Aging

If mitochondrial decline sits near the center of aging, the interesting question is how researchers are trying to address it. The research splits into three distinct strategies — protect the structure, restore the metabolic inputs, and strengthen the signals — and seeing them together is the best map of the field.

NAD+ sits at the center of how cells make energy and repair themselves, and it appears to fall with age. That has made raising it one of the most pursued ideas in longevity — and one of the most instructive tests of how biology translates from mice to people.

Mitochondria do far more than make energy — and their gradual dysfunction sits close to the center of why bodies age. A guide to the biology that has made mitochondria one of the most important targets in longevity research.