The Youth Pill

Book excerpt: Living longer is closer than we think. Even before the first person set off to find the Fountain of Youth, we were searching for a way to live longer. But promises of life extension have long reeked of snake oil, and despite our wishful thinking—not to mention the number of vitamins we pop—few of us believe we’ll live to see one hundred, much less set a longevity record. But now scientists are closing in on true breakthroughs in anti-aging. Compounds that dramatically extend the health spans of animals, including mammals, have recently been demonstrated in the lab, and gerontologists now generally agree that drugs that slow human aging and greatly boost health in later life are no longer a distant dream. David Stipp, a veteran science journalist, tells the story of these momen­tous developments and the scientists behind them, providing a definitive, engaging account of some of the most exciting (and sometimes controversial) advances that promise to change the way we live forever.