A Policy Analysis of Funding for Ambitious Interventional Gerontology: The Possibility of Rejuvenation Research at the National Institute on Aging

Issues related to the development of ambitious interventional gerontology—rejuvenation research—at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) within the National Institutes of Health(NIH) are discussed. Creating a separate branch for rejuvenation research within the NIA is probably neither feasible nor desirable at this time. However, it may be both feasible and desirable to begin rejuvenation research by establishing a bioengineering laboratory offering technologies that complement the disease-orientated focus of other NIA intramural laboratories. Such a bioengineering lab could use modern engineering tools for cell and gene therapies to uncover mechanisms of aging and to attempt to repair age-associated pathogenic damage. It is argued that, even in the absence of a full understanding of the complex causes and manifestations of human aging, interventional bioengineering could create methods for reversing aging processes. Exploring technical interventions may both reverse aging processes and significantly advance current disease-specific research.