Many scientists are trying to determine just how much medical intervention can lengthen the human lifespan. But Daniel Promislow, senior scientist and scientific advisor at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, is interested in a different question: If humans suddenly start living longer, what might the consequences be?
It's something we all need to consider as more and more aging research labs work to identify pathways for countering age-related decline, paving the way to develop life-extending drugs, says Promislow, who has laid out his argument in "Lessons for Responsible Geroscience From the History of Longevity," which appears in AMA Journal of Ethics.
What is geroscience, for those who aren't familiar with the term? Can you talk about what's emerging from the field?
Daniel Promislow: Geroscience is the study of biological aging, based on the assumption that all age-related change happens through particular pathways. Drugs developed to delay or decrease the effects of aging, whether dermatological or ophthalmological, are referred to as gerotherapeutics.
GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic came out of a lab studying diabetes. We then discovered that they can reduce obesity, that they improve heart function and decrease the risks of lots of other causes of mortality. Given their effects on many age-related diseases, they seem to have what we imagine would be the effects of a gerotherapeutic drug.
