Cheating Time: Science,Sex, and Aging

The quest to prolong our youth has spurred numerous quack remedies and fraudulent claims. It has also inspired serious research efforts, where new technologies and crossdisciplinary investigations are starting to pry loose the secrets of the aging process. Researchers have recently announced that people may soon be able to live to be 150, or more.

In Cheating Time, acclaimed researcher Roger Gosden tells us what scientists have learned so far, particularly about the role of hormones in aging. Focusing on the link (and possible tradeoffs) between longevity and reproductive capacity, Gosden combines fascinating theories and findings with engaging anecdotes of life on the frontlines of this compelling area of scientific inquiry. He offers good reasons to be optimistic. While no one is patenting eternal youth just yet, science has made astonishing gains in understanding how we can live longer lives in better health. 12 illustrations.

Roger Gosden began his research career in Cambridge, England, under the test-tube baby pioneer Robert Edwards. In 1976, he moved to the University of Edinburgh Medical School where he lectured in physiology for 18 years. He has worked at Duke University Medical Center and at the University of Southern California's Andrus Gerontology Center, and holds doctorates from Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities. He has published more than a hundred professional articles on the development and aging of the sex organs. Roger Gosden is the Research Director and a professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at McGill University and based in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. He is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Medicine, Leeds University, West Yorkshire UK. Designing Babies: The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology, Gosden's most recent book, was just published.