http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/longevity http://io9.com/tag/longevity Aubrey de Grey, a software engineer turned gerontology expert in the UK, is known for his controversial books and lectures about how humans will eventually extend their lifespans. Currently he's the Chief Science Officer at SENS Foundation, a nonprofit in Silicon Valley aimed at funding new biotechnologies that could extend human life. In fact, many profiles of his work emphasize that he's after "immortality." But in an interview last week with readers of Science magazine, he said he's sick of this mischaracterization: More »
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There seems to be one surefire way to increase longevity in animals. It's caloric restriction, which means placing them on a near-starvation diet. We don't know if that could work on humans... but fruit flies might be able to give us the answer. More »
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They're tiny sea creatures who attach themselves to rocks, and look a bit like colorful sacks topped with delicate tentacles. They're one of the most ancient animals on Earth, and share a common ancestor with humans (along with all other vertebrates). And they're immortal. No, really. More »
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Prepare to feel downright slothful. On Saturday, Fauja Singh became the oldest person to ever complete a full-distance marathon when he finished the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in just over 8 hours, 25 minutes (and no, he didn't finish in last place). More »
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Maria Lucimar Pereira must be packing some serious longevity genes. Though she certainly doesn't look it, tomorrow the indigenous Amazonian will be celebrating her 121st birthday, making her the new world-record holder for the oldest living person — by a staggering six years. More »
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Would you trade 22 minutes of your life for an hour of television viewing? (By comparison, a commonly cited statistic estimates the average shortening of lifespan from one cigarette to be 11 minutes.) Could catching up on your favorite TV shows really be slowly killing you? More »
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Do you have a family history of exceptionally long-living relatives? If you do, congratulations. A recent study suggests that you may be packing "longevity genes" that could allow you to eat, drink, and even smoke like the rest of us and still outlive us all, living well into your 80's, 90's, and beyond. More »
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New research out of UC Irvine shows that children born to women who experience unusual levels of psychological or social stress during pregnancy are more likely to show signs of accelerated aging than other children. More »
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The naked mole-rat lives for thirty years - compared to 1-2 years for other rodents - and we've never found any evidence that it can get cancer. Now we're peeking inside its genome to figure out what makes it special. More »
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Today a group of medical researchers reported the discovery of something very intriguing in a type of pancreatic cancer called PanNET. Turns out PanNET is associated with mutations in two genes that help control a part of your DNA that determines whether you die. More »
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Happiness may make us feel good - indeed, that's sort of the point - but does it actually serve a clear evolutionary purpose, or is it just an accidental byproduct of some other adaptation? Some long-lived orangutans have the answer. More »
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Queen bees are much larger than worker bees, and live years longer, for one reason. They gorge on a sugary protein called "royal jelly." Now a scientist has made ultra-large flies using royal jelly too. Are humans next? More »
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Feel good about yourself, don't work too hard, and don't worrying too much...it's all good advice, but they're not actually going to help you live any longer. That's the counterintuitive finding of a 20-year study examining how personality affects longevity. More »
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A Laysan albatross named Wisdom was first tagged for monitoring and identification back in 1956, and 55 years later she's the oldest known wild bird in the United States. Even more amazingly, she's still laying eggs and raising young. More »
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On New Year's Day, the giant population bump known as the baby boom started turning 65. By the decade's end, more humans will be over 65 than under 5. Homo sapiens is entering uncharted territory. What will happen? More »
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Your walking speed can tell a lot about you - including your life expectancy. Amazingly, your walking speed is just as good an indicator of how long you'll live as your health history, smoking habits, and blood pressure combined. More »
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Multiple studies have shown that how much a person smiles in childhood photographs can predict their future happiness. And now, thanks to baseball playing cards, we know smiling actually makes you live longer. More »
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All animals eventually grow old and die. It's an inevitable fact of life - except when it isn't. Some animals, like tortoises and lobsters, never grow old, and learning their secrets could let humans live as long as they want. More »
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In each cell nucleus, hidden in our massive strands of human DNA, lies the secret of longevity. Or so we thought. But tiny rings of mitochondrial DNA, responsible for coding just 13 proteins, might actually hold the key. More »
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There's no simple trick to reaching 100 years old, although most experts say it's a mix of luck and taking good care of yourself. Plus, it really helps to have one of the nineteen "longevity" gene groups scientists just discovered. More »
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Want to live into your hundreds? If you're young and fertile, you have to decide now whether you want to take a drug that will extend your life by a few decades. More »
