There is no difference between saving lives and extending lives, because in both cases we are giving people the chance of more life.

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

The aim is to postpone frailty, postpone degenerative disease, debilitation and so on and thereby shorten the period at the end of life, which is passed in a decrepit or disabled state, while extending life as a whole.

Ever since we invented fire and the wheel, we've been demonstrating both our ability and our inherent desire to fix things that we don't like about ourselves and our environment.

We've spent the last few millennia aware that senescence is horrible but knowing nevertheless that it's inevitable. We've had to find some mechanism to put it out of our minds so we can get on with our miserably short lives.

I don't work on longevity, I work on keeping people healthy.