![In search of forever](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20230930_TQR_SQ.jpg)
Longevity
In search of forever
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
- In search of forever: Slowing human ageing is now the subject of serious research
- Don’t be greedy: Eating fewer calories can ward off ageing
- Out with the old: Ageing bodies need to get rid of decrepit cells
- Of bowheads and borzois: Alternatives to the laboratory mouse
- You can’t have everything: Older genomes have more dodgy genes
- Give us the tools: Fighting ageing requires properly equipped cells
- Blood and guts: What the young can give to the old
- A design for living: Some claim human lifespans can be lengthened indefinitely
![An elderly woman and a girl facing each other, inside a horizontal sand timer.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230930_TQD001.jpg)
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.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230930_TQD002.jpg)
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.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230930_TQD003.jpg)
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.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230930_TQD007.jpg)
Of bowheads and borzois
Alternatives to the laboratory mouse
Researchers are looking at whales, sparrows and large dogs
![Small silhouettes of workers on scaffolding. Behind them is a large moon-like cell.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230930_TQD006.jpg)
Give us the tools
Fighting ageing requires properly equipped cells
Keeping the right proteins in the right amounts
![A woman walking through four circles demonstrating distinct stages of her life.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230930_TQD008.jpg)
A design for living
Some claim human lifespans can be lengthened indefinitely
Why not try a “country club for precision diagnostics” while you wait?
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230926_FLP001.jpg)
Insight
Video: In search of forever
Inside our correspondent’s investigation into the science of longevity
Previous report
![The most personal technology](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20230722_TQR_SQ.jpg)
In vitro fertilisation
The most personal technology
Demand for, and expectations of, in vitro fertilisation are growing. The technology is struggling to keep up, write Catherine Brahic and Sacha Nauta
- The most personal technology: In vitro fertilisation is struggling to keep up with demand
- If at first you don’t succeed…: IVF remains largely a numbers game
- Selling hope: The fertility sector is booming
- Our bodies, ourselves: Not all types of families can access IVF
- Eggs from elsewhere: Some women need eggs from others, or from their younger selves
- Eggs from scratch: New ways of making babies are on the horizon
- Conception, reconceived: Lack of basic research has hampered assisted reproduction
- Between the lines: Video: Why we know so little about human reproduction