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EVER since Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon went hunting for the Fountain of Youth, the visionaries who have sought to avoid growing old have been noted more for their enthusiasm – some would say for their gullibility – than for solid science. No longer, though: the past few years have seen an explosion of sober research on the biology of ageing, and we now know that it is indeed possible to greatly extend the lifespans of every sort of organism from yeast to mice. The time is certainly ripe to ask what this emerging science means for our own chances…