Rapamycin (Sirolimus) - elixir of life?

Rapamycin also known as Sirolimus

Rapamycin (C₅₁H₇₉NO₁₃) also known by its alternative name Sirolimus was first discovered as a product of the bacterium Streptomyces hygroscopicus in a soil sample from Easter Island. It is an immunosuppressant drug often used to prevent autoimmune organ rejection in organ transplant.

Rapamycin molecular structure courtesy of Wikipedia - Sirolimus

Rapamycin - elixir of life?

Research done at three centres in Texas, Michigan and Maine and published in Nature journal gives hope that we may be nearer at finding an elixir of life or at least an anti-ageing drug that can prolong life. The researchers fed rapamycin to mice which were bred to mimic the genetic diversity and susceptibility to disease of humans as closely as possible and at an age equivalent to 60 years in humans and found that the drug prolong life by 28 to 38%

However, we should not yet jump up with joy because Rapamycin in an immunity suppressant and will suppress the body immune system leading to infection. The mice in the research which were fed Rapamycin were protected from infection. This would be almost impossible for human in real life situation. Dr Lynne Cox, an expert in ageing at the University of Oxford, the findings are interesting because they highlighted an important molecular pathway that new, more specific drugs might be designed to work on.

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