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Tuesday, 23 April 2024

Thursday, 31 March 2005 11:09

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Live 30 extra years on the pill

Professor Speakman, head of zoology at the University of Aberdeen has been awarded £450,000 by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to develop a pill that could add 30 years to the human lifespan. He is to investigate how the body’s metabolism can be altered, extending life.

Extra thyroxine - which is produced naturally in a gland in the throat - seems to lead to fewer free radicals, atoms which damage body tissue, being produced.

Professor Speakman, claims that if the four-year study on mice is successful and an appropriate dosage of thyroxine is found, trials on humans may begin in the next decade.

Professor Speakman said: “This grant will allow us to do experiments to see if we can put up the metabolic rate and get the correct thyroxine to create this. The difference between the age of a short-lived mouse and a long-lived mouse, converted into humans, we are looking at an increase in around 30 years.

“It will be a healthy extension; nobody wants an extra 30 years in a nursing home.

“We are looking at giving people an extra 30 years of productive life”.

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