In order to conduct this, without exaggeration, exciting, investigation, an expert in English language and literature, Bill Gifford, had to gain basic knowledge of biology and medicine, study all available scientific literature on the problem of aging, study dozens of large-scale multi-year studies, and in one of them even take part as a test subject.
The book impresses with a rigorous analysis of the nuances of the mechanisms of aging and the issue of longevity. Wherever the neophyte’s curiosity takes the author — to the laboratories of outstanding scientists, to the homes of venerable elders, to biologists studying long-lived worms — any route turns out to be extremely fascinating, and the harmful role of some cytokine proteins or, conversely, a protective function gene — inhibitor of the CETP protein becomes almost obvious. Aging is, of course, inevitable, and the book’s title is provocative in that sense. But to slow down or speed up the process is partly in our power. One of the «secrets» shared by Bill Gifford seems too simple: «Use it or you’ll lose it.» But you will certainly appreciate its significance by reading (or rather, swallowing) this book.
Alpina Publisher, 394 p.