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Can aging be 'drugged'?

Nature Medicine volume 21, pages 1400–1405 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The engines that drive the complex process of aging are being identified by model-organism research, thereby providing potential targets and rationale for drug studies. Several studies of small molecules have already been completed in animal models with the hope of finding an elixir for aging, with a few compounds showing early promise. What lessons can we learn from drugs currently being tested, and which pitfalls can we avoid in our search for a therapeutic for aging? Finally, we must also ask whether an elixir for aging would be applicable to everyone, or whether we age differently, thus potentially shortening lifespan in some individuals.

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Acknowledgements

We apologize to those investigators whose important work we were unable to cite or describe in depth, owing to the limited scope and space constraints of this Perspective. We are supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Glenn Center for Research on Aging and the American Diabetes Association Pathway to Stop Diabetes (grant no. 1-15-INI-12 (CER)).

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  1. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

    Celine E Riera & Andrew Dillin

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA

    Celine E Riera & Andrew Dillin

  3. Glenn Center for Research on Aging, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Celine E Riera & Andrew Dillin

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Riera, C., Dillin, A. Can aging be 'drugged'?. Nat Med 21, 1400–1405 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4005

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