Switching on Resilience

We're not getting any younger...yet

In this episode, host Eric Verdin sits down with Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, a true pioneer in the field of geroscience and the Vice President of Aging Research at Calico. Dr. Kenyon recounts the revolutionary discovery that aging is not merely a process of “wearing out,” but is a genetically regulated biological program. In 1993, Cynthia’s pioneering discovery that a single-gene mutation could double the lifespan of C. elegans roundworms while preserving function sparked an intensive study of the molecular biology of aging. The conversation explores how these findings translate from worms to mammals, the potential of drugs like Ozempic and Acarbose to extend human healthspan, and Dr. Kenyon’s proposal for a “World Healthspan Organization” to fund large-scale clinical trials for off-patent, low-cost compounds that currently lack traditional industry incentives.

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