On the Path to Building a Better Mouse
--
and Man: Inaugural Methuselah Mouse
Prize Awarded to Further Anti-Aging
WASHINGTON, DC/EWORLDWIRE/June 3, 2003 --- The Methuselah
Foundation, which takes its name from the man reputed in
Biblical records to have lived the longest in human history
(969 years), has announced it will award the first ever
"Methuselah Mouse" Prize (MMP), designed to stimulate serious
anti-aging research and intervention, during the 2003 annual
American Aging Association Conference in Baltimore, Maryland
on Sunday, June 8.
"Dreams grow from small kernels of possibilities.
Congratulations to the first of a long list of Methuselah
Dreamers," says Roger Holzberg, Advisor to the Methuselah
Foundation, and Senior Show Producer/Director of Walt Disney
Imagineering, home of the most recognized mouse in the
world.
A cash prize will be awarded in two categories. A
Postponement Prize will go to the producer of the world's
oldest ever mouse, restricted to the species used in
laboratory work, Mus musculus, in recognition of extending
healthy lifespan. Starting a year from now, a Reversal Prize
will also be awarded to the producer of the world's oldest
mouse whose life was extended due to effective late-onset
life-extension interventions. Each prize will be awarded from
a fund to which anyone can contribute, initially $5,000 for
each prize; the amount won depends on the margin by which the
previous record has been broken.
The inaugural "Methuselah Mouse" Postponement Prize will be
awarded to Andrzej Bartke and "GHR-KO 11C", whose age at death
was 1819 days - the equivalent to a human lifespan of 180-200
years. "Although the first award recognizes a mouse
posthumously, future awards will acknowledge living mice that
surpass the previous "age goal post" established by the first
two pioneering prize recipients" said Aubrey De Grey,
architect of the Methuselah Mouse Prize, and Senior Science
Advisor to the Methuselah Foundation.
David Gobel, President of the Methuselah Foundation,
explains, "The Methuselah Mouse Prize is meant to inspire and
encourage serious scientific progress and innovation in
extending the healthy human lifespan. We believe the
Methuselah Mouse Prize can effectively raise public optimism
and enthusiasm about potential human application of successful
life-extending interventions used on laboratory mice that have
already reached an advanced age."
The Methuselah Foundation also intends to promote public
interest and involvement in mammalian life extension research
by accepting public donations for future prizes along with
corporate sponsorships.
Current prize sponsors are the Methuselah Foundation, HMX
Inc., Dr. Peter Greenman and Diana Stackhouse of the Animal
Health Institute. Online donations started to arrive as soon
as the site was opened on May 31st; donors already include Dr.
Peter Proctor, a prestigious pioneer in the field of free
radical chemistry in aging.
For more information about The Methuselah Mouse Prize, how
to contribute to the prize fund, existing donors and
contestants, see www.methuselahmouse.org or contact David
Gobel at The Methuselah Foundation via e-mail at david.gobel@dhs.gov.
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