#047 Longevity: The Disposable Soma Hypothesis — Prof Tom Kirkwood CBE

How can you extend life?

Professor Tom Kirkwood is Emeritus Professor at Newcastle University where he headed the Institute for Ageing and Health. He delivered the famous Reith Lectures and was awarded a CBE in 2009.

Perhaps most famously he put forward the ‘Disposable Soma Hypothesis’ — which postulates that the body has a limited budget of resources and energy. It must therefore make a compromise between living longer (longevity) and activities which will help it reproduce.

Interestingly, he also invented the INR in the 80s, which is a blood test used everyday by doctors to measure the clotting of a patient’s blood.

We talk about the disposable soma theory, how calorie restriction may extend lifespan, anti-ageing interventions which Prof Kirkwood finds interesting and how you would design a trial to show the efficacy of an anti ageing drug.

You can find me on Twitter @MustafaSultan and subscribe to my newsletter on www.musty.io