These are some of the hottest topics right now. I've learned in that last week that each of them has armies of brilliant people working on them.
1. Protein language models. These have the potential for algorithms to learn fundamental dynamics of protein folding and interaction. This could get us one step closer to modeling human biology. Once we can model human biology at the molecular and cellular level, our ability to model disease and interventions will be far better than today. Brilliant AI researchers at Facebook and DeepMind are working on this. Brilliant researchers are dozens or more labs around the world on working this.
2. Epigenetic reprogramming. Partial epigenetic reprogramming has been shown to rejuvenate cells, tissues and even whole mice. There are concerning off-target effects (cancer is a particular concern). The potential for slowing and reversing aging is easy to see. It could be the great human breakthrough of the 21st century. There are dozens if not hundreds or thousands of labs around the world working on this. Startups like Altos Labs ($3 billion of initial funding!), NewLimit and many others are on the case.
3. Aging clocks. How do you measure aging, beyond waiting to see if someone dies or not? This is an important questions. You can't manage what you can't measure. There are compelling epigenetic clocks, plus a whole host of new biomarker clocks, transcriptomic clocks, proteomic clocks, etc. There are many brilliant people in academic and industry labs working on this.
Does this mean I and others in the field should go work on these topics?
It depends. I think it's great that we have so much energy on these 3 important topics. It increases the chance that we get answers and progress on them faster. And there are people who thrive in an all-out race to see who can be first. At the same time, science (and investing and most human endeavors) are prone to herd mentality. We need smart people exploring the dusty corners of biology and aging. Unpopular ideas are often ultimately right. Some people do their best work with the peace and freedom of unpopular fields
Stanley B. Prusiner of UCSF writes about this in his 2014 book, Madness and Memory: The Discovery of Prions--A New Biological Principle of Disease. The research community met his early theories with disdain. Yet, he was ultimately right in his views on prions and brain disease.
My view is that we should follow closely the latest breakthroughs and trends in our fields. There are new ideas that can be transformative. It can be easier to get funding and energy when you're on a popular topic. At the same time, scientific researchers should follow their best judgment, even if it leads to an unpopular place.