Turning back the clock with telomerase?

Abstract

Increased understanding of the aging process has led some researchers to suggest that it may be possible to extend the normal human lifespan to 150 years. While it is impossible to predict the future, the increasing elderly population has refocused efforts on ways to alleviate the diseases normally associated with old age. An exciting new finding may change the way that these diseases are viewed and treated. It may now be possible to extend the lifespan of normal human cells by using the enzyme telomerase, thus preventing or curing many age-related diseases by direct intervention at the cellular level, delegates were told at the IBC conference on Age-Related Diseases: Exploiting Mechanisms for Drug Development [ Las Vegas, US; December 1998 ].