Year's end is traditionally a time for non-profits to look back, update their supporters, and accept a flurry of last minute donations. Here are a couple of additional messages from the Methuselah Foundation, aimed at the wider audience of people who have not yet paid much attention or made up their minds on engineered longevity and aging research:

A Drug for a Longer Life: The Greatest Discovery of 2009

want to share with you the most important word I've added to my vocabulary in 2009. Remember this word:

R A P A M Y C I N

Rapa what? Rapamycin. It may not mean much to you now but there's a chance it will add 12 or more years to your life - an extra 12 healthy, productive years. Time you could use to accomplish your goals, fulfill your dreams and share your wisdom. Maybe you'll write a book, travel the world, spend time you're your grandchildren... even your great grandchildren.

In 2009 Methuselah Foundation awarded the first ever Lifespan Achievement Award to Dr. Z. Dave Sharp, University of Texas. We felt compelled to make this award when the amazing results of a study on rejuvenation of mice, carried out by the Intervention Testing Program of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), was published. This study showed unequivocally that mice lived longer when they took rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug generally taken by recipients of donor organs to avoid rejection.

The Foundation's strategy these days is incorporating a great deal of work to grow the community of healthy life extension supporters: broadening the appeal, pushing on concepts that haven't yet been tried, and so forth. How does one persuade the common man in the street to be basically for engineered longevity in the same way that he's basically for curing named diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's? Here is one approach, the My Bridge 4 Life strategy that was announced earlier this year:

A Long Life Tool: the Perfect Gift

Sadly, many of us know someone who is battling a life threatening illness. Or maybe a friend or relative is providing care for someone with cancer or Alzheimer's or just overwhelmed by the negative effects of aging or poor health.

Methuselah Foundation is dedicated to extending healthy human life and that includes a right here, right now solution - My Bridge 4 Life.

My Bridge 4 Life is a resource for anyone who has been diagnosed with a chronic or life threatening illness. It is equally valuable to family, friends and caregivers of anyone with cancer, Alzheimer's, organ failure, diabetes and any number of other diseases that take away years and vitality. Simply stated, it puts a wellness plan in the hands of anyone on earth diagnosed with a life threatening challenge.

This is a way to speak to an audience - whilst helping them - who are perhaps more receptive than most when it comes to what has to be said about engineering away aging, frailty, and age-related degeneration or disease.

Posted by Reason