The Methuselah Mouse Prize: Changing the Conversation about Aging – Article by Advocate of Negligible Senescence
Why mice? Mice are genetically similar to humans. They are small and inexpensive to maintain so studying large quantities is feasible. Their short lifespan, about three years, makes it possible to see if interventions result in longer, healthier lives—all in time to be of benefit to our own lives.
The Mouse Prize for longevity was first won by a team led by Dr. Andrzej Bartke of Southern Illinois University. The prize for rejuvenation first went to Dr. Stephen Spindler of the University of California.
Previous winners have already proven that healthy life can be extended; more wins are possible by researchers who can best previous winners’ performances, and each new winner pushes the outer limits of healthy life back even further.
How translatable the lesson of a Methuselah mouse will be to people is a matter of debate. The logic of disposable-soma theory applies to both species.
Private donations made since 2003 have bumped the prize value up to nearly $3.5 million, according to the latest update on the Methuselah Foundation website.
Don’t be misled by the size of the fund into thinking that a small donation will make no difference, because this is fundamentally a popular enterprise, a people’s prize, so the number of individual donors is really just as important as the total.