In principle, if you understood the mechanisms of keeping things repaired, you could keep things going indefinitely.

A big tree seemed even more beautiful to me when I imagined thousands of tiny photosynthesis machines inside every leaf. So I went to MIT and worked on bacteria because that's where people knew the most about these switches, how to control the genetics.

It was like stepping on to an escalator; I could do anything. I was just made for science.

In principle, if you understood the mechanisms of keeping things repaired, you could keep things going indefinitely.

The idea that ageing was subject to control was completely unexpected.

Generally, older people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies are running most countries and are CEOs of corporations. Which isn't to say there aren't entrepreneurs, but if the young were better in every respect, there'd be no reason for the old. Our life span reflects our particular life strategy.

In the early '90s, we discovered mutations that could double the normal life span of worms.