(phytochemicals) may hold to key to longevity

Highlight:
Healing nutrients found in nature (phytochemicals) may hold to key to longevity and anti-aging therapies. In this case, naturally occurring compounds in red wine were found to nearly double the lifespan of yeast cells.
Original source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/08/030825072453.htm

Summary:
Now, in yeast cells, researchers at Harvard Medical School and BIOMOL Research Laboratories have for the first time found a way to duplicate the benefits of restricted calories in yeast with a group of compounds found in red wine and vegetables. One compound extended yeast life span by up to 80 percent. The molecules are also active in human cells cultured in the laboratory. "The sirtuin stimulation provided by certain, but not all, polyphenols may be a far more important biological effect than their antioxidant action," said co-author Konrad Howitz, director of molecular biology at BIOMOL, a biochemical reagents company in Pennsylvania.