Fresh Eyes on the Buck Institute
It's always interesting to see community institutions from a fresh perspective. Here, Anne C. discovers the Buck Institute for Age Research: "I'm tremendously pleased to see that the Institute exists, and I really like their up-front focus on improving the health of the elderly. ... The notion of 'strategic aging' as described here is actually quite similar to the SENS paradigm on which the Methuselah Foundation is basing its research objectives. Of course everyone is going to get old someday (it's one of those inevitable consequences of being born), but there's no fundamental reason why getting old should have to lead to painful, fatal illness. The notion of 'strategic aging' recognizes that people's health needs change as they age, and that it makes much more sense to address these changing needs proactively than wait until a person sits at death's door. This proactive approach is becoming more and more of a realistic one, and if all goes well, it will hopefully become the default paradigm within a few decades or so." I'd have placed the Institute in that part of the research community that has yet to come around to the importance of repair over metabolic tinkering in addressing aging - which I consider far more important a division than intent.
Link: http://www.existenceiswonderful.com/2007/12/spotlight-buck-institute-for-age.html