California’s anti-ageing industry is often seen as the province of cranks and snake oil salesmen. But thanks to funding from billionaires such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Google’s Sergey Brin, something surprising is happening on America’s west coast: actual scientific progress. The science of ageing has, ahem, matured to the point that a “magic pill” — a treatment specifically designed to hold off Father Time — is in prospect.
At least half a dozen novel drugs aimed specifically at ageing will begin human testing by the end of next year. “Within the next ten years we’ll have the first approved drug that delays ageing in humans,” predicts Eric Verdin, CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California. “Once this happens, I
