Up close, the epigenome is more complex and wonderful than anything we humans have invented. It consists of strands of DNA wrapped around spooling pr… - David A. Sinclair

Most of my colleagues call these "longevity genes" because they have demonstrated the ability to extend both average and maximum lifespans in many organisms. But these genes don't just make life longer, they make it healthier, which is why they can also be thought of as "vitality genes."

And it is home to what is arguably the most prestigious national scientific association in the world, the Royal Society. Founded in the 1600s during the Age of Enlightenment and formerly headed by Australia's catalyst, the botanist Sir Joseph Banks, as well as such legendary minds as Sir Isaac Newton and Thomas Henry Huxley, the society's cheeky motto is a pretty good one to live by: "Nullius in Verba," it says underneath the society's coat of arms. That's Latin for "Take nobody's word for it."

Don't be disheartened by my claim that we are the biological equivalent of an old DVD player. This is actually good news. If Szilard had turned out to be right about mutations causing aging, we would not be able to easily address it, because when information is lost without a backup, it is lost for good. Ask anyone who's tried to play or restore content from a DVD that's had an edge broken off: what is gone is gone. But we can usually recover information from a scratched DVD. And if I am right, the same kind of process is what it will take to reverse aging.