Technology Quarterly
In search of forever

Longevity

In search of forever

Technology Quarterly -

Slowing, let alone reversing, the process of ageing was once alchemical fantasy. Now it is a subject of serious research and investment, Geoffrey Carr reports

An elderly woman and a girl facing each other, inside a horizontal sand timer.

In search of forever

Slowing human ageing is now the subject of serious research

And some of it is making progress, writes Geoffrey Carr

A hand holding a fork with tiny vegetables on it.

Don’t be greedy

Eating fewer calories can ward off ageing

And various existing medicines may offer similar benefits

The outer wall of a cell exploding, revealing a new one inside.

Out with the old

Ageing bodies need to get rid of decrepit cells

Senolytics and cellular rejuvenation could hold the key

An illustration of a mouse, sparrow, shark and giant tortoise.

Of bowheads and borzois

Alternatives to the laboratory mouse

Researchers are looking at whales, sparrows and large dogs

Silhouette of an old man and a baby facing one other, with a line of cells connecting them.

You can’t have everything

Older genomes have more dodgy genes

Can evolution’s trade-offs be avoided? 

Small silhouettes of workers on scaffolding. Behind them is a large moon-like cell.

Give us the tools

Fighting ageing requires properly equipped cells

Keeping the right proteins in the right amounts

Overlapping male and female silhouettes, of various ages.

Blood and guts

What the young can give to the old

Can gut microbes and blood be gifts of youth?

A woman walking through four circles demonstrating distinct stages of her life.

A design for living

Some claim human lifespans can be lengthened indefinitely

Why not try a “country club for precision diagnostics” while you wait?

Insight

Video: In search of forever

Inside our correspondent’s investigation into the science of longevity

Previous report

The most personal technology

In vitro fertilisation

The most personal technology

Technology Quarterly -

Demand for, and expectations of, in vitro fertilisation are growing. The technology is struggling to keep up, write Catherine Brahic and Sacha Nauta