How Close Are We to Discovering the “Secret of Youth”? Key Challenges in the Search to Prolong the Human Healthspan

As human longevity continues to increase, biomedical scientists are beginning to take seriously the possibility that it might soon become feasible to find new ways to increase the span of healthy years. The prospect of finding the “secret of youth” has fascinated humanity for centuries, but could it one day become the realm of science fact, rather than fantasy? There are good grounds to be optimistic that further improvements in healthy aging can be achieved, but we need to be realistic about what can be expected, and when.