When scientist Leonard Guarente first identified the gene that controls aging in yeast cells some 25 years ago, he realized something amazing: It could open the door to understanding, even influencing, how our own cells age. Leonard Guarente’s lab found it also activates sirtuins. As cofounder and the chief scientist at Elysium Health, the prominent MIT biologist is leading the charge to change how we think about getting older.

Enter Elysium Health’s daily supplement, Basis, which has been proven to boost NAD+ levels. That’s where a key compound called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) comes in. We all have this compound in our cells, and it helps power hundreds of metabolic processes: It’s essential for regulating when our bodies sleep and wake, for instance, and it’s needed to help fix glitches in our DNA.

While the real test of any antiaging elixir is increased longevity, many users report immediate benefits that include better sleep, speedy injury recovery, and the mysterious disappearance of those rough elbow patches, with few noticeable side effects. There’s also an upcoming skin health trial, designed to measure the effect of Basis on skin elasticity, wrinkles and more. This is where Dr. Kirkland thinks aging research is heading — providing solutions for illnesses where there have been none before. He says, “What I hope might be transformative over the next five years is that for some incurable conditions, treatments targeting aging processes might become available and help people who previously had no hope.”

We need to go after the root cause: aging. Older people either are generally very healthy or have several age-related conditions, not just one. — Jim Kirkland, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at Mayo Clinic