One of the most important factors leading to immune system decline is the greatly reduced rate of release of growth hormone by the brain as we age. This hormone, produced by the pituitary gland, begins to fall off in quantity after your teens. Since the thymus gland requires growth hormone to function properly, this decrease […]
… just as the pigment of the hair is destroyed by phagocytes, so also the atrophy of other organs of the body, in old age, is very frequently due to the action of devouring cells which I have called macrophages. —Elie Metchnikoff, The Prolongation of Life (1908) Instead of preventing diseases only by protecting the […]
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. —Albert Einstein Most biological experiments […]
Read more Prolonging Life in the Laboratory; or, Why Animal Experiments Are Relevant to Humans
Some people try to achieve immortality through their offspring or their works. I prefer to achieve immortality by not dying. —Woody Allen In order to decide intelligently between different possible life extension methods, you require knowledge of the benefits and the costs of a range of life extension choices. Benefit-versus-cost information is ultimately judged in […]