(Left to right) Gifted science students Austin Joe and Aaron Greenfield of Keystone School meet ‘Eternity Soup’ author Greg Critser and Barshop Institute Director Arlan Richardson, Ph.D.
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Contact: Will Sansom, (210) 567-3079

SAN ANTONIO (April 12, 2010) — Noted science/medicine journalist Greg Critser, author of "Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging" and two previous books, visited the UT Health Science Center April 12 to help the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies celebrate the fifth anniversary of its research building.

"Eternity Soup" includes frequent references to Barshop scientists, who have made the Barshop one of the premier biogerontology research institutes in the world. In doing research for the book, Critser said he realized he must visit San Antonio because he kept hearing others in the field reference the Barshop Institute.

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Research relevant as more Americans age
The expected rapid increase of older Americans — 20 million over age 85 by 2050 — and the "anti-aging medicine" phenomenon — which touts an array of unproven products and treatments to keep people young — convinced Critser to write a book both on these trends and on the scientists conducting legitimate peer-reviewed research.

He recalled a conversation with his own parents. "They both had a longevity doctor, but no evidence that what they were taking worked," he said.

Caloric restriction theory
Much of Critser's talk focused on the ongoing calorie restriction movement, which has adherents who devote themselves to a lifestyle of eating 40 percent fewer calories in the hope of retarding aging. "I went to several conferences of the Caloric Restriction Society and knew to take my own food," he quipped.

Calorie restriction is the subject of books written by Edward J. Masoro, Ph.D., former chairman of physiology at the Health Science Center. It is the only natural intervention to date shown to slow aging in animals, but Dr. Masoro did not endorse the idea of people practicing it.

Barshop Institute research highlights
Arlan G. Richardson, Ph.D., professor and director of the Barshop Institute, preceded Critser to the lectern and ran down the institute's considerable recent achievements. These include:

• Ranking first among Texas research institutions in National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant funding
  
• Renewal of an NIA training program that is one of the nation's largest with 10 Ph.D. students and six postdoctoral fellows
  
• Renewal of the John A. Hartford Center for Excellence in Geriatrics Education
  
• Renewal of the San Antonio Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. This renewal received the top score of 10 — "as good as it gets," Dr. Richardson said.

Dr. Richardson also cited a few of the institute's many research studies, including investigations of adiponectin in obesity, of mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and of a compound, rapamycin, that extended the life span of mice. The rapamycin finding, announced in July 2009, was a blockbuster in the biogerontology field. The prestigious journal Science named the studies a runner-up for scientific breakthrough of the year.

Steven Austad, Ph.D., professor at the Barshop Institute and himself the author of "Why We Age," a science book on aging for the lay audience, introduced his good friend, Critser.

Critser said he chooses book topics by evaluating important trends, doing research in journals, then going out to meet people working in the field. One of the places he visited was the Barshop Institute.

"I want to thank the Barshop Institute in general for giving me the education to do this book," he said.

Dr. Richardson pointed to the future as he recognized San Antonio teenagers Austin Joe and Aaron Greenfield, both students at Keystone School and budding scientists themselves. Others in the audience included residents of the Air Force Villages who were brought to the event by shuttle. Bruce Barshop, son of Sam and Ann Barshop, the benefactors for whom the Barshop Institute is named, represented the family.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 2 percent of all U.S. institutions receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced 27,000 graduates. The $753 million operating budget supports six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.