Austrian study points to compound as possible fountain of youth
In the eternal quest for a fountain of youth, no elixir is beyond the realm of consideration. Thanks to a team of Austrian scientists, human sperm is being touted as the latest age-fighting agent. According to a researcher at Graz University, spermidine, a compound that is found in sperm, guards the cells in flies, worms, yeast, mice and even human blood against damage, thereby slowing the aging process. Worms treated with spermidine lived 15 per cent longer, while fruit flies given the compound outlasted their untreated counterparts by a margin of 30 per cent. Though some are already singing the praises of sperm treatment in prolonging the lives of humans, it will be years before the compound is even submitted to human trials, let alone available to the masses.