RESEARKA

Aging represents the single greatest risk factor for the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegeneration, and metabolic dysfunction. The geroscience hypothesis posits that targeting the fundamental biological mechanisms of aging could simultaneously delay or prevent multiple age-related conditions, offering a paradigm shift from disease-specific interventions to a unified approach against the underlying process itself (Cruz-Jentoft 2019). The question of whether pharmacological interventions can meaningfully extend human healthspan — the period of life spent in good health — has moved from speculative fiction to a central preoccupation of translational medicine. Despite decades of research, no intervention has been approved specifically for the indication of slowing human aging, leaving an enormous unmet clinical need. The stakes are high: even a modest delay in the onset of age-related disability could yield substantial reductions in healthcare burden and improvements in quality of life for millions. It is within this context that rapamycin effects have attracted intense scientific and public interest as a candidate geroprotective agent. The drug rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor originally developed as an immunosuppressant, has emerged as one of the most studied molecules in the biology of aging, yet the translation from preclinical promise to human clinical benefit remains incomplete and contested. The current moment is therefore one of both excitement and caution, as the field seeks to determine whether rapamycin effects can fulfill their early promise in rigorous human trials.

Citation Support

• source_1 Mandrioli 2023
• source_2 Lin 2022
• source_3 Moel 2025
• source_4 Gkioni 2025
• source_5 Zhou 2024