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NAD+ carries hydrogen throughout the cell's energy production, and it is also used up every time enzymes called sirtuins do their work, and those enzymes help maintain the chemical marks that switch genes on and off. As NAD+ falls with age, energy production and the upkeep of those gene switches may both get harder. NMN and NR are its precursors; in people, what has been seen so far is mainly changes in blood markers.
A 2023 study found that blood taurine falls with age in mice, monkeys and humans, and restoring it in middle-aged mice extended median lifespan by about 10–12%. But working in mice is not the same as working in people: the human data are only correlations, and a 2025 study of 137 men found no link between taurine levels and age.
Quercetin's most interesting modern direction is clearing senescent cells (as a senolytic): damaged cells that did not finish dying get stuck in a state where they neither divide nor die, and keep releasing inflammatory factors that add to chronic inflammation throughout the body. Dasatinib plus quercetin (D+Q) is one of the few such approaches to reach human trials, and a preliminary trial in people with diabetic kidney disease saw fewer senescent cells; it remains an experimental treatment.