Two Industries in One Field
It is now easier to distinguish between two groups, as we have begun to see actual therapies that target the aging process directly to prevent age-related illnesses.
First, there are the snake-oil salesmen who sell unproven therapies and supplements to anyone foolish enough to believe them without applying the scientific method. Hucksters are a plague in our field. They prey on the gullible, and their nonsense and charlatanry taints legitimate science. The \”biotech\” company that makes big claims but never follows through with them in reality, relying on data from poorly designed studies and small cohorts which are statistically irrelevant, is one example. Another is the supplement seller who sells expensive blends of supplements with flashy names that, upon inspection, are just herbs and minerals mixed together and sold for a high price. This type of person has plagued the community, and given it a bad reputation.
Second, there are credible scientists, companies, and researchers who have worked on therapies for many years, sometimes even more than a decade. Aubrey de Grey, the founder of the SENS Research Foundation, advocated a damage repair strategy over ten years ago. The idea is to use an engineering approach in order to repair the damage caused by aging to the body, and keep it below the level that causes disease. Some of these therapies are already being tested on humans, marking a major milestone for our field. The credible science is now able to outshine the snake oil and we can now focus on real, evidence-based research.
Source:
https://www.leafscience.org/snake-oil/
