I'm the chief science officer of a foundation that works on the application of regenerative medicine to the problem of aging.

As far as I'm concerned, ageing is humanity's worst problem, by some serious distance.

What I actually wanted to do with my life is make a difference to the world. That led me into science very quickly.

There's nothing wrong with making the best of one's declining years, but what does annoy me is the fatalism. Now that we're seriously in range of finding therapies that actually work against ageing, this apathy, of course, becomes an enormous part of the problem.

Some things tend not to work so well for science - things that rely on substantial written contributions by key experts are a case in point - but even there I tend to keep an open mind, because it may just be a case of finding the right formula.

Governor Bush abdicated. He said it's not his problem. But he is the chief executive officer of this state, and there are no laws more important in this state than election laws,