LA Times on Longevity Science
The LA Times takes a high-level look at longevity science that has attracted media attention this year: calorie restriction, resveratrol, centenarian studies and other metabolic manipulations intended to slow the accumulation of age-related damage. This is but one weak side of the coin; when thinking in these terms "Phelan says he doesn't think there will ever be a way to significantly extend human life span. 'Millions of years and billions of people living a variety of lifestyles that result in life spans that never exceed 122 demonstrate that it is unlikely that some new method will dramatically extend this.' Which might be true if you restrict yourself to manipulating metabolism - it's like tuning up a car; there are definite limits to performance within the present architecture and state of repair. But this leaves out the concept of using modern biotechnology to identify and repair the damage that causes aging. That is the real path forward - fix the failing engine, don't tune it.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-lifespan25dec25,1,77391,full.story