Looking at the Buck Institute

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

MarketWatch profiles the Buck Institute for Age Research: "Not long ago, inducing the worlds of basic biology of aging, diseases of aging and biotechnology to share ideas was far from the norm, said Gordon Lithgow, an associate professor of molecular mechanisms of aging. ... Fifteen years ago this wasn't on the agenda. No serious biologist would consider pursuing research on aging. ... Aging is perhaps the biggest risk factor for disease in developed countries. We don't know what aging is; we don't know why it causes disease and don't yet know how to intervene. ... No one really understands why we age....but there are a lot of theories." Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey would argue that scientists may lack a complete characterization of aging, but know more than enough to get on and do something about the root causes of age-related degeneration. Engineering a solution doesn't require complete knowledge - complete knowledge only makes it easier.

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B5B206A70-D4C4-4ABB-A98A-255F64745A6B%7D