--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: David Sinclair by David Agus: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f019109dbc9e828/69868b49e8524b4fea60273d/doctor-david-sinclair-feat.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 23, 2014 # David Sinclair by David Agus  Dr. David Sinclair photographed April 7, 2014 within the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Photo Credit: Rick Groleau and Jake Miller Dr. David Sinclair photographed April 7, 2014 within the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Photo Credit: Rick Groleau and Jake MillerRick Groleau and Jake Miller For David Sinclair, the pursuit of youth had a humble start — in yeast. A professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, he identified genes that allow yeast to get by on fewer calories and extend their life span by about 30%. Nice for yeast — not for hungry humans. Last year, Sinclair upped his game and pinned down a chemical known as NAD that actually reverses the aging process in cells. NAD levels tend to drop by as much as 50% as we get older; if we could restore what’s lost, aging cells might behave as if they were younger. Immortality is out of reach, but living more years with a body that’s robust enough to make the most of them is a real possibility. _Agus is a professor of medicine and the author of_ A Short Guide to a Long Life ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2014-time-100/70863/david-sinclair-2014-time-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2014-time-100/70863/david-sinclair-2014-time-100/"},"headline":"David Sinclair","datePublished":"2014-04-23T22:03:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T22:59:24.476Z","description":"The geneticist who is making age reversal real","url":"https://time.com/collections/2014-time-100/70863/david-sinclair-2014-time-100/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f019109dbc9e828/69868b49e8524b4fea60273d/doctor-david-sinclair-feat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f019109dbc9e828/69868b49e8524b4fea60273d/doctor-david-sinclair-feat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2014-time-100/70863/david-sinclair-2014-time-100/","name":"David Sinclair"}}]}] ```