This Forbes article looks at the funded (if not necessarily best in the long term) mainstream of aging and longevity research: longevity genes, metabolic tinkering, calorie restriction mimetics, and companies obtaining funding to follow paths only tangentially related to longevity. "The Nature papers caught the eye of Christoph Westphal, then at Polaris Venture Partners. He figured drugs stimulating the human version of sir2 (called sirt1) might harness natural defenses against diseases of aging. He helped raise $45 million to found Sirtris Pharmaceuticals in 2004 and became its chief. Westphal's team is now crafting compounds that have more potent sirt1-activating effects than resveratrol, hoping they might help tackle diabetes and Alzheimer's. The next crucial step will be extending the findings to people. Westphal says he has zero interest in developing drugs for aging."

Link: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/1114/112_print.html