Michael Rae and Dr Gino Cortopassi

We're proud to have Dr. Gino Cortopassi of UC Davis as a mentor to some of SRF's Summer Scholars! Dr. Cortopassi has a storied record in aging science, going back to 1990 when he first used the then-new technology of PCR to discover that aging cells in humans accumulated large deletion mutations in their mitochondrial DNA, through work on the ketogenic diet in aging, right up until today when he nominated one of the newest successful longevity drugs in the NIA's Interventions Testing Program. In this interview with Science Writer Michael Rae, Dr. Cortopassi looks back and forward through his many contributions to the biology of aging and what we might do about it.