Eating Isotopes May Extend Life by 10 Years
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Tucking into a steak enhanced with “heavy isotopes” could soon add as much as 10 years to your life.
Every chemical element comes in different forms, called isotopes. And scientists have for the first time shown that food enriched with isotopes whose atoms contain extra neutrons seems to slow down the process of ageing.
In preliminary experiments the concept has already been demonstrated to extend the life spans of worms by 10%.
The man behind the discovery, the Oxford University biochemist Mikhail Shchepinov, said: “What we are seeing is pretty amazing. But we expect to do better than that in the future.”
Charles Cantor, a professor of biomechanical engineering at Boston University, said: “Preliminary data indicates that this approach can potentially increase life span without adverse side effects. If this is borne out by further experiments the implications are profound.”
Heavy isotopes could be used in animal feed so that people could get them indirectly in steaks, chicken, or pork fillets, for example, rather than by eating isotopically-enhanced products themselves, said Mr. Shchepinov. He also explained that an occasional top-up would be sufficient to have a beneficial effect. Two groups are now studying his ideas in worms and Mr. Shchepinov is looking for commercial funding.
