The field is converging on a few master levers. Across these six months, independent labs keep landing on the same nodes: nutrient-sensing (mTOR/rapamycin, IGF-1/FOXO, metformin/AMPK) remains the most reproducible lifespan lever across species, and a 2026 Nature study shows reduced IGF-1 only extends life when the mitochondrial genome stays intact — tying two hallmarks into one dependency (Sci Adv 2026). A cross-mammal analysis defined a universal transcriptomic signature of ageing and mortality (CDKN1A/p21, LGALS3) that caloric restriction, reprogramming and parabiosis all push in the same direction (Nature 2026).
Measurement is catching up to intervention. Aging clocks went multi-organ and predictive: plasma-proteomic clocks now estimate the biological age of 40+ cell types and forecast disease and 15-year mortality (Nat Med 2026), organ-specific proteomic clocks predict longevity across diverse populations (Nat Aging 2026), and the rate of epigenetic-clock change predicts survival. These give trials the surrogate endpoints they have lacked.
Reprogramming & gene therapy matured into a category. Partial reprogramming is now shown conserved insect→mammal, converging on PRC2/Polycomb targets, and an Altos team reversed cognitive ageing via the integrated stress response (Science 2026). "Gene therapy for aging" is now reviewed as its own translational path (Trends Mol Med 2026). Meanwhile the geroprotector pipeline broadened — taurine (now in RCT), α-ketoglutarate, urolithin A, spermidine/spermine, NAD⁺ precursors — and GLP-1 drugs keep accruing all-cause-mortality signals (though an Alzheimer's RCT was negative and lean-mass loss is a real caveat).
Where the grant gaps are. Causal lifespan-extension evidence is still overwhelmingly mouse and invertebrate; human data is mostly cohort/biomarker, with only a handful of trials. The clearest fundable openings: (1) biomarker-qualified human trials using validated aging clocks as surrogate endpoints; (2) combination geroprotectors hitting multiple hallmarks; (3) delivery & safety for in-vivo reprogramming and longevity gene therapy; and (4) standardized geroscience endpoints — the ICFSR 2025 task force lays out exactly this roadmap (J Frailty Aging 2026). Use the Evidence grouping below to spot, per mechanism, where the human data thins out — that is where new funding moves the needle.