Mechanisms of life span extension by rapamycin in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers fed adult fruit flies different amounts of rapamycin and tracked how long they lived. Rapamycin extended their lives by about 14%. It reduced TOR, a cell-growth control system, and increased autophagy, the cells’ cleanup and recycling process. The treated flies handled starvation and oxidative stress, a type of cell damage, better, but handled heat stress worse. They also had fewer offspring, although this did not fully explain the longer lives.

What this means for you: This is an interesting result in fruit flies, not proof that rapamycin extends human life. You can ignore this as a reason to buy or take rapamycin, which can have important side effects and should only be used under medical supervision.