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You could test the effects of certain substances on lifespan of C. Elegans, fruitflies, mice, etc. There's way too little interest from the big guys testing whether substances extend lifespan.

http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=21310

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename=what_you_can_do

You gave this link:

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename=reversal

In my opinion, no scientist would attach any importance to what they say there. It is advertising directed toward those who are ignorant about science, and it is meaningless otherwise, in my opinion.

I agree there's a lot of crap out there (I'm personally annoyed by the "anti-aging" skin-care crap I see on TV), but I don't think that a Google search and the fact that anti-aging is hyped and occupied by questionable characters mean that Dr. de Grey's Methuselah foundation is questionable itself.

In fact, from what I've seen of his work, it appears that his foundation is in fact putting its money where its mouth is (versus lip service and lining the pockets of those involved):

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename=mp_structure

From a cursory review of the site, it appears that the prize has been running since at least 2004 and has awarded monetary prizes:

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename=reversal

So, I would counter that regardless of the fraud, hype and general unpleasantness present in other areas of this field, the Methuselah Foundation is promoting honest research in the area.

I also believe that they have a ways to go to reverse the stagnation in the industry (thanks to the religious right's anti-stem-cell-research beliefs) and the general newness of the field, but you need to start somewhere. Imagine how far we'd be today if the NIH stem cell policy wasn't written by right-wingers:

http://stemcells.nih.gov/
http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/

Half of the process is convincing the world that it's possible to reverse/end aging and get the funding taps opened up, while the other half is building up research on the basic science that needs to occur first.

I agree there's a lot of crap out there (I'm personally annoyed by the "anti-aging" skin-care crap I see on TV), but I don't think that a Google search and the fact that anti-aging is hyped and occupied by questionable characters mean that Dr. de Grey's Methuselah foundation is questionable itself.

In fact, from what I've seen of his work, it appears that his foundation is in fact putting its money where its mouth is (versus lip service and lining the pockets of those involved):

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename=mp_structure

From a cursory review of the site, it appears that the prize has been running since at least 2004 and has awarded monetary prizes:

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename=reversal

So, I would counter that regardless of the fraud, hype and general unpleasantness present in other areas of this field, the Methuselah Foundation is promoting honest research in the area.

I also believe that they have a ways to go to reverse the stagnation in the industry (thanks to the religious right's anti-stem-cell-research beliefs) and the general newness of the field, but you need to start somewhere. Imagine how far we'd be today if the NIH stem cell policy wasn't written by right-wingers:

http://stemcells.nih.gov/
http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/

Half of the process is convincing the world that it's possible to reverse/end aging and get the funding taps opened up, while the other half is building up research on the basic science that needs to occur first.

If we can make new ones that can replace the ones that are already there with broken-down mtDNA, then this brings us closer to extended lifespans!

http://methuselahfoundation.org/index.php?pagename =mitosens

The Methuselah Mouse Prize (MPrize), is the premiere effort of the Methuselah Foundation and is being offered to the scientific research team who develops the longest living Mus musculus, the breed of mouse most commonly used in scientific research. Developing interventions which work in mice are a critical precursor to the development of human anti-aging techniques, for once it is demonstrated that aging in mice can be effectively delayed or reversed, popular attitudes towards aging as 'inevitable' will no longer be possible. When aging in mice is shown to be 'treatable' the funding necessary for a full-line assault on the aging process will be made available. This is the true power of the Methuselah Mouse Prize, to demonstrate a proof of principle, and give hope to the world that decline in function and age-related disease are no longer guarantees, for us, or for future generations, if we work together now.

Well that sucks - second accepted submission on this topic and I get my name redacted. Grumble.

If this topic interests you, you may want to check out the following:

• The last discussion of Aubrey de Grey on Slashdot
• The Longevity Meme
• Fight Aging
• The Methuselah Foundation
• The Immortality Institute

Lots of good information and links to further resources at those sites.

For real anti-aging research, check out the following:

http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/sens/index.html/

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/

Furthermore, taking anti-oxidants has little effect on the time-increasing probability of a person dying soon (simply, aging), since it does not repair the damages that have occurred through aging, but simply prevents some types from happening.

Ray has donated quite generously in support of the Methuselah Mouse prize, as you can see on the donors list. Good for him.

http://www.methuselahmouse.org

I think that progress to date since the launch last year is pretty impressive. $50,000 raised and $300,000 in pledges is far greater progress than the X Prize managed in the same period of time after launch - learning from the past and improving on it is a good thing. Check out The Three Hundred as well as a good example of how to get a certain set of people involved:

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/threehundred.a sp

Why are prizes for research so good? Take a look at this piece on how they work and why they work so well:

http://www.longevitymeme.org/topics/research_prize s.cfm