science of aging to ask them the question at the core of their research. “How far can the potential of new biomedical therapies to slow, arrest, or even reverse the damage of aging be brought to bear against the challenge of global graying?” The most important conclusion reached by the participants was that an aggressive program of investment to realize that potential is not only justified, but necessary on humanitarian, economic and social grounds.

Biomedical research has traditionally focused on identifying and correcting the abnormalities in metabolic pathways that lead to disease states. However, this approach suffers numerous side-effects due to the complexity of metabolism. It is also inappropriate to treating many age-related diseases, which arise as a result of damage accumulated over decades of normal function. Regenerative engineering, by focusing instead on the removal of this damage, largely avoids both of these chronic problems.