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Posted on Jun 12, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
Scientists in the US are reportedly increasing research efforts into ways of preventing aging and boosting longevity, according to US news website King5.
Scientists in the US are reportedly increasing research efforts into ways of preventing aging and boosting longevity, according to US news website King5.
The renewed efforts are being poured into geroscience, an emerging field of science focusing on anti-aging research.
Their aim is to develop anti-aging treatments that can keep human bodies young and more immune to diseases, it claims.
Gordon Lithgow, of the Buck Institute for Age Research in San Fransisco, said: "There are major challenges out there in thinking about human aging. The biggest challenge is disease."
"If we understand the basic mechanisms of aging, we'll be able to tackle these diseases simultaneously," added scientist, Pankaj Kapahi.
According to the website, geroscientists in the US have been promised millions of dollars by the national institute of health to carry out the research.
It involves studying genes in creatures like worms and mice because their aging process is akin to that of humans.
Similar efforts are carried out in the in the UK but largely focus on diseases affecting older people.
