Considering that aging is perhaps the single greatest cause of human suffering, it is surprising that longevity research doesn’t get broad public support.

Researchers in this field often get derided for their chosen area of study:

• Why do you want to help elderly people just have more years of misery?
• If a person is meant to die, then shouldn’t that person die?
• Why fight nature?

Of course, the reality is that the primary goal among gerontologists is not to extend the frail years, but to extend the healthy ones. Regarding nature: in some sense, all of medical science is “against nature” - we intervene into the natural order to minimize suffering and to improve our quality of life.

Think about a world where the average person was able to get 10, 20, or 30 more years of youthful life to further leverage and enjoy their skills, relationships and experience. How much more human satisfaction and advancement would be unleashed?

Some of the primary areas of scientific advancement in aging research include:

• Autophagy
• Senescence
• Genetic Manipulation
• Heterochronic parabiosis
• Caloric Restriction
• Metformin and other existing drugs
• The insulin/IGF pathway
• Hypothalamus control of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH)

Longevity research is actively being pursued by research labs at Harvard, UC Berkeley, University of Washington, USC, Stanford and others. Innovative companies are pursuing techniques such as interdisciplinary machine learning among others. It’s a complex, cross-functional field that deserves support for its massive potential to alleviate human suffering.