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.

If I were a worm, I would rather be the long-lived mutant than the normal worm, that's for sure.

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

You would think that UV just causes mutations, but it doesn't, you need a gene to be active for it.

Age is the single largest risk factor for an enormous number of diseases. So if you can essentially postpone aging, then you can have beneficial effects on a whole wide range of disease.

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

Imagine that: If you could change one of the genes in an experiment, an aging gene, maybe you could slow down aging and extend lifespan.