This article (well, not exactly this one but it has the same info) was sent to me by a co-worker that knows I'm into this sort of thing:
http://gizmodo.com/5701151/eternal-youth-potion-discovered
The cliff notes are that mice were bred to have telomerase inhibited, so showed rapid signs of aging. The inhibition of telomerase was then reversed, and it was found that not only the did mice stop aging, but a lot of the signs of age were reversed -- including repair of brain tissues and improved/restored fecundity.
I did not look over the original paper, and there is clear mention that this is not applicable to humans, but it's interesting research regardless.
Perhaps, in the distant future, longer life with a youthful body may be a possibility. Not sure I'd want to live to be over 100, personally.
http://gizmodo.com/5701151/eternal-youth-potion-discovered
The cliff notes are that mice were bred to have telomerase inhibited, so showed rapid signs of aging. The inhibition of telomerase was then reversed, and it was found that not only the did mice stop aging, but a lot of the signs of age were reversed -- including repair of brain tissues and improved/restored fecundity.
I did not look over the original paper, and there is clear mention that this is not applicable to humans, but it's interesting research regardless.
Perhaps, in the distant future, longer life with a youthful body may be a possibility. Not sure I'd want to live to be over 100, personally.