Longevity research is a field of hypotheses at very different stages of maturity. Cellular senescence, NAD+ metabolism, mitochondrial function and proteostasis each have substantial preclinical literature and, in some cases, early human data.
The honest summary is that translation remains incomplete. Effects that are robust in model organisms have repeatedly proven smaller, slower or absent in humans, and short-duration human trials rarely measure the outcome that matters.
The framework most often cited as a map of the field is the hallmarks-of-aging synthesis, updated in 2023. It is a useful index of open questions rather than a list of settled answers.
Research Status
Preclinical and mechanistic evidence substantially outpaces confirmed human translation across the field; where human data exist, they are described study by study elsewhere in the Journal rather than generalized here.
Selected Research
- López-Otín C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G. Hallmarks of Aging: An Expanding Universe. Cell, 2023.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.001 · PMID: 36599349
- National Institute on Aging. Research portfolio. U.S. National Institutes of Health, 2024.
- National Institute on Aging. Interventions Testing Program. U.S. National Institutes of Health, 2024.
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