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These are pictures of facilities where technicians store cryogenically frozen bodies in the hope that one day they can be revived using advanced technology. Patrick Millard's photos of cryostat tanks blur the line between death and industrial design. More »
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Rapamycin is a bacterial byproduct discovered in the soil of Easter Island. It extends the lives of animals, and now two independent studies show that it can reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's. Is this the drug we've been waiting for? More »
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Legendary philosopher Peter Singer once imagined a scenario where a pill could double human lifespan, and argued that such a world would never be as happy as one without the medicine. Science fiction author and philosopher Russell Blackford disagrees. More »
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What happens when mammals have two mothers? In the case of mice, it seems that they live longer than mice with one male and one female parent. It could help explain why women typically live longer than men. More »
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Many studies have shown that rigorous caloric restriction, or strict dieting, can increase longevity dramatically in lifeforms from yeast to humans. But a study released today shows one way to mimic the life-extending effects of food deprivation - using drugs. More »
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A new study has confirmed that primates who eat a low-calorie diet can, according to researchers, "slow the aging process." Restricting your calorie intake means you're three times less likely to develop age-related disorders, particularly in the brain. More »
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You might know your chronological age, but do you know your "molecular age"? A newly found chemical in the human body could indicate how old your body actually feels, acting as a marker for aging in the body. More »
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The weirdos at Xenophilia have posted this intriguing chart from the Methuseleh Foundation, a group that promises to help cure aging if you'll just donate $85/month. More »
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It turns out that having children at an advanced age won't kill you - instead, it might mean you'll live up to 30 percent longer than average. A group of researchers at the University of California discovered this odd fact by studying the genetic makeup of flies who lay eggs late in their lives. There's a chance their discovery could lead to a simple gene therapy for human women that would extend their childbearing years and their lifespans. More »
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If you want to live forever, one of the main things stopping you is cancer. Many of the mechanisms that prevent cells from aging also make those cells prone to carcinogenic mutations. But now a research team at the University of Rochester has discovered that small rodents like chinchillas (pictured) manage to live decades without developing cancer. In a paper published today in Aging Cell, biologist Vera Gorbunova explains how the furry, dusty chinchilla may become the unlikely key to humans living for centuries. More »
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Every time your cells divide, the "telomeres," or caps on the ends of your chromosomes, get a little shorter. Elderly creatures begin to suffer diseases of old age partly because their telomeres have become so short, and cellular division becomes difficult and error-prone. That's why telomeres are the subject of intensive study: If we could figure out the mechanism that keeps our telomeres from shortening, it's possible we could prolong our lives. Now a group of California researchers have discovered that a protein called Est3 (pictured) is partly responsible for keeping telomeres long. Manipulating that protein could bring us one step closer to healthy cell longevity. More »
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Click to viewWithin about 10 years, you might be drinking anti-aging enzymes with your bottled water. California biochemists have a plan to keep the world younger and healthier by using nanotech to deliver an enzyme called CoQ10 to our drinking water. This coenzyme is naturally produced by the body, but in smaller and smaller amounts as we age. And yet it's vital for the body's basic functioning, as it helps our cells convert sugars to energy. Perhaps if we boost its presence in our bodies as we age, our organs will remain productive and healthy for much longer. More »
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Stress runs down the body's immune system, which is why people with high-stress jobs or events in their lives are vulnerable to illness. Now a researcher at UCLA has discovered the link between emotional stress and physical damage — and she's going to develop a pill that will allow you to endure stress without the nasty side-effects. And there may also be one good side-effect: Extreme longevity. More »
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In some parts of the United States, medicine has not improved the average life expectancy — and in fact, the average lifespan has been going steadily downward since the 1980s. No, immigration is not to blame for these shifting numbers. These are U.S. citizens in hundreds of different counties whose lives are getting shorter while many other people's lives get longer. A study published on Monday in PLoS Medicine shows where in the U.S. lives (especially women's lives) are getting shorter — and where they're getting longer. In these maps, dark red regions are those of decreasing life expectancy, and dark green regions are areas where it's increasing. Light red means life expectancy is lower than average but not decreasing; and light green means higher than average but not increasing. White is average. So what is killing people at younger ages now that didn't kill them in the 1970s? More »
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Living to be 100 years old is going to become more common in the twenty-first century, even if we don't make any great leaps forward in medical technology. The Archives of Internal Medicine today published a study showing that genetics account for only about one-fourth of the variation in human life span. That means 75 percent of the factors that affect longevity are environmental, and often under your control. Three basic ways of modifying your life can mean the difference between living to be 60, and living for a century. More »
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