The future begins in July. That's when a joint clinical study will be conducted by Washington University in St. Louis and Keio University in Japan, involving a bio-chemical that may slow down the aging process in humans.

Previous experimentation with the compound – Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) – has shown that it is instrumental in slowing the aging process in mice and prolonging healthy life expectancy. During the new study, it will be given to ten or so healthy adults.

The first part of the study will focus upon whether it is actually safe to give the compound to humans. Once that is determined, the trial will begin in earnest.

NMN is an organic molecule found in a variety of nutritional sources, including milk. Previous studies have shown that, by activating sirtuin in the body, it is instrumental in slowing down the aging process. Sirtuin is a class of proteins whose functions get weaker as the body ages.

Research by Shinichiro Imai of Washington University indicated that NMN activates the gene responsible for sirtuin. In one experiment, NMN-fed mice experienced improvements to age-related declines in metabolism and eyesight, and in another, the compound improved their glucose intolerance and lipid profiles.

There's no question that mice love it, but their lifespans are famously fungible. In 2006, a study concluded that, "patients and physicians should remain cautious about extrapolating the findings of prominent animal research to the care of human disease," and that "even high-quality animal studies will replicate poorly in human clinical research."

“The age-retarding effect of NMN has been only detected in such animals as mice. It’s necessary to carefully inspect the effects [of the substance],” said Prof. Daisuke Koya of Kanazawa Medical University, an expert in the aging process.

And that's what these new trials aim to do. Knowledge-seekers from Ponce de Leon to Ray Kurzweil have been focused upon prolonging human life for thousands of years, and we are finally on the cusp.