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Ageing

A midlife longevity drug?

Nature volume 460, pages 331–332 (2009)Cite this article

The small molecule rapamycin, already approved for clinical use for various human disorders, has been found to significantly increase lifespan in mice. Is this a step towards an anti-ageing drug for people?

Anti-ageing drugs — compounds that slow the hands of time and allow humans to live far beyond their natural span — have long been fertile ground for science-fiction writers. More recently, however, the possibility that such compounds might exist, and might perhaps even be within reach, has gained scientific credibility. In this issue (page 392), Harrison et al.1 provide evidence that pharmacological intervention in the ageing process is feasible in mammals. They report that dietary supplementation with rapamycin — a compound known to be linked to lifespan in invertebrates — significantly increases the lifespan of mice.

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Figure 1: Rapa Nui and rapamycin.

H. KANUS/SPL

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Matt Kaeberlein and Brian K. Kennedy are in the Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. kaeber@u.washington.edu,

    Matt Kaeberlein & Brian K. Kennedy

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  1. Matt Kaeberlein
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  2. Brian K. Kennedy
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Competing interests

M.K. and B.K.K. have patents pending for high-throughput methods for measuring lifespan in yeast.

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Kaeberlein, M., Kennedy, B. A midlife longevity drug?. Nature 460, 331–332 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/460331a

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