NGM SEPTEMBER 2026
THE END OF AGING?

Two hundred years ago, you were lucky if you weren’t taken out by a disease or accident before you turned 20. Today, thanks to numerous medical advances, people live about 80 years, longer than at any other point in human history. That incredible increase in
lifespan has led to a new problem: people live long enough to die from the process of aging itself—cancer, heart disease, and more. But what if we could fix that, too? For the last two decades, researchers have chased this grail, and Life Biosciences has taken a big step forward and earned FDA approval for the first human trial on cellular reprogramming. Other features in this issue include:
 
• On the Run With the Atlantic’s Silver Surfers: Millions of striped mullet surge along the Florida coast in a spectacle of abundance that’s a sign of health in a complex ecosystem.
• The Surprising Detour Of the World’s Oldest Superhighway: As tourism booms in Uzbekistan’s oasis cities, one of the crossroads of the world, one traveler takes to the rails to plumb the legacy of history’s most romantic supply chain network.
• Make Way For Giant Anteaters: Rapid development is nudging a distinctive Brazilian species onto ever busier roads. To protect the animals, researchers are leading a push to rethink what a highway can be.