Since the early ages, ageing and death have evoked a wide range of feelings in the minds of mankind. Acknowledged as the 'inevitable', they have been looked upon with awe and fear by kings and paupers alike. History is littered with attempts to defeat death by negating or delaying the process of ageing, but the elixir of life continues to remain elusive. Nature has had the last laugh and conquering death still remains a distant dream. However recent studies have indicated that 'the dream' may not be quite so distant. Scientific research has proved that ageing, and the infirmities that accompany it, can be treated as a biological process that can be slowed, or even controlled.

It is a well-known fact that every life on earth will eventually die and slip into oblivion. It remains part of nature's wonder that some animals such as the cold-water fish, amphibians and the American Lobster do not age. They fail to reach a fixed size and continue to grow bigger, in order to live and reproduce. In most instances, they die at the hands of a predator. These lowly creatures are possibly in possession of certain factors, probably genes, which control the momentum of ageing. In humans, a search for these invaluable factors could definitely turn out to be a fruitful one.