The story

Epithalon came out of Vladimir Khavinson's work at the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology in St Petersburg. His team first made Epithalamin, a peptide extract of calf pineal gland, then built the tetrapeptide AEDG from its amino acid makeup. With Vladimir Anisimov at the Petrov Institute of Oncology they showed it lengthens life and lowers tumours in animals. In 2003 they showed it switches on telomerase and lengthens telomeres in human cells. In older people, pineal peptide courses restored the melatonin rhythm and, in a 6 to 8 year follow-up of 266 people, cut the death rate about twofold.