On March 4, scientists reported that people who ate a diet rich in protein during their middle-aged years (ages 50-65) were four times more likely to die from cancer than those who ate a low-protein diet, and had a 75 percent increase in overall mortality.

This same molecule was the prime player in a highly publicized study published three years ago by Longo, along with Jaime Guevara-Aguirre of the Institute of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Reproduction in Quito, Ecuador, and their colleagues, that looked at patients in a remote area of southern Ecuador. The subjects of the study had a rare mutation that interfered with the normal functioning of IGF-1, blocking the body's normal growth pathway. As a result, adults