Question

Which keywords would be most effective to find research on the development of a cure for slowing down or decelerating human aging?

aging
old AND research
aging AND development AND people
aging AND research AND cure

Answer 1

Good question — your initial examples are a bit too broad. For effective literature searches, use a mix of field-specific terms, mechanism/drug names, and study-type filters. Below are suggested keywords and example search strings you can copy/paste.

Suggested keywords (grouped)
- General field: aging, aging research, gerontology, biogerontology, geroscience, longevity science, anti‑aging (use cautiously)
- Goals/outcomes: life extension, lifespan extension, healthspan, rejuvenation, decelerate aging, slow aging, age‑related decline, age‑related disease
- Mechanisms/pathways: cellular senescence, telomere, telomerase, epigenetic clock, DNA damage, proteostasis, autophagy, mTOR, sirtuins, NAD+, inflammaging, mitochondrial dysfunction
- Therapeutic classes/terms: senolytics, senomorphics, geroprotectors, caloric restriction mimetics, NAD+ precursors, rapalogs, mTOR inhibitors, telomerase activators, stem cell therapy, gene therapy, rejuvenation biotechnology
- Study/context: translational, intervention, clinical trial, preclinical, animal model, mouse model, nonhuman primate
- Keywords to refine quality: review, systematic review, randomized trial, phase 1, phase 2, efficacy, safety, mechanism

Useful MeSH terms (for PubMed)
- "Aging"[MeSH], "Geroscience"[MeSH] (if present), "Cellular Senescence"[MeSH], "Telomerase"[MeSH], "Clinical Trial"[Publication Type]

Example search strings
- Broad (PubMed/Google Scholar): ("aging" OR "longevity" OR "geroscience") AND ("intervention" OR "therapy" OR "treatment" OR "cure")
- Focused on slowing aging: ("slow aging" OR "decelerate aging" OR "healthspan extension" OR "life extension") AND (intervention OR therapy OR clinical trial)
- Mechanism + intervention: ("cellular senescence" OR senolytic OR senomorph*) AND (therapy OR "clinical trial" OR "preclinical")
- Drug/pathway specific: (mTOR OR rapamycin OR rapalog) AND ("healthspan" OR "lifespan" OR "aging")
- High‑precision: ("geroprotectors" OR "rejuvenation") AND ("randomized" OR "clinical trial" OR "efficacy")
- Include model organisms when needed: ("senolytic" OR "NAD+") AND ("mouse" OR "rodent" OR "nonhuman primate")

Search tips
- Use quotes for exact phrases (e.g., "cellular senescence"). Use OR to include synonyms and AND to combine concepts.
- Use truncation/wildcards where supported (e.g., geroprotect* to catch geroprotector/geroprotective).
- Filter by article type (Review, Clinical Trial), date range, and species (humans vs animals).
- Try MeSH/subject heading searches in PubMed/Embase for more precise retrieval.
- For the latest work, search preprint servers (bioRxiv, medRxiv) and conference proceedings.
- Look for recent reviews and citation‑chain (follow references and citing papers) to find key primary studies and trials.

If you tell me which database you’ll use (PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science) and whether you want human clinical trials vs. basic science, I can craft a few precise search strings formatted for that database.