There has been a continuous study identifying why a group of Ecuadorian villagers have had a longer life than those that have normal height. This study has gone on for 24 years by a Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre. The outstanding observation that has been made during this period of study is that almost all of these "little people" are free of cancer and diabetes. These little people have an extremely rare condition called Laron syndrome.
By doing much research on lab animals they were able to identify the gene that the Laron syndrome was effecting, and sure enough it was effecting a receptor located on the gene for growth hormone. IGF-1 (hormone that helps kids grow) is lacking in the Ecuadorian villagers, and if doses are given to them before they hit puberty they can grow up and live a somewhat normal life.
A Laron serum was then found that would do two things. First of these it would protect the cell from genetic damage and secondly it would kill the cells that were already damaged. One test that was done on a lab mouse allowed the mouse to live twice as long as a normal mouse would.
This is a brilliant discovery and if studies continue and progress is made I believe there will be some kind of serum for humans to take to prolong life, and perhaps even help with the cancer and diabetes problem in the world.
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