Anti-aging is currently a fashionable theme in American culture--fueled by ancient yearnings for immortality, contemporary promises in genetic and biological research, popular fear of decline and dependency, entrepreneurs eager to exploit this fear, and legitimate clinical care and self-help aimed at improving the quality of later life. From a range of prominent authors including biologists, clinicians, a historian, and a philosopher or two, this issue will enable readers to take an informed stance in relation to personal health and well-being, clinical care, future research directions, and public policy.