Substance makes mice live longer, but hardly slows down the
aging process
The drug rapamycin is known to increase lifespan in mice.
Whether rapamycin slows down aging, however, remains unclear. A team of
researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and
the Helmholtz Zentrum München has now found that rapamycin extends lifespan -
but its impact on aging itself is limited. The life-extending effect seems to
be related to rapamycin’s suppression of tumors, which represent the main
causes of death in these mouse strains.