Updated · July 2026
How close are we to extending healthy human lifespan?Can we stay healthy for much longer?
Can we stay healthy for much longer?How close are we to extending healthy human lifespan?
Multiple interventions now reproducibly slow aging in mice, but no treatment has yet shown a large, durable extension of healthy lifespan in humans.We can slow parts of aging in animals; proving that people gain many healthy years will take long, careful trials that are only just starting.
Recorded milestones
Rapamycin extends mouse lifespan
First partial reprogramming in a human
Open tests · conceptual branches
- OPEN TEST02 ↗Measure aging before decades passValidated aging biomarkersA clock has to prove it forecasts real future health, so trials do not have to wait a lifetime for an answer.Aging clocks qualified as surrogate endpoints that predict disease and mortality, not just a younger-looking score
- OPEN TEST03 ↗Keep people healthier for longerHuman healthspan efficacyThe goal is extra capable years, shown across more than one disease and against a placebo.Randomized evidence that an intervention delays multiple age-related diseases in people
- OPEN TEST04 ↗Repair old tissue safelySafe human rejuvenationResetting cells must not erase their identity or raise cancer risk; the first human tests are just beginning.Repeatedly restore tissue function in people without excess cancer or immune risk
The path shows First partial reprogramming in a human. Open thresholds are separate tests in a conceptual map, not a forecast. No single percentage represents progress.
Where we standWhere we stand
The current stage, the evidence recorded, and the single threshold that gates the next stage.The stage reached, the evidence recorded, and the one test still blocking the next step.
What the evidence has shownWhat the evidence has shown
We can slow parts of aging in animals; proving that people gain many healthy years will take long, careful trials that are only just starting.Multiple interventions now reproducibly slow aging in mice, but no treatment has yet shown a large, durable extension of healthy lifespan in humans.
The next testBlocking threshold
Measure aging before decades passValidated aging biomarkersRegulatory qualification of DunedinPACE-class clocks as surrogate endpoints in interventional trialsRegulatory qualification of DunedinPACE-class clocks as surrogate endpoints in interventional trials
What would count as proof?What would count as proof?
A clear test, the evidence behind it, and the limits of the claim.A clear test, the evidence behind it, and what it still leaves open.
Add healthy time to an animal's lifeSlow aging in mammals
In mice this is now routine: several different treatments make them live longer and stay healthier.Reproducibly extend healthy lifespan in mice across independent labs and interventions
Recorded result NIA Interventions Testing Program: rapamycin extends mouse lifespan, later replicated many times
SOURCE RECORD
Timeline · Rapamycin extends mouse lifespan (ITP) ↗Still to demonstrateWhat this does not establishA separate system can still have different conditions and results.The named measurement has no wider implication until the supporting system test is also shown.
View every evidence record
Achieved
Add healthy time to an animal's lifeSlow aging in mammals
In mice this is now routine: several different treatments make them live longer and stay healthier.Reproducibly extend healthy lifespan in mice across independent labs and interventions
Recorded result: 2009 · NIA Interventions Testing Program: rapamycin extends mouse lifespan, later replicated many times
Open test
Measure aging before decades passValidated aging biomarkers
A clock has to prove it forecasts real future health, so trials do not have to wait a lifetime for an answer.Aging clocks qualified as surrogate endpoints that predict disease and mortality, not just a younger-looking score
Next test: Regulatory qualification of DunedinPACE-class clocks as surrogate endpoints in interventional trials
Open test
Keep people healthier for longerHuman healthspan efficacy
The goal is extra capable years, shown across more than one disease and against a placebo.Randomized evidence that an intervention delays multiple age-related diseases in people
Next test: VITAL-H Phase 3 (726 adults, 3 repurposed drugs) and larger geroscience trials with clinical outcomes
Open test
Repair old tissue safelySafe human rejuvenation
Resetting cells must not erase their identity or raise cancer risk; the first human tests are just beginning.Repeatedly restore tissue function in people without excess cancer or immune risk
Next test: Life Biosciences ER-100 Phase 1 safety and visual-function readout in optic neuropathy
The record behind the verdictThe record behind the verdict
Major milestones and smaller context events share one source-linked record. Scheduled targets are marked separately from recorded events.Milestones, smaller events and setbacks share one sourced record. Scheduled targets are marked separately from recorded events.
Event key
Dietary and genetic foundations
Recorded event: “Calorie restriction extends rat lifespan”.
Pathways and drugs
This record spans “A single-gene mutation doubles worm lifespan” to “Telomerase gene therapy extends mouse lifespan”.
Cellular rejuvenation
This record spans “Partial reprogramming rejuvenates cells in living mice” to “First-in-human senolytic trial”.
Human translation
This record spans “Reprogramming companies launch on billionaire funding” to “ER-100 Phase 1 safety readout” and includes scheduled targets.
Additional records
Scheduled target: “Target: a Phase 3 healthspan endpoint (TAME)”.
The data behind the verdictThe data behind the verdict
Read each measure with its units, conditions, uncertainty and source; targets remain distinct from observations.Read each chart with its conditions, limits and source. Future targets remain distinct from recorded results.
- 1Rapamycin (from 600 days), +9% male / +13% female - first ITP pharmacological hit · 13 % increase in median lifespan · 2009
- 217-α-estradiol, +19% median lifespan (males), UM-HET3 mice · 19 % increase in median lifespan · 2014
- 3Acarbose, +22% male median lifespan (only +5% female) · 22 % increase in median lifespan · 2014 · 4 mo
- A~+50% - match the best historical caloric-restriction results · 50 % increase in median lifespan~+50% - match the best historical caloric-restriction results · 50 % increase in median lifespan
Records are separate measurements; no line joins them. All results are in mice and NONE are validated in humans; the effects are also strongly sex-dependent.
Methods & conditions
Under the measurement.
The boundary of a measurement changes what it means.
Anti-IL-11 remains a mouse result
Method and conditions
Anti-IL-11 raised pooled median survival from 120.9 to 155.6 weeks; gross tumours were found in 3/19 treated versus 22/36 control mice. It remains one laboratory programme in mice, not an independently replicated ITP result or human treatment.
Source notes
Technical notes and sources
Each note keeps its authored method, conditions and citations available for review.
Anti-IL-11 remains a mouse result
Anti-IL-11 raised pooled median survival from 120.9 to 155.6 weeks; gross tumours were found in 3/19 treated versus 22/36 control mice. It remains one laboratory programme in mice, not an independently replicated ITP result or human treatment.
PEARL's primary endpoint was null
PEARL's primary visceral-adiposity result was unequivocally null (partial η² = 0.001, p = 0.942). The reported female lean-mass effect at 10 mg/week (partial η² = 0.202, p = 0.013) was a secondary, sex-stratified result and is not evidence of slower aging or longer life.
The senolytic subgroup was exploratory
In the senolytic randomized trial, overall CTx changes were −4.1% with dasatinib plus quercetin versus −7.7% in controls (p = 0.611). The high-p16 subgroup's bone findings were exploratory and should be treated as a hypothesis for stratified trials.
New mouse hits are male-specific
ITP's newer hits reinforce severe sex dependence: astaxanthin, meclizine, epicatechin, halofuginone and mitoglitazone benefited only males; astaxanthin and meclizine also failed the statistical test for 90th-percentile survival.
Aging clocks are not validated surrogates
Aging-clock responsiveness is not surrogate validation. A standardized evaluation of 39 biomarkers in more than 20,000 people found chronological-age accuracy poorly correlated with mortality prediction (R = 0.12, p = 0.67); no clock has thereby proved that an intervention-induced score change predicts clinical benefit.
VITAL-H is an announced test
VITAL-H's intrinsic-capacity strategy targets multidomain physical and mental function rather than lifespan. The trial is funded and designed, but the institution says enrollment starts in 2027, so it is an announced test-not achieved evidence.
If the remaining tests pass.If the remaining tests pass.
Downstream capabilities remain conditional on results that are not yet in.These are possible next capabilities, conditional on results that are not yet in.
- PASSED · 200901 ↗Add healthy time to an animal's lifeSlow aging in mammalsIn mice this is now routine: several different treatments make them live longer and stay healthier.Reproducibly extend healthy lifespan in mice across independent labs and interventions
- OPEN TEST02 ↗Measure aging before decades passValidated aging biomarkersA clock has to prove it forecasts real future health, so trials do not have to wait a lifetime for an answer.Aging clocks qualified as surrogate endpoints that predict disease and mortality, not just a younger-looking score
- OPEN TEST03 ↗Keep people healthier for longerHuman healthspan efficacyThe goal is extra capable years, shown across more than one disease and against a placebo.Randomized evidence that an intervention delays multiple age-related diseases in people
- OPEN TEST04 ↗Repair old tissue safelySafe human rejuvenationResetting cells must not erase their identity or raise cancer risk; the first human tests are just beginning.Repeatedly restore tissue function in people without excess cancer or immune risk
Possible, if the open tests pass.
Compressed morbidity
This is a possible benefit only if compressed morbidity works safely, reliably and at useful scale.Potential benefit only if the stated use (Compressed morbidity) is demonstrated with evidence for safety, reliability, affordability and scale.
Diseases of aging delayed together
This is a possible benefit only if diseases of aging delayed together works safely, reliably and at useful scale.Potential benefit only if the stated use (Diseases of aging delayed together) is demonstrated with evidence for safety, reliability, affordability and scale.
Lower care burden
This is a possible benefit only if lower care burden works safely, reliably and at useful scale.Potential benefit only if the stated use (Lower care burden) is demonstrated with evidence for safety, reliability, affordability and scale.
Meet the builders.Meet the builders.
The organisations, their approaches, and the evidence behind them.The teams doing the work, the money around them, and what the record can support.
USA / UK · company
Altos Labs
Cellular rejuvenation programming across Bay Area, San Diego and Cambridge research institutes
Capital is context, not a demonstration.
Company source ↗View every builder record
Altos Labs
USA / UK · company · Cellular rejuvenation programming across Bay Area, San Diego and Cambridge research institutes
Funding: $3B fully committed at launch · Jan 2022
The launch release did not name the backers.
Company source ↗NewLimit
USA · company · Epigenetic-reprogramming medicines aimed at restoring youthful cell function
Funding: Series B · $130M · May 2025
Named investors: Kleiner Perkins · NFDG · Khosla Ventures · Human Capital · Valor Equity Partners
Company source ↗Retro Biosciences
USA · company · Cellular reprogramming, autophagy and plasma-inspired programs
Funding: Initial close; amount undisclosed · Jun 2026
Named investors: 4P Capital
$1.8B was the disclosed pre-money valuation, not capital raised.
Company source ↗Calico
USA · company · Basic aging biology plus drug discovery and development for age-related disease
Funding: Funding not recorded in this record.
Company source ↗Buck Institute for Research on Aging
USA · nonprofit · Independent institute spanning cellular aging, metabolism, immune aging and disease
Funding: Funding not recorded in this record.
Company source ↗Hevolution Foundation
Saudi Arabia · nonprofit · Grants and early-stage investment in healthspan science
Funding: Funding not recorded in this record.
Company source ↗National Institute on Aging
USA · government · US federal funder of aging and older-adult health research
Funding: Funding not recorded in this record.
FY2026 enacted budget: $4.528939B; it covers aging research broadly.
Company source ↗Follow the evidence.Follow the evidence.
52 sources — every figure on this page traces to one.52 sources — every figure on this page traces to one.
- 01
Lopez-Otin et al., Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe, Cell (2023)
Read source ↗sciencedirect.comUsed on this pageScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 02
Waziry et al., CALERIE caloric restriction slows DunedinPACE, Nature Aging (2023)
Read source ↗pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 03
PEARL Trial: low-dose rapamycin healthspan metrics after one year, Aging (2025)
Read source ↗aging-us.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 04
Life Biosciences: first patient dosed in ER-100 Phase 1 (partial reprogramming), June 2026
Read source ↗lifebiosciences.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 05
Dasatinib plus quercetin reduces senescent cells in humans, eBioMedicine (Jan 2026)
Read source ↗thelancet.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 06
Timeline · Calorie restriction extends rat lifespan
Read source ↗pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 1 destination
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 07
Timeline · A single-gene mutation doubles worm lifespan
Read source ↗nature.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 08
Timeline · NIA Interventions Testing Program founded
Read source ↗pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 09
Timeline · Resveratrol touted as a longevity molecule
Read source ↗nature.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 10
Timeline · Rapamycin extends mouse lifespan (ITP)
Read source ↗nature.comUsed on this pageAll 6 uses across 5 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 11
Timeline · Resveratrol fails to extend lifespan in rigorous test
Read source ↗pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 12
Timeline · Telomerase gene therapy extends mouse lifespan
Read source ↗embopress.orgUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 13
Timeline · Partial reprogramming rejuvenates cells in living mice
Read source ↗cell.comUsed on this pageScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 14
Timeline · Senolytics extend mouse healthspan
Read source ↗nature.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 15
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 16
Timeline · Reprogramming companies launch on billionaire funding
Read source ↗scientificamerican.comUsed on this pageScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 17
Timeline · Calorie restriction slows a validated aging clock in humans
Read source ↗nature.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 18
Timeline · Taurine extends mouse lifespan
Read source ↗doi.orgUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 19
Timeline · Two drugs pass the NIA mouse test in males
Read source ↗pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 20
Timeline · Randomized senolytic trial misses primary endpoint
Read source ↗pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 21
Timeline · IL-11 blockade extends late-life mouse survival
Read source ↗nature.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 22
Timeline · PEARL rapamycin trial misses primary endpoint
Read source ↗pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 23
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 24
Timeline · Three more ITP drugs extend male mouse lifespan
Read source ↗link.springer.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 25
Timeline · VITAL-H healthspan trial receives funding
Read source ↗arpa-h.govUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 26
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 27
Timeline · Target: a Phase 3 healthspan endpoint (TAME)
Read source ↗afar.orgUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 28
Metric · 17-α-estradiol, +19% median lifespan (males), UM-HET3 mice
Read source ↗onlinelibrary.wiley.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 29
Metric · Rapamycin 42 ppm, +23% male / +26% female - largest reproducible ITP result
Read source ↗pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 30
Engineer note · New mouse hits are male-specific
Read source ↗pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 31
Engineer note · Aging clocks are not validated surrogates
Read source ↗nature.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 32
Engineer note · VITAL-H is an announced test
Read source ↗news.uthscsa.eduScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 33
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 34
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 35
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 36
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 37
companies · Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Read source ↗buckinstitute.orgUsed on this pageAll 1 use across 1 destination
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 38
companies · Hevolution Foundation
Read source ↗hevolution.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 39
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 40
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 41
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 42
people · Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
Read source ↗altoslabs.comUsed on this pageAll 2 uses across 2 destinations
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 43
market · 2.1B people aged 60+ by 2050
Read source ↗who.intUsed on this pageAll 1 use across 1 destination
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 44
market · 4.7-6.0 year health gap at age 60
Read source ↗cdn.who.intUsed on this pageAll 1 use across 1 destination
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 45
Scope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 46
Altos Labs official site
Read source ↗altoslabs.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 47
NewLimit official site
Read source ↗newlimit.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 48
Retro Biosciences official site
Read source ↗retro.bioScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 49
Calico official site
Read source ↗calicolabs.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 50
Buck Institute for Research on Aging official site
Read source ↗buckinstitute.orgScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 51
Hevolution Foundation official site
Read source ↗hevolution.comScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
- 52
National Institute on Aging official site
Read source ↗nia.nih.govScope: Not recorded. Limit: Not recorded.
Sources describe evidence. Inclusion is not endorsement.