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Fountains of Youth

Friday, February 01, 2008

Dr. Cynthia Kenyon looks at the genes of tiny worms, and discovers that aging may be a battle between good and evil. A literal struggle between two genes (who she calls): The Grim Reaper gene vs. The Fountain of Youth gene. And by fixing the match, she and her team at UCSF have found they can take the worms, and more than DOUBLE their lifespan. She wonders if her research may be applicable to humans. And what would a society look like if we could all live twice as long? Well, Japan may be the canary in the coal mine, because it has the fastest aging population in the whole world. Reporter Jocelyn Ford takes us there, on a tour through street fairs, nursing homes, and robot factories, to see how a society supports an aging population.

"Elixir" is real
Paro the Robot
Slideshow: Paro and Granny


Comments

  • [1] Val from CT February 01, 2008 - 04:10PM

    I lived in Japan for four years and taught English to 65 to 85 year old retired Japanese. There is a duality your reporter is missing. Although the elderly Japanese do not want to be a burden to their children, they also feel that it is an unspoken obligation of their children to take care of them. Nursing homes, a la the U.S. are only recent being built.


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