Fountain of youth?

Scientists are making some progress on this difficult problem:

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells can give rise to almost all of the body’s different cell types. They could eventually provide patients with replacement tissues – but there are some roadblocks that currently prevent researchers from putting the cells into patients’ bodies. One problem is that scientists don’t yet know how to control the cells’ transformations into other types. Another is that the cells cannot be grown without help from mouse cells, which means that they could be contaminated with mouse proteins. Ali Brivanlou of Rockefeller University in New York says that he and his colleagues may have found a partial solution to these problems. Brivanlou treated ES cells with a chemical, nicknamed BIO, from a sea snail.

Being 41, I don’t expect to enjoy the fruits of this research. But today’s children may live for a very long time indeed. That being said, my chance is not zero, so the return to exercise and good eating just went up.