In this episode of NutritionFacts.org, we explore the science behind mTOR, a key enzyme regulating growth and its surprising role in ageing. Highlighting the discovery of rapamycin, this podcast delves into how modulating mTOR activity might hold the secret to healthier ageing.

Key Points:

This episode delves into the fascinating role of the enzyme mTOR, which drives growth during youth but accelerates ageing and disease as we age. It also highlights the potential of rapamycin, a compound that inhibits mTOR, as a ground-breaking tool to slow ageing, improve healthspan, and transform our understanding of longevity.

• Rapamycin Discovery: A compound from bacteria on Easter Island, rapamycin inhibits mTOR, presenting a potential tool to extend lifespan by slowing ageing rather than prolonging sickness.
• Role of mTOR: This enzyme is a primary growth regulator, crucial in childhood but counterproductive in adulthood, as it speeds up cellular ageing processes.
• Ageing as a Trade-off: mTOR exemplifies "antagonistic pleiotropy," where traits beneficial for survival and reproduction early in life contribute to ageing and diseases later in life.
• Unrestrained Growth Risks: mTOR suppresses autophagy—the cell's natural cleaning process—favoring unchecked growth that can lead to cancer and tissue deterioration.
• The Promise of Inhibition: Slowing mTOR activity is the best-known strategy for decelerating ageing and increasing healthspan, enabling the body to maintain its cellular upkeep.
• Evolutionary Perspective: mTOR's aggressive growth mode is an evolutionary relic, optimized for survival in high-mortality environments but maladaptive in long-lived humans.