新型抗衰老藥或延長人類壽命至120歲大綱

Do you ever think that it's kinda crazy that we can order pizza from our cellphones and yet no one can figure out how to stop (or at least slow) the inevitable march towards death? Well, you're not alone.

你是否想過，人類已經發展到可以用手機訂披薩的程度，爲什麼卻無法阻止（或減慢）自身走向死亡的步伐？好吧，並不是只有你一個人這麼想過。

Science has been trying to figure out this whole aging thing for a long time now, and a new development just could be one of those watershed moments in history.

長久以來，科學界一直在試圖解開人類衰老的謎團。而一項最新的研究成果或有望成爲改變歷史的分水嶺之一。

According to the New Zealand Herald, a new anti-aging drug is going to be tested on human subjects starting next year. The potential result of this could mean that we, human beings, could extend our life spans to 120 years of age and be in good health to the very end.

據《新西蘭先鋒報》報道，一種新型抗衰老藥物將於明年開始在人體上進行試驗。可能的結果是，我們人類的壽命因此延長至120年，而且在壽終正寢前一直保持健康。

The drug in question is a widely used diabetes pill called Metformin and costs mere cents to make. Metformin helps to increase oxygen flow on the cellular level, thereby slowing the necessary cell divisions that keep our bodies both functioning correctly but ultimately lead to aging.

這種藥物名爲“甲福明”，是一種被廣泛使用的抗糖尿病藥，製造成本不過幾分錢。甲福明能促進氧在細胞內的循環流動，進而降低細胞分裂的速度——細胞分裂在保證我們身體正常運轉的同時，也是導致我們衰老的罪魁禍首。

Belgian researchers have tested the drug on roundworms, and have had positive results so the next step is to do a human trial.

比利時研究者已將該藥物在蛔蟲身上進行了試驗，取得了積極的效果，下一步就是人體試驗。

"I have been doing research into aging for 25 years and the idea that we would be talking about a clinical trial in humans for an anti-aging drug would have been thought inconceivable," says aging expert Professor Gordon Lithgow.

研究衰老的專家戈登·利思戈教授說：“我研究衰老25年了。我們將要在人體上進行的抗衰老藥臨牀試驗，此前一直被認爲是不可想象的。”

"But there is every reason to believe it's possible. The future is taking the biology that we've now developed and applying it to humans."

“但我們現在有理由相信這種試驗是可行的。未來方向是把我們研發出來的各種生物機理應用於人體。”

Let's just hope that cosmetic surgery can keep apace of these new developments.

但願我們的整容術能跟得上這些最新的科學發展。