Breakthrough in the Works for Living Longer

The field of ageing research is gaining momentum, with tangible progress toward extending healthy human life, but it also faces a wave of scams and exaggerated claims.

“Understanding which treatments are real and which are hype is more important than ever,” said Dr Andrew Steele, author of Ageless and advocate for greater investment in longevity science.

Researchers now identify dozens of “hallmarks of ageing”, the molecular and systemic drivers behind frailty, chronic disease, and age-related decline. Experiments in animals have shown lifespan extensions of 30–40% using drugs like rapamycin and acarbose, and cellular reprogramming has rendered cells from a 114-year-old almost indistinguishable from those of a newborn. Yet despite ageing driving more than 80% of deaths in rich countries, government funding remains just around $300–400 million annually, equivalent to roughly $1 per person. Steele argues that scaling up investment to tens of billions could bring the first human-approved longevity medicines within reach, transforming health-care systems and lifespans alike.