The most translatable longevity pathways are not the exotic ones—they are the conserved ones

Naked mole-rats make hyaluronan. Greenland sharks regulate telomeres differently. Ocean quahogs suppress ROS at the source. These are fascinating—but they are not where human drug development is succeeding.

The pathways actually reaching human trials are the boring, conserved ones: mTOR, IIS/FOXO3, and SIRT6. The same pathways long-lived species tweak, but in ways we can mimic with existing drugs.

Here is what comparative biology reveals about clinical feasibility.