Resveratrol on 60 Minutes

Seventeen years ago, 60 Minutes first examined the so-called French paradox, which suggested that the French – despite a high fat diet and high consumption of wine – had a remarkably low incidence of heart disease, compared with Americans. Most researchers agreed that there was something in the wine that offered protection, and a few years later, even the highly cautious federal dietary guidelines say that moderate consumption of red wine can be beneficial.

Now, scientists across the country have identified a substance in red wine called resveratrol that they believe might do more than just protect the heart, but could – in very high concentrations – significantly extend life by preventing a number of age related illnesses. If they’re right, we all may soon be taking a pill that could give us an extra decade or two of healthy old age.

"If the promise holds true, I think this has the chance to change healthcare," Dr. Christoph Westphal tells correspondent Morley Safer.

Dr. Westphal says we all may soon be taking a drug that just might beat the clock, a simple pill that could delay the inevitable. "Our goal is to prevent and forestall many of the diseases that strike us as we reach 50, 60, and 70. All with one pill."

Asked if he’s suggesting that it’s some kind of a rejuvenation drug that would turn a 70-year-old into a 35-year-old, Westphal tells Safer, "That might be pretty hard to do. But I think if we’re on a train heading one direction, we can slow down that train. I think we can slow down these genes that control the aging process."

That quest to put death on hold began in 2003 when Westphal met David Sinclair, a biochemist at Harvard who was studying the genetic components of aging. "Five years ago I met David. And he had shown that you could extend life span in yeast. That’s pretty exciting," Westphal recalls.

Yeasts are one thing. Human beings are more complicated. So Sinclair focused on a gene present in almost all life forms: the sirtuin gene.

Full Story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/25/60minutes/main4752082.shtml