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A mid-life crisis for aging theory

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From yeast to mice, limiting food intake slows aging and extends lifespan. Activators of the sirtuins, enzymes famously linked to this process, promise a wealth of new drugs—but the sirtuin hypothesis is now coming under fire. Ken Garber reports.

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Figure 1: Hope or hype? A widely publicized 2006 paper reported that resveratrol, a SIRT1 activator, reduced the risk of death by 30% for mice on a high-fat diet, like the one at right.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ann Arbor, Michigan

    Ken Garber

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  1. Ken Garber
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Garber, K. A mid-life crisis for aging theory. Nat Biotechnol 26, 371–374 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0408-371

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