Scoffing at Immortality

Scientists have discovered evidence which suggests that reducing one's intake of calories can slow the ageing process and extend lifespan. According to a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, "Dietary restriction is one of the universal forms of increasing longevity and this has been shown in everything ranging from yeast all the way up to dogs"; which may perhaps help to explain how the likes of Ronald Reagan and the Queen Mother managed to hang around so long. Still, there are positive aspects to the matter. If it turns out that long life and extended youth do indeed result from restricting one's diet to sixty or seventy per cent of the "normal" recommended food intake, it is possible that some people, even in California, might feel they have an incentive to consume less. Fortunately, the scientists have thought of this: they are also experimenting with genetically modified nematode worms so that people can "eat their normal diets but really ... enjoy the benefits of dietary restriction without having to go through the whole regimen